Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Feeding/Nutrition

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-09-2016, 12:01 AM   #1
anniechu87
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 15
Default How often do you refill your hamster's food bowls?

I have a 6 month old Russian Dwarf, and she's always eager to eat, but doesn't actually eat very much. Every time I fill up her food bowl, I put about a little bit more than a 30mL measuring spoon full. I often don't have to refill it before the week is over and I clean her cage. I'm not sure if I should keep refilling it even though she's not emptying it? I often hand feed her once or twice a day as well and she seems to enjoy that. Any advice?
anniechu87 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2016, 08:50 AM   #2
spacebyte
Hamster Pup
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 136
Default Re: How often do you refill your hamster's food bowls?

I have never had a dwarf hamster before - so I may be wrong on everything I'm saying here!

Does the packet say how much they should eat per day? Check that and try to find something which measures out about that, and refresh to food every day or two- many animals are picky and won't eat food that's been lying out. Maybe the hand feeding means that she's not hungry enough to eat food that's been lying out all week?

She might not enjoy her food mix, or be bored of it, or might just be picking out the things she likes? Maybe try picking up a different mix of food, and giving her veggies in her bowl every few days to give her new things to try.
spacebyte is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2016, 08:59 AM   #3
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: How often do you refill your hamster's food bowls?

I should put less in the bowl and empty it out and refill it every other day, whether it has been eaten or not (for some strange reason I find our hamster ignores old food but is more interested when it's straight from the packet so it must smell fresher or something).

I put about a tablespoonful out for our hamster. A Uk tablespoon is about 20mls - a measuring tablespoon (US) is 15mls. So 30mls sounds quite a lot.

Sometimes they have such a big hoard they don't bother to pouch for some days - especially if you've been feeding her by hand in between.

Of course if you put less in she might empty the bowl every day in a panic that there is a good shortage lol! I put a huge bowl of food out for our hamster when we went away for 3 days and I don't think he touched it! He didn't seem to like it being so full - maybe it's hard to get to the tasty bits that fall to the bottom if it's too full, I don't know!

Hamsters don't eat a lot anyway - very small amounts, but she might be eating more than you think as they often snack in bed from their hoard.

Just wanted to say it isn't really necessary to clean the cage once a week - cleaning can stress them a bit. You can spot clean and do cage cleans less often, especially if you use a litter tray. I like Erin's Hamster's cage cleaning tips video - it's worth a look - I now only do partial cleans and less often

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww
Pebbles82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2016, 09:19 AM   #4
Kissa
Fuzzy Feet!
 
Kissa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Shakespeare country
Posts: 3,873
Default Re: How often do you refill your hamster's food bowls?

I refill my hams food bowls every two days or so -- but then I only put about two days worth of food in the bowl at any one time That comes to a dessert spoon every two days for my dwarfs and two dessert spoons every two days for my Syrians (Google tells me a dessert spoon is just under 12ml).
__________________
Kissa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2016, 01:49 PM   #5
barley
Hamster Addict
 
barley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: UK
Posts: 918
Default Re: How often do you refill your hamster's food bowls?

Mine get fresh food every three days. Anymore frequently and they just pick out their favourite bits but only changing every three days makes them eat most of the mix!

Fresh veggies & water changed every day though, of course.
__________________
♥ Owned by ♥ Bambi - Syrian Hamster ♥ Remy - Roborovski Hamster ♥
♥ Rupert - Syrian ♥ Joey - Roborovski ♥ at Rainbow Bridge xx ♥
barley is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
refill, shes, eat, food, advice, clean, week, refilling, cage, hand, day, emptying, enjoy, feed, dwarf, russian, eager, month, hamsters, bowls, bit, 30ml, spoon, measuring, time

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:59 AM.