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Old 02-16-2018, 06:51 AM   #1
Ghostbuster aka Ghost
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Join Date: Feb 2018
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Question Too many sunflower seeds?

I'm currently using sunflower seeds to tame my little Russian dwarf ghost and I'm worried she gets too much? 80% of them go to her stash so I'm not too worried that she eats too many at once but i also add 2 or three to her normal food because she loves them so much! (Shea currently on muesli from pets at home because that's what they fed her)

I dont want to give her too many though but she doesn't take anything else off of my hand?
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Old 02-16-2018, 07:07 AM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Too many sunflower seeds?

Once she's tame you can cut them back a bit Have you tried pumpkin seeds? Maybe you could alternate them if she likes those too.

With regard to her food mix, I would change it (gradually) to something better and more specific to dwarf hamsters. The Pets at home mix isn't very good quality really.

A good option is Burgess Dwarf hamster mix, which is also sugar free and has some mealworms in, plus good ingredients. Dwarf hamsters can be prone to diabetes so a sugar free mix is a good idea. That mix is dwarf hamster specific too so the pieces are a good size for them

http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

I think you can get it on Amazon as well. When changing a food mix it needs to be done gradually or it can upset their stomachs. So start by adding a little bit of the new mix to the old. Empty and refill the food bowl each day, discarding any food in it, then each day add a bit more the of the new and a bit more of the old, till it's about 50/50. Leave it at 50/50 for a few days maybe, then gradually reduce the old so there is a bigger proportion of the new. Over about two weeks.

They often leave quite a bit of food in their bowls, so it's important to empty the bowl each day and refill it, while you're doing the change over. After that,maybe just discard any food not eaten every 3 days or so and put new in.
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Old 02-16-2018, 07:38 AM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Too many sunflower seeds?

I agree that you don't need to worry too much while taming but a bit of variety rather than one thing is always good, apart from the pumpkin seeds Serendipity mentioned other seeds like hemp, flax & sesame are good too, with the smaller seeds they tend to spend longer taking them off your hand rather than just grabbing one sunflower seed so they can work well for taming.
Agree about the food too, Burgess dwarf hamster harvest is quite a good mix but lacks a bit of variety & they can get bored with it, another good mix for diabetes prone species is the Bunny dwarf hamster dream expert, it has quite a lot more variety than Burgess.
Sorry Serendipity but I have to disagree about emptying the food bowl daily, even when changing mixes that can lead to picky eating as they tend to pick out the best bits & leave the bits that they aren't so keen on, I prefer to put enough in the bowl for a few days & not refill it until at least most of it has gone.
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Old 02-16-2018, 08:08 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Too many sunflower seeds?

No problem I haven't had a dwarf hammy, but our Robo never empties his bowl - in fact it hardly seems to go down! And won't eat from it again unless there is new food! Maybe they vary Anyway main thing is to reintroduce a new food gradually until it's changed over. The Bunny mix is very good too. You'd be better with either than the current Pets at Home one - I suggested the Burgess because it's easier to get hold of, but you could always order in bulk from Zooplus.
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