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04-02-2018, 05:44 AM
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#1
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Berlin
Posts: 31
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Picky eater + no hoarding
I haven't found a thread with combination of a problem like this so here I am asking for advice again..
First of, Poppy (robo dwarf) is a picky eater, eats only tiny seeds and mealworms. Leaves all else behind. Also seams to eat her fresh vegetables (but she still gets only small amounts of these), but all the dried vegetables and flowers in the mix - nope.
So I found out by research that I have to not fill up her food bowl so often.
Problem is that when I was cleaning her cage I saw that she doesn't hoard. Was the first time cleaning and she didn't hoard anything. So i'm worried not to fill up her food daily.
I read about how to encourage hoarding and I'm onto it (more substrate, scattering food, etc). But should I just fill her food every day until I see that she's hoarding? On one hand, I'm worried she is not getting enough nutrients when only eating certain things. On the other hand, I cannot not fill up her bowl, because I'm afraid i'm starving her, because she doesn't have hoards?
Is leaving her on only veggies and flowers for a day or two to make her eat them ok?
What I feed Poppy:
- Bunny Nature Dwarf Hamster Dream Expert food mix - 1 tablespoon a day (doesn't manage to eat all): half in the bowl and half scattered around cage; (ingredients: Plata millet, canary seed, pea flakes, quinoa seeds (6%), barley, mung beans (5%), amaranth puffed (5%), barley flakes, oat flakes, silver millet, perilla seeds (3%), red millet, carrots, linseed (2%), grass seed, parsnips, dandelion leaves, lucerne, meal worms (1%), yarrow, ribwort, sesame (1%), calcium carbonate, beetroot, marigold blossoms, camomile blossoms, rose blossoms, semolina bran (millet 24%));
- Bunny Nature Enjoy Nature Power-Snack with mealworms - 1 teaspoon a day; (ingredients:Buckwheat, kardi seed, rice flakes, beetroot, mung beans, sesame, meal worms (3%), milk thistle herb, rose blossoms, hibiscus blossoms, marigold blossoms).
- Bunny Nature My little Sweatheaart mealworm hearts - 1 a day; almost never touches them to be honest;
- Fresh organic veggies (little amounts, still getting used to): kale, salad leaves, carrot, cucumber - so far only these introduced for now.
Is she getting malnourished? Sorry for long posts, I just want to be detailed in what I did already.
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04-02-2018, 06:32 AM
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#2
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
Some hams do actually treat their bowl as a hoard so she may just want some food left in her bowl. How often do you clean her cage? If you clean too often she may not feel it's safe to make a hoard anywhere.
You are feeding a good diet, how much is she leaving? If she eats most of it & just leaves one or two things she may be ok. When I fed commercial mixes mung beans never got eaten & leaving those didn't seem to do any harm, how much of the herbage, flowers & dried veg they will eat depends a lot on the individual but if she leaves those bits but eats the main ingredients I wouldn't worry too much.
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
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04-02-2018, 06:59 AM
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#3
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Berlin
Posts: 31
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
I have her for 3 weeks and I cleaned the cage once after 2 weeks. That is when I didn't find a hoard.
I give her around 1 tablespoon food mix + 1 teaspoon treat mix + 1 thumb nail size of fresh veggies a day. She eats maybe 1/3 of the bought mixes and all fresh veggies. she didn't clean her bowl once. So if she eats just seeds,protein and fresh veggies she's fine? And leaving all dried veggies and flowers behind is ok?
And if she treats her bowl as a hoard I should not empty it, right? I do always put her fresh veggies on the side so that it doesn't spoil other food. Is it ok if she never starts a separate hoard?
Sorry for question overload, just want to make sure I don't need to bring up these questions again.
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04-02-2018, 07:11 AM
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#4
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
Two weeks is still very early, she may not have been settled enough to make a hoard by then, sometimes it can just take them a little while. It's usually best not to do more than spot cleaning for 3-4 weeks while they settle in.
If she is treating her bowl as her hoard then you could still empty it after a few days, if you refill it then that should be ok.
Some of them aren't keen on dried veg & flowers & it shouldn't hurt if she's eating the other ingredients in her mix.
1 tablespoon is a lot for a robo so I wouldn't expect her to eat all of that, she may not eat much more than a teaspoon a day but keep giving more so she can hoard if she wants to.
You could try her on another mix to see if she does better, Mixerama have a few Robo mixes that look pretty good, t his one doesn't have flowers/veg etc in it & might suit her if you give additional mealworms.
I think she will be fine with what she's eating though so don't worry too much.
I always give veg or wet foods separately too, best to keep them away from the dry mix.
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
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04-02-2018, 09:20 AM
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#5
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Berlin
Posts: 31
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
Thanks so much, it's much more clear to me now. I didn't know they need time to start hoarding. I also didn't want to change her bedding so soon, but I did it in speculation I might be allergic to it, so there was not much of a choice. I will make conditions better for the future hoarding and will keep giving her the same food for now + new veggies when she's ready. Thanks again for calming my nerves, it's great I don't have to keep second guessing all of this
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04-02-2018, 10:53 PM
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#6
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
It can take a while to get to know them & what works best for them but it sounds as though you're doing fine
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
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04-07-2018, 03:50 AM
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#7
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Berlin
Posts: 31
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
Update:
She started hoarding, took her 3 weeks to start. She even hoarded and ate some of tiny mealworm hearts that I was thinking she hates, which was so adorable to see (i know it's only for my eyes though, I still feed her 1 mealworm a day separately).
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04-07-2018, 04:11 AM
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#8
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: Picky eater + no hoarding
That's a really good sign, she must be feeling much more settled now.
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
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blossoms, food, millet, fill, flakes, nature, leaves, bowl, eat, day, seeds, bunny, hoarding, seed, worried, cleaning, hoard, half, mung, barley, beans, day;, rose, picky, marigold |
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