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01-27-2019, 01:56 PM
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#1
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 12
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Putting one of a pair on a diet
We have two male brother dwarf hamsters that live together (as seen in another thread).
However, one (Ernie) has been getting fatter and fatter and is now at 65g. The other is only 37g.
We thing Ernie needs to lose a bit of weight as he's getting rather porky. How can this be achieved without separating the boys? Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks
A
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01-27-2019, 02:09 PM
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#2
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Little Miss Tinytoes>
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 7,036
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Re: Putting one of a pair on a diet
You cannot just put hamsters on a diet, they need food available to them at all times. Unless there is something wrong with the food mix ie it is unbalanced, or they aren't exercising for some reason they generally don't get overweight. Since they are together it could also be from the stress of maintaining their status.
Your boys have winter white traits so it is concerning that they are together in the first place, is there a reason you don't want to separate? They are not gaining anything from staying together - winter whites are quite solitary & don't do very well in pairs. One getting larger than the other isn't uncommon either, it happens for various reasons and the only way to properly ensure that they both reach a healthy weight and are both living free of stress is to separate. Can you see any signs of stress or dominant & submissive behaviour? They can hide it well so it can be tricky to spot.
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01-27-2019, 03:07 PM
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#3
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 12
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Re: Putting one of a pair on a diet
Hi
Thanks for the reply.
Please see the other thread I did about them.
Male hamster pair behaviour
I didn't think it was necessarily a problem to keep a same sex dwarf pair together, and spent some time researching it before we got them. They're not our first hamsters, and we have separated a pair in the past.
Outwardly, apart from the behaviour displayed in the other thread, which seems to have diminished recently, they appear to cohabit well. They have a large hamster house with three rooms and they usually are together in the same room, often on top of each other.
As for exercise, Ernie seems to be the most active of the two, so it's strange he is heavier.
We will separate them if necessary, that's not an issue, but from prior reading we thought that dwarfs were social, and as long as there were no signs of biting or one hamster being withdrawn and avoiding the other (i.e sleeping in a separate house (ours have plenty of little hidey holes to go to, as well as an annex (another cage connected by tubes on top of the main cage) - we didn't think that it would be a problem.
Thanks
A
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01-27-2019, 03:21 PM
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#4
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PM Fluffy for custom title
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK
Posts: 1,109
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Re: Putting one of a pair on a diet
As well as what Mangoandmimi said, depending on whether they have more Winter White or Campbells genes, they’ll vary in size anyway. Winter Whites are usually “chubbier” whereas Campbells are more “slender”. Hybrids can have any combination of the genes so as long as you can be sure they’re both eating properly and there’s no underlying health issues or problems with food agression, I wouldn’t worry.
Your hamsters weights are almost identical to a past pair I had, they ended up being seperated later on but their weights stayed the same.
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01-27-2019, 10:07 PM
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#5
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: Putting one of a pair on a diet
Usually if you see a big difference in weight with a pair it's because the more dominant one is preventing the other from getting sufficient food or is taking the best most nutritious food, that's not necessarily something you would see happening as hamsters tend to take food & eat from their hoard mostly, the more dominant one could be taking the others hoard or could just be preventing it from getting the food.
I wouldn't say Ernie is overweight at 65g & you can't put a ham on a diet anyway, only encourage more activity if they do get overweight which is quite uncommon, he may just seem big in comparison to the other who is still a small size, they do vary in size but with a pair I would be more inclined to think that the other is just failing to thrive, grow & gain weight as he should, if he is getting stressed by the other more dominant one that could add to the problem & prevent him from doing well too.
Personally I would separate them, they aren't social animals & do better alone in their own territory.
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01-28-2019, 12:20 AM
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#6
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 12
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Re: Putting one of a pair on a diet
Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher
Usually if you see a big difference in weight with a pair it's because the more dominant one is preventing the other from getting sufficient food or is taking the best most nutritious food, that's not necessarily something you would see happening as hamsters tend to take food & eat from their hoard mostly, the more dominant one could be taking the others hoard or could just be preventing it from getting the food.
I wouldn't say Ernie is overweight at 65g & you can't put a ham on a diet anyway, only encourage more activity if they do get overweight which is quite uncommon, he may just seem big in comparison to the other who is still a small size, they do vary in size but with a pair I would be more inclined to think that the other is just failing to thrive, grow & gain weight as he should, if he is getting stressed by the other more dominant one that could add to the problem & prevent him from doing well too.
Personally I would separate them, they aren't social animals & do better alone in their own territory.
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Thanks for the feedback.
The funny thing is Ernie is the non dominant hamster in the pair. They don’t lack food, in fact their shared hoard is huge, and there is no fighting over food. They sit happily in the same bowl. It’s only when we feed a treat to Eric first that we get a squeak from Ernie..... as he is the most food orientated.
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