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 01-27-2019, 01:56 PM   #1
Andyg
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 12
Default 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
Andyg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2019, 02:09 PM   #2
mangoandmimi
Little Miss Tinytoes
 
mangoandmimi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 7,036
Default 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.
mangoandmimi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2019, 03:07 PM   #3
Andyg
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 12
Default 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
Andyg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2019, 03:21 PM   #4
alpacassei
PM Fluffy for custom title
 
alpacassei's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK
Posts: 1,109
Default 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.
__________________
<3 Sunflower Custard, Bigfoot, Petal, Stormy, Flurry, Vanilla <3
___________
Angel hamsters: Francisco, Marcello, Peppermint, Mishka, Stephano, Sundae, Peach <3
alpacassei is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2019, 10:07 PM   #5
cypher
Dwarf whisperer
 
cypher's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
Default 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.
__________________
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
❤️
cypher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2019, 12:20 AM   #6
Andyg
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 12
Default Re: Putting one of a pair on a diet

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
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.
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.
Andyg is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
ernie, fatter, diet, pair, putting

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 04:53 PM.