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Old 02-09-2020, 12:53 PM   #1
Vierville
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Default Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

Hello. So my little Baldrick, a Russian dwarf hybrid of around 12 weeks old has in the last three weeks become noticeably more rotund.

I'm a bit concerned as he now weighs 50 grams (Saturday). Five days ago on Monday he weighed 47 grams.

When I got him he was a tiny baby of three weeks old. I'm a bit concerned as I feed him the same hamster food as I give my other three (Versele Laga mini hamster and Puur dwarf hamster mix and fresh green veggies) yet he has put on weight very fast.

I tried for this past week reducing the amount of fresh veggies to a quarter of the amount I normally give but he is still gaining weight.

He has two wheels to choose from in his cage and he does run in them every night.

What else can I do to get his weight down?

I don't want to restrict his access to food as I know that hamsters have a need to hoard food so they must have access to it.
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Old 02-09-2020, 01:34 PM   #2
Ria P
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

I'm not sure why you are concerned because 50g isn't overweight and you don't know how much food exactly he had in his pouches at time of weighing.

Russian dwarf hybrids have a rounded body shape and some are fluffier than others. Percy is rotund and fluffy and he has a habit of carrying some food on him wheras Edwina is smooth haired and dark furred so has a natural avantage of looking slimmer.

Let's see a photo of Baldrick.
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Old 02-09-2020, 01:42 PM   #3
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

Thanks RiaP.

You are right, 50 grams isn't that heavy but I guess what alarmed me is in one week he literally transformed into a solid little tennis ball from quite a sleek hamster. I thought he was carrying food in his pouches but I felt him gently and couldn't feel anything...on my others you can clearly feel the food in their cheeks.

I'm not concerned about him being pudgy on its own but rather I am concerned that such rapid weight gain may be a symptom of something else wrong?

Am in a hotel on a night stop for the next three nights but will see if I can get my wife to send a current picture of him.
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Old 02-09-2020, 01:56 PM   #4
Ria P
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

You could easily test for diabetes to rule that out and then i would turn him over to look at his tummy to see if he's bloated. Check him over for lumps or anything that could contribute to his rounder appearance once you're back home obviously.

We'd need to see two photos of before and after the weight gain. What puzzles me is that he transformed from a sleek hamster into a tennis ball by gaining 3g.

My robo Gordon can look perfectly round by just sitting in a certain way.
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Old 02-09-2020, 02:08 PM   #5
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

Its not the 3 grams I'm concerned about, I only started weighing him this last week when I got a digital scale and took two weights, one on Monday (47g) and the last one on Saturday (50g) but he had definitely begun his visible weight gain the week before. Not having a scale then, I don't know how much he weighed but he was visibly thinner up until about two weeks ago.

I've checked his whole body and thankfully no lumps or anything unusual.

A friend is bringing me some Diastix from the UK next week and so I'll test him for urine glucose levels along with all of them just for interest's sake.

Will post before and after photos as soon as I have them.

He might also just be a genetically bigger hamster than my others. I know their weights vary but I was alarmed at how quickly he seemed to grow.
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Old 02-09-2020, 02:20 PM   #6
Ria P
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

Maybe it is a growth spurt. I used to worry about my Syrian Henry when he was a youngster and thought that he was small and weedy looking until he suddenly started to grow really fast and ended up a 230g hamster.
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Old 02-09-2020, 02:23 PM   #7
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

I'm hoping it's a growth spurt too. He's outwardly a very healthy and energetic little fellow.
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Old 02-17-2020, 07:49 AM   #8
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

Just an update,a week later little Baldrick now weighs 63 grams. That is a gain of about 13 grams in around 10 days.

He is the only one of my hamsters who completely empties his food bowl each night regardless of whether I dish a teaspoon of food or three tablespoons.

Since day one he's been very conspicuously more interested in his food than my others.

I really don't mind if he's a bit on the chubby side but just wanted to ask anybody on here with similar experience if this may be a sign that he has some metabolic condition? I'd hate to not know the signs and not get him the care he may need.

P.S. he is definitely a Russian Dwsrf hamster and not a Syrian!
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Old 02-17-2020, 09:24 PM   #9
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Default Re: Baldrick the pudgy young hamster

I've had one or two hams that are noticeably more interested in food than others, as long as he's active & well then I would doubt any disorder being the cause of it.
Best to just continue giving the right amount of food, maybe avoid any of the treats that are particularly high in fat & encourage activity if need be.
He's still quite young & may have some growing to do yet, they can vary a lot in weight so probably nothing to do yet.
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