An update & opinion question

[Brittttaaannyyy]

Mittens is doing great! She's eating wonderfully and is very active. Up until this point she would always bite me if I tried to pet her, but I let her smell me daily and would only hold her/pick her up when I was changing her cage bedding and stuff. I just opened her little door to put some new food in there and she climbed out, so I stroked her softly with one finger and she didn't even bite me! I did it a few times before she went back to eat some fresh food. I'm also learning new treats for her. (She's a russian dwarf, only a few months old)
While at the pet store, I found a bag of all natural treats, consisting of many things including fruit, shelled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and peanuts. It says there is sweet potato in there too but I can't tell the difference between the fruit and sweet potato so I don't mess with that. I rarely give her any fruit, and when I do it is very very small.
I was just wondering how many of each of those things would be okay per day as part of her meal. That being said, I noticed last week as I was changing her bedding that she hoarded all of the new stuff she liked and hardly ate any... am I giving too much? I didn't really have a "limit" last week but as of now I am giving her a tablespoon of a complete diet food with 3-5 dried mealworms per day and 2 unsalted peanut halves and 2 pumpkin seeds every other day. She takes them all but I'm not sure if she's just hoarding everything. I know she likes sunflower seeds so as soon as i find unsalted ones i will be buying those too.
What would you recommend per day for my little girl?

[cypher]

Good to hear that Mittens is settling in well, sweet name too!
I wouldn't give her treats containing fruit or sweet potato tbh, I prefer to avoid anything that sweet with Russians, just to be on the safe side as they are prone to diabetes.
I always give sunflower seeds in the shell too so I'd avoid shelled ones, breaking open the shells is good for their teeth & it takes them longer to get each treat! Same goes for pumpkin seeds.
I think you are feeding her a bit too much, it's natural to have a decent size hoard but I would have thought a couple of teaspoons of mix would be plenty, 1 or 2 mealworms is more than enough. I give mine monkey nuts, peanuts in the shell each usually containing 2 nuts, about once a month, it takes them a while to work the nuts out of the shell & eat them. I do give a pumpkin seed most days but not everyday.
I also use things like hemp & flax seeds as part of a treat mix in small doses.
If you don't already you could start to give small pieces of fresh veg every day too.
Hope that helps.

[Brittttaaannyyy]

Thank you for your response! I will definitely cut down her food. another question. I know fruit is bad for them but what about watermelon seeds? The only reason I ask is because I just found a seed mix for hamsters and it contains what I'm looking for, and watermelon seeds. Should I take them out?

[cypher]

I'm really not at all sure about watermelon seeds, sorry.

[BrainGirl]

Yep, they're safe! In fact, you can roast them and eat them yourself just like pumpkin seeds Not too many though, just as a treat. She's just a little hamster after all

[cypher]

That's good to know

[Brittttaaannyyy]

Thank you both!!! she is biting on the stand of her wheel so I'm thinking her cage is too small for her now and her environment is not engaging enough. I bought her a new, bigger cage today and I will be looking for things for her to play on and definitely bite. any suggestions??
Picture of my little girl included!

[BrainGirl]

Awww!!! I can see why you named her Mittens

[cypher]

She's so cute!
Great to hear you got her a bigger cage, finding the right things they enjoy can be a bit of trial & error. Have you tried her with the antos dog chews, mine all enjoy chewing on those, I find hiding treats or some of their food in a toilet roll treat keeps them busy for quite a while as does just finding lots of places to scatter & hide their food, all my dwarfs enjoy playing in egg boxes too!

[Thin Lizzy]

Mittens is a little cutie!
It's always exciting when you buy a new cage, deciding what goes where and what to include in the cage.