how can you get your hamster to lose weight healthily

hamsterdan1234 · 07-26-2015, 05:11 AM

my hamster is about 3-4 months old and he is a bit overweight how can I get him to lose weight healthily

Piebald · 07-26-2015, 05:17 AM

Hi hamsterdan, can you tell us more? What kind of hamster is he? What kind of cage does he have and what is in it? What do you feed him, how much and how often? Does he get any play time out of the cage, where, how much and how often? How much does he weigh? Has he gained weight? How long have you owned him?

I'm afraid without details no one can help you.

Shannonmcn · 07-26-2015, 05:27 AM

A healthy weight for a syrian can vary from as low as 100g to over 300g so dont go by the number on the scale to judge their health. Is he visibly fat or have trouble climbing and moving around?

Assuming yes: Do you feed him any high fat treats or "extras" like cheese or nuts or yoghurt drops? What's the fat content in his food mix? I think I've read somewhere that 8% is a decent number to aim for but any decent complete mix like harry hamster or burgess supahamster should be fine. Don't decrease the amount of food you give, they don't generally over eat, so instead change what foods you are giving and focus on fresh veg or proteins like plain cooked chicken and mealworms as treats.

Is he running on his wheel every night? Sometimes if the wheel is too small it can hurt their back and a Syrian should have a 11-12" wheel unless they are very small. Do you give him any free roaming time outside the cage? You can increase that or take him out twice in a night after a break for water or a rest. You could also give him more to do in his cage like putting his dinner inside a food puzzle like an egg box or a cracker made from a toilet roll and some paper or just start scatter feeding.