Theodore- the boy I couldn't leave

[Emma Marie]

Hi, I'm sure most of you know by now that I lost my beautiful teddy last week. Yesterday I decided to deep clean his cage as I hated seeing it with all his thing in but empty.

Today I went into town with my mum and we decided to go into pets at home to get a new sand bath for Sapphire. It was there we heard about 'Norman'.
He is a dwarf hamster who has been at pets at home for just over six months now. He was first adopted to a family with another dwarf however he was returned as the two hamsters fought. Pets at home then put him back with the other hamsters but once again fighting occurred and this time he was injured.

Theo has resided in a small adoption cage for the past three months. He is overweight but he is absolutely beautiful and my mum and I could not leave him there.

When Theo arrived home I immediately noticed that his urine was very potent and was instantly suspicious of diabetes due to his size. At the store he was apparently getting lots of treats and normal hamster food.
I am not sure whether to contact pets at home about possible vet care as I did adopt him. I also noticed he has a lot of fur cracks?

Currently I have started him on the same food as Sapphire Burgess Dwarf Premium however I am removing the corn and yellow food. I have given him a little celery and cucumber. In himself he seems okay just very sleepy. I have weighed him and he weighs 69g.

I am not sure whether to take him to the vets as I am not sure whether there is much more information they can add. I will be purchasing the diabetes test kit from my local pharmacy on Monday.

I know it is very soon after Teddy but I simply could not leave him there as he was so friendly and came straight up to us. I felt so bad for him as he was in such a small cage with just a flying saucer and a small house.

[cypher]

Congrats on little Theo, he looks lovely

69g isn't that heavy & he doesn't look overweight as far as I can tell from your photos, a good sized cage with lots of enrichment & a large enough wheel will encourage him to get plenty of exercise which he may have been lacking in P@H so I really wouldn't worry about his weight just yet, give him time to settle, keep a check on his weight as part of your regular health checks & see how things go.
I haven't heard of Burgess dwarf hamster premium, is that the same as the dwarf hamster harvest?
It's very important that you don't remove anything from the food, doing so will just upset the balance of nutrients & he won't be getting everything he needs, just feed it as is.
You can give a wide range of veg, just not too much or too often with the sweeter veg, try to give plenty of variety but introduce new things gradually..
I'm not sure what you mean by fur cracks, do you mean his skin or just his fur?
Make sure he has a sand bath with chinchilla sand to keep both his fur & skin in good condition, if he does have skin problems then there are things that might help or he may need to see a vet.
Testing for diabetes is a good idea if you're concerned but don't stress him too much trying to get a sample while he's still settling into his new home. It may be best to wait a while let him settle, make sure he's drinking ok as even slight dehydration could cause changes in his urine & he will probably be scent marking quite a lot to begin with too.

[CMB]

Congratulations on adopting such a lovely hamster. He doesn’t look over weight to me. He weight about the same as one of my dwarf hamsters (Willow).

Hope he settles in well and you can build a nice bond with him.

[Burakki]

Theo looks so lovely! I’m happy that he finally found a good permanent home with you, I’m looking forward to seeing him exploring his new cage and getting used to being loved.

[BorisPasha]

Aww Theo is gorgeous. I'm glad you were able to give him a home. I don't think he looks overweight either. Two of my hybrids weighed more than that although one is lighter now due to ill health. His fur looks lovely, it looks very thick

[Thin Lizzy]

A huge congratulations on adopting Theo, he's so beautiful.

[Emma Marie]

Thank you everyone yes his fur is SO fluffy and he likes to be stroked so I'm in heaven

[Josie]

Theo is such a lovely little boy, congratulations on adopting this handsome little hamster