Concerned dwarf hamster owner!

[sailorjerry]

Hello all,

after frantically googling, looking for advice, I came across this forum. I feel this may be the best place for me to get some useful and accurate advice.

I got my first Russian Dwarf Hamster in August 2015. She lives in a Habitrail OVO dwarf cage and I have her out in her ball every night for ten minutes. It's only every other weekend when I don't take her out, as I am out of the house a lot. I try to give her fresh vegetables, but she doesn't seem interested.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to get at, is she seems to have become very overweight. Tonight she actually got stuck in her tube! I don't give her treats. Her dwarf hamster food does contain sunflower seeds, but after speaking to the shop I got her from, they told me to take them out. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice? I'm getting quite worried. She was TINY when I bought her, and now she's rather podgy!

[racinghamster]

Hi, welcome. Have you considered that the tubes may be too narrow? I don`t know what width the Ovo tubes are but I suspect they are an adequate width for a Russian dwarf, although toilet roll tubes can be too narrow for a Russian dwarf once they `fill out` so toilet roll tubes should be avoided unless it`s for a Roborovski or a slim Chinese hamster.

Sunflower seeds are added to hamster foods for a reason, so rather than remove them altogether, perhaps only feed a couple a day? Leave them in parts of the cage for her to find or hand feed them as a treat. But don`t pick them out altogether as hamsters do enjoy them and they do form part of the balanced diet.

It`s rather typical of a pet shop to give advice that removes something the hamster enjoys, even if that ingredient is reduced, rather than removed. If she uses her wheel all the time or during the night, this will also help her run off some energy.

Some hamsters are just podgy! What mix do you currently feed her on and do you feed small pieces of raw veg? What are those pellets on the cage floor?

[Penguin]

Hmm she doesn't look overweight to me. Thought maybe she is rather heavy.
I found that a large cage and deep substrate helped my hamster to become more active. A hammy should have a single floorspace of least a 70x40cm to run around on according to the RSPCA.
I actually had this problem to the point where a vet told me my hamster needed to lose weight.
I was told to give my hammy more out of the cage time. Completely stop with feeding meal worms and substitute it with plain cooked chicken or eggwhites. To only give her a teaspoon of food a day and don't fill her bowl before it's empty.
She has now lost 13g and indeed seems happier. She is also way more interested in trying new things for some reason, but I don't know if that is just her being odd or if that's the result of her losing a bit.
Hope this helps, your hammy is gorgeous

[cypher]

Aww she looks lovely!
She doesn't look big to me either, you need to weigh her to get a better idea of whether she may be over weight or not but even then their weight can vary but it helps to keep a record.
I suspect the problem with her getting stuck is simply that the tubes are too small.
In a cage like that she will lack exercise, there's no room to run around, have a good dig or forage in substrate & the wheel may well be too small as well.
I wouldn't use a ball for a dwarf, if you can buy or make a playpen for her, put some toys & a wheel in there, even just cardboard boxes, egg boxes or toilet roll tubes make great toys if you're short on them.
Ideally you need to get her a better cage so she can live more naturally, they don't need tubes or levels, just a nice big space, lots of substrate, a nice house (again a cardboard box with holes cut in will do) a good size wheel (about 20cm is good).
I wouldn't take any thing out of her food, a good dwarf hamster mix with nothing removed is the best thing.
Not many hams will overeat so improving her environment is the best way forward, if you need help with any of that just ask away!

[sailorjerry]

Thank you all for your helpful posts! Maybe she is just naturally a little chunkster haha.

The food I currently give her is Burgess Dwarf Hamster mix.
She can fit in toilet roll tubes no problem, but I have been looking at replacing the dwarf tubes for Syrian hamster tubes. I currently have her in her ball on it's stand next to me. I guess it's good to know that she's still very lively and playful. I am currently looking into getting her a playpen. Do any of you have any recommendations? Maybe it's that I just need to buy her a new cage...?

Thank you for all the compliments also - She's called Pepper

[sailorjerry]

Originally Posted by racinghamster

Some hamsters are just podgy! What mix do you currently feed her on and do you feed small pieces of raw veg? What are those pellets on the cage floor?

Burgess Dwarf Hamster mix
I tried feeding her Peppers - wasn't too interested. Tried feeding her carrots - again, not too interested! Finally a little bit of Kiwi, again not too interested!

The pellets are wooden litter pellets - an alternative to wood shavings

[Artisans_uk]

Hiya sailorjerry, playpens can take various forms, I have included a couple of pictures of the variations that I have used and am currently using. It is a great way to give your hamster time out of the cage. You can even dry your bath, if you have one, put a sheet in and then add toys and let your little girl have a good run around.

The balls can be dangerous for dwarf hamsters as their feet can get through the slits and cause damage to legs and paws.

As for the cage, I would definitely replace the Ovo cage. Again this doesn't need to be expensive as you can buy a large plastic storage box and with some adaptions make a great new home. Have a look at the section on housing on the forum, plenty of bin cages, as they are called, for you to see. There are other ideas in the DIY section too.

The tubes on the Ovo really are too small and if your ham is finding it difficult to get through them sometimes, there is a definite risk of her getting stuck and this could happen when you are not around to help her.

Here's some pictures of the playpens I have used:-
Playpen by artisans_jw, on Flickr

IMAG2605 by artisans_jw, on Flickr

IMAG2607 by artisans_jw, on Flickr

A word of caution with this type, make sure nothing is too close to the "fence" so that your hamster can't climb out!

Here's my current playpen:-
by artisans_jw, on Flickr

It is over a metre in length. I built up the sides to make sure none of my adventurous gang could climb out, (or make a flying leap for that matter, as Marram loves to fly!) and inserted a section of metal playpen so I could attach the wheel securely.

Metal bars in cardboard box playpen. by artisans_jw, on Flickr

Hope you find some ideas to help your situation.

[cypher]

I use a very similar playpen to Artisans, you can get them here at zooplus Metal Run for Small Pets | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!
Zooplus is also a good place to look for cages, I think you're little ham would do far better in a new cage, replacing the tubes really won't make much difference to her life.

[Artisans_uk]

Have a look on all the second hand sites, Gumtree, eBay, Shpock etc as the metal playpens often appear on there. I got the one in the picture for £3 on eBay and the second metal one that I have came with a 2nd hand cage I bought on Gumtree.

[sailorjerry]

Thank you so much for your detailed and more importantly, helpful, replies!

I have spoken to my boyfriend and we are going to look into buying a new cage I think.

I must say, those pens are seriously impressive! I hope mine can live up to that stature!
I'll keep you all updated. Thanks again!