Is he too skinny?

[ArmaniHammi]

Hi, I got my hamster almost two weeks ago and he is perfect , eating and drinking like normal. I weighed him today and he is 80 grams . Is that bad? I dont notice his bones that much and he doesnt look too skinny but I see that the normal syrian weight is between 100 and 200 grams . Should I worry ?

[AprilPearl]

That depends, how old is he? I am assuming he is a syrian. If you just got him, I am assuming he is probably 8 weeks old or younger. In that case, he is probably fine. 80g for an adult (6 months old plus) would be very low though.

[Pebbles82]

As AprilPearl says, it depends how old he is

[ArmaniHammi]

Originally Posted by AprilPearl

That depends, how old is he? I am assuming he is a syrian. If you just got him, I am assuming he is probably 8 weeks old or younger. In that case, he is probably fine. 80g for an adult (6 months old plus) would be very low though.

The lady said he was around 7 weeks old when i got him so he is probably 8 weeks old now

[AprilPearl]

I would say he is fine for his age, particularly for a pet shop hamster which tend to be smaller.

[Pebbles82]

They are mostly fully grown at 8 weeks but can still grow a bit after that. He might be about to have a growth spurt. What diet is he having? You need a good hamster mix with all the nutrients in, like Tiny Friends Harry Hamster. Also you can supplement the protein a bit when they're young - a little bit of scrambled egg on a teaspoon goes down well - maybe every other day. Also you can put a few fresh extras out - maybe a different one each day. A tiny piece of cheese, half a brazil nut, half a pecan nut or walnut. Or a small piece of plain cooked chicken (no spices or gravy or anything) if you have some in some time.

[souffle]

They have a lot more growing to do at 8 weeks old so he has plenty time to grow on. They tend to griw a little more slowly after 6 weeks but I wouldn;t expect them to reach full size and body weight till around 6 months myself. They tend to bulk out more as they mature. From about a year they can then start to lose weight as they go in to older age.

[Pebbles82]

Souffle knows I just went by our last hammy who was huge at 8 weeks and didn't grow much after that, but that's just the one hamster!

[AprilPearl]

My first hamster was only 80-90g at 7/8 weeks, but grew to over 200g by 6 months, so I do think that most hamsters are not fully grown at that age. Serendipity’s boy is likely an exception

[Thin Lizzy]

Sounds like your hammy's weight is fine for his age.