Why is Bernie not eating her dry food?

tylerandloki · 07-14-2017, 09:17 AM

Hello, I have a 6-month-old Syrian female hamster named Bernie. She is a very happy and healthy little hammy, sleeps well, has a huge appetite, and eats ALL fresh food I give her. I usually give it to her outside the cage to make sure she eats it, and she very gladly eats everything, including meat. I give her pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds too, however, she usually just stuffs them in her pouches. Sometimes I take a few seeds or pellets from her dry food mix and give it to her from my hand for fun, and she always stuffs them into her pouches. However, this past she has hardly eaten any of her dry food from her bowl! I can't understand why. She runs in her wheel, is friendly, has no visible injuries. She might be a bit too chubby, but that's all I can think of. This is a huge hamster - twice the size of my precious hamster (although he was male), so she does need a decent amount of food (170 g about a month ago). Does anyone have an idea what's wrong with her? Is she sick? Is she just bored of her food? Should I change her food mix? It's Harry Hamster at the moment, and she's loved it so far. What can I do? Do I change her food bowl? I'm very worried about my little baby, she's far too young to be sick

Drago · 07-14-2017, 10:10 AM

She may be bored, or she may just be picky. Fresh foods hardly put a hamster off of their main diet, but I always lessen the amount I offer if I notice they're not eating all of their mix. Try to cut the treats completely, and only offer a bit of fresh foods for 24-48 hours and see if that helps to encourage her. If she seems happy and healthy otherwise, she's unlikely to be ill. Just keep an eye on her and try to encourage her best you can. Best wishes

tylerandloki · 07-18-2017, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drago

She may be bored, or she may just be picky. Fresh foods hardly put a hamster off of their main diet, but I always lessen the amount I offer if I notice they're not eating all of their mix. Try to cut the treats completely, and only offer a bit of fresh foods for 24-48 hours and see if that helps to encourage her. If she seems happy and healthy otherwise, she's unlikely to be ill. Just keep an eye on her and try to encourage her best you can. Best wishes

Thank you very much!