Help! Campbell's Dwarf lost a lot of weight!

[MammE]

Hey guys, I'm a newbie here. I have 3 campbell's dwarfs (all girls); one pair and one solo.

Anyways I weigh my hamsters every month and while weighing them this month I've realized that one of them, Beans (lives in a pair with Peanut), has recently lost a lot of weight. Last month she was about 32 grams and now she's 25 grams! I've also noticed that she has been hoarding A LOT more than usual (if that has anything to do with it). Beans had always been a heavier hamster, weighing 30 grams when we got her on November 3, 2017. I'm just concerned about her sudden weight loss .

After doing some searching, I found that weight loss can have something to do with their teeth. I've scruffed Peanut and I've seen her teeth, but when I try to scruff Beans she won't open up her mouth. I plan to take her to the vet this week but I just wanted to know what I can do to help her until then.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[racinghamster]

Hi MammE. It`s good to have their teeth checked because the first sign of weight loss can usually be a problem with either teeth that have over-grown or a tooth being broken or even lost. Hamsters also have back teeth. The last time I seen my vet with my Russian dwarf he shone a bright torch inside his mouth to check the back teeth and the mouth generally, but my hamster had very short upper teeth and longer lower incisors. I was feeding him crushed and softened food at the time though and wanted him to be eating normally. Which he found difficult not having his front teeth meet properly.

Sadly, he also had a tumour in his older age and the vet suggested to keep doing what I was doing and didn`t bother trimming his lower teeth, which I thought personally may have helped with his eating? But as it was, I carried on feeding him crushed/mashed and food that was the consistency of a soft marshmallow rolled into small, soft balls. He ate it, but I wasn`t happy he was not eating `normally` if you know what I mean.

He lived for a good two months after this but the tumour was the cause of death. But if it had been his teeth alone that was stopping him from getting the best nutrients, I don`t suppose the vet done very much to help in that respect, which was always a frustration for me.

Keeping two hamsters in the same cage can also mean that one of the hamsters is `bullied` away from the food, so scatter feeding around the cage can help with this.

[cypher]

It does sound as though it could be a problem with Beans teeth, you could try holding a treat just above her head so you can see her teeth as she reaches up & opens her mouth to take it, if that doesn't work then a vet check will be the best thing.
As RH mentioned sometimes with pairs the more dominant one will prevent the other from getting enough food so even though there is a stash there she may not be able to get adequate food, have you seen any other signs of bullying or falling out between the two?
While you wait to see the vet you can feed soft foods, either soaked hamster mix, porridge/oatmeal or hamster safe baby foods, this might be tricky with a pair though as you won't be sure that it's Beans who's getting it if you leave it in the cage, you could try hand feeding some but it is important that she has food she can eat available all the time so ideally it would need to be left in the cage.

[MammE]

Originally Posted by racinghamster

He lived for a good two months after this but the tumour was the cause of death. But if it had been his teeth alone that was stopping him from getting the best nutrients, I don`t suppose the vet done very much to help in that respect, which was always a frustration for me.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your hamster. I'm afraid that the same thing is happening with Beans, that she's not getting the right nutrients

Originally Posted by cypher

It does sound as though it could be a problem with Beans teeth, you could try holding a treat just above her head so you can see her teeth as she reaches up & opens her mouth to take it, if that doesn't work then a vet check will be the best thing.
As RH mentioned sometimes with pairs the more dominant one will prevent the other from getting enough food so even though there is a stash there she may not be able to get adequate food, have you seen any other signs of bullying or falling out between the two?
While you wait to see the vet you can feed soft foods, either soaked hamster mix, porridge/oatmeal or hamster safe baby foods, this might be tricky with a pair though as you won't be sure that it's Beans who's getting it if you leave it in the cage, you could try hand feeding some but it is important that she has food she can eat available all the time so ideally it would need to be left in the cage.

I've tried to hold a treat above her head but she doesn't open her mouth until the treat is right at her mouth and at that point the treat is blocking my view, if you get what I mean.

I'm even more concerned for Beans because she has been the bigger and more dominant one over Peanut, so its extremely scary that she's gotten so light and small.

I've been soaking her pellets in water to make them soft enough for her. She eats them, but they aren't her favourite; she prefers her seed mix but it alone doesn't have the right nutrients. If I decide to feed her oatmeal, how much do you recommend I feed her and how often? I plan to still leave some soaked hamster pellets in her cage so she can have something while I'm at school, but I would like to feed her the oatmeal as well. I plan to take her to the vet either the 20th or 21st, whenever we can get an appointment. Thank you for the help!