Dwarf hamster low on weight

Sukizmama · 09-24-2018, 03:12 PM

Ok I have a two year old dwarf snow white hybrid. I have moved her to slightly bigger cage. She is cleaning up herself better. The yellow spots have almost went away. She is still very thin looking. Very picky about her food. We live in Georgia in USA. We don't seem to have all the choices you have in UK. Can anyone lead me to better food choices. I've been buying hamster food from Walmart and I don't trust pet smart. Please help!
I also have two Syrian hamsters both have good weight and fur is shiney and smooth clear eyes and both are growing strong and healthy.Looking to buy bigger cages, I have seen this cage that has five levels,we found it at Amazon.com . I am also looking how to make bigger bin cages do you have any ideas. Thank You.

mangoandmimi · 09-24-2018, 04:07 PM

You could feed a mix of sunburst higgins and a protein booster, I think people add Mazuri rat&mouse as a 60-40 mix (full bag of each). I’d personally mix that in with a small amount of chicken - something like purebites cat treats - to reduce the Mazuri % required. As long as your dwarf keeps to a healthy weight you’ll be okay with the sugar content of sunburst. This food mix would be ok for any species too.
Edit- there is also higgins vita garden which unlike sunburst has no added sugar. The variety it offers is significantly less though. I’d think either would be fine, just depends what you’re looking for in a main mix. Both need a protein supplement.
I also think you can get Burgess dwarf hamster mix off viovet but not sure how much postage is or how viable it is, not sure if anyone on the forum has ordered it off there. I do think it’s a better idea to use what is readily available in your country though to be honest.

Cage wise you won’t find many good ones in the states. Best use fish tanks to be honest. I know people sell 75 gallons on craigslist a lot which would be ok for a Syrian, you wouldn’t want to go smaller than a 40 gallon breeder. Those tanks would be a better option than bin cages imo as very few are suitable for syrians. There’s the iris Christmas tree box which is a nice size which I’m assuming is out now, but it might be too low for a Syrian. The 50 gallon sterilite is smaller but taller. I wouldn’t go any smaller than that for a bin cage anyway as the internal measurements are always significantly less than what is advertised.

Sasha04 · 09-25-2018, 09:37 PM

Mangoandmimi gave great advice!
The Higgins Vita Garden is available and it is okay.
You can also order the Burgess Hamster Harvest off of Amazon. Supa Hamster Supahamster Dwarf Hamster Harvest 700Gm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZGE25A..._SUWQBbH2MB2KB
It is a great food but lacks variety. You should also add fresh veg to their diet too. Start off with a finger nail portion and give it once or twice a week. Slowly increase this.

For cages, you are best going with tanks or DIY. The minimum tank size for a ham is 40 gallons. You can buy these off Craig’s list at a good price. With DIYs, just get creative! Hope all goes well!