Syrian hamster weighs 23g?!!!!!

Olizie · 07-13-2020, 02:56 AM

Hi!
Basically my Syrian hamster is around 6 months old and he’s a male and yesterday I thought I would weigh him to check if his weight was ok because he felt quite light compared to what I though Syrian hamsters should weigh. So I weighed him a few times to double check and he’s only 23g! He is from a pet store (I KNOW YOU SHOULDN’T EVER GET PETS FROM THERE BUT I HADNT DONE ANY RESEARCH UNTIL I CAME ACROSS A HAMSTER YOUTUBER THEN I STARTER RESEARCHING AND I REALISED EVERYTHING I WAS DOING WAS WRONG BUT DONT WORRY IVE FIXED IT AND I WONT BUY FROM PET SHOPS AGAIN). Anyway he’s from a pet store and I saw somewhere that pet store hamsters will weigh slightly less however this is pretty concerning for his age I think. He does always have food though (I use the Harry hamster muesli and sprinkle some herbs around and give him some forage mixes occasionally) but he does always have food around his cage (I scatter feed him). Also it’s not like he lost weight because I’ve weighed him quite often since I got him but he’s just always been so light and he hasn’t really put on any weight since around a month. But yeah so he’s a male six month old Syrian hamster and hes 23g... is this normal? Do you think there’s anything wrong or what do you think is causing this? Or is this just a normal thing?
Thanks !!

souffle · 07-13-2020, 03:31 AM

I would say that the pet shop has wrongly advised you of the species of your hamster. This size would be within an acceptable size for a Roborovski hamster or possibly a very small 'Russian dwarf'
Can you post a picture please.

LunaTheHamster1 · 07-13-2020, 04:30 AM

I agree with Souffle, I don't think you have a syrian hamster. Please post a picture if you can and we can help identify your hamster for you.

EmmaAndChester · 07-13-2020, 06:09 AM

Your scales is broken; I would suggest changing the batteries, or getting a new one. It is impossible for an adult Syrian to be 23g!

Pebbles82 · 07-13-2020, 11:49 AM

Yes might be broken scales - I think 23g May be too low even for a dwarf hamster. I think our Robo was 30g (smallest species of dwarf hamster). Are you sure it isn’t 123g?