Ideas for a hammy slimming plan?

[Emma]

It's hit home today that Merry may be a teensy bit overweight! Apart from being 1/3 heavier than his brother, he looks podgy. He has the same diet as Pip, but is a porker!



At the moment he has Harry Hamster, about 1/2 tbsp per day which he never gets through, with about 1/2 tsp of Trill every few days (that always goes first!!). He also has a small piece of fresh fruit/veg every few days, usually has a dog biscuit on the go, and occasional other treats like peanuts in shells or banana chips.



Exercise-wise he runs in his wheel a lot, but doesn't like to use his exercise ball, and isn't very active when I give him playtime in the bath. He's not a very handleable hamster, never really settled to it like his brother, so I don't like to handle him needlessly so as not to stress him.



I'm going away for a week leaving him with my housemates, but when I get back, I think it might be diet time.....what do others think, should I try and lose a few g off him?



My idea was to make up my own diet mix for him, based on cereals, dried vegetables and dog kibble for protein, absolutely no nuts or seeds to get the fat content down. He could have fresh vegetables and fresh/dried fruit as well. My aim would be to base the diet around complex carbs/fibre, make sure he gets sufficient protein, vits & minerals, and keep the fat and simple carbs down to a minimum.



I'd have to work out nutritional values of things to get proportions.....from an article I've read on lab hamster nutrition (reviewing various studies) I have the following values for a hamster diet:



Protein 14% (maintenence)

Fibre 12-20%

Fat <5% (maybe even lower on a slimming plan??)

Carbohydrate 65%



Calcium 6g/kg, Phosphorus 3.5g/kg, Ca:P ration 2:1

Selenium 0.15mg/kg (maintenence)

Iodine 0.15mg/kg

Molybdenum 0.1mg/kg

Iron >10mg/kg?? (mild deficiency at this level, so more)

Vit A 1.1 mg/kg

Vit E 42 µmol/kg

Biotin 0.2 mg/kg (supplied by coprophagy)

Choline 1.8 g/kg

Folate 2mg/kg

Pantothenic acid 10 mg/kg



I'd concentrate on getting the basic balance right and that the major nutrients were right.



Does anyone have any other ideas, or think that this is a good/bad idea? Or ideas on what ingredients I could use in this diet?

[babyboos]

I think that protein figure is a bit low, especially for a Roborovski. I'd aim for nearer 20%. I find this reduces cannabilism dramtically in colony situations. My guys seem to really appreciate protein rich diets but like the seeds the most :oops:

[Emma]

I'm taking this from notes I made on the article....I really need to get the information again that I took it from to re-evaluate it!!! The protein was 14% maint and 18% preg/lact/growth etc, but you're right it's for syrians.



Yup all my robs love the seeds the best too, the Trill always goes almost as soon as it's in the bowl!! Millet really isn't that fatty (not like sunflower seeds & peanuts which are 50% fat), to be honest I'm not sure why Merry is so big, he has the same diet as his brother!



This is going to give me a headache working this out....do you think it's worth it? I don't want to just take bits out of the HH because 1. I think that's fiddlier than making up a small amount of my own mix and 2. I do want to ensure a balanced diet.

[PJ]

Hi emma Does the rob actually have fat on him you can feel? I have seen robs all kinds of shapes and sizes but never seen an overweight one. my bounce was much smaller than pogo. Pogo was a big rob she wasnt fat though just wide set I guess.. I couldnt feel any flabby bits on her.

I dont know if this will work for robs but for my dwarfs when they are overly porky I increase the amount of fresh veg cut out nuts and sunflower seeds I feed them freshly cooked lean chicken and Tofu along with the regular harry hamster I have found changing the dry mix doesnt help buit the addition of foods that speed up the metabolism does. I usually avoid seeds for a few weeks with them too till they are a bit trimmer as a spray of millet is quickly noticable on a hamster that eats the whole thing in one night :lol:

veg wise they get everything I can get my hands on a regular salad they love brocolli so they get that allong with cauliflower, carrot, cabbage, dark green salad leaves, celery etc they all get shopped up and thrown in in a bowl and replaced once they start drooping.

[Emma]

Hi PJ....he is definitely a round little boy, he's the same size (as in length) as his brother but 10g heavier, which is a fair amount in robo terms.

He doesn't pay much attention to any fresh food that he is given, he gets a small amount every few days or so (whatever I've been eating myself, he gets all sorts) but never eats it all, it is either left or just a few nibbles taken out of it. I forgot to mention that as well as fruit/veg fresh food is also sometimes things like ham, chicken, egg.