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rebel
07-03-2009, 03:05 PM
Hi everyone,

I adopted a Syrian hamster (Timothy) from a pet store five days ago. He is such a sweetie but he doesn't seem to be eating very much food. Right now, I'm feeding him Hazel Hamster Mix, and I'm sure he's sneaking some when I'm not looking because I've found partially eaten pieces in his house, but he certainly hasn't eaten very much of it. And I've yet to see him stuff his cheeks. His food bowl looks untouched. He does eat his lettuce and carrots, and he ate a bit of the seed bar that I gave him last night, however, I am still a bit worried. His water hasn't really gone down either. I've only owned dwarf hamsters in the past, and my last one was diabetic and ate lots of food and drank tonnes of water, so I've gone from one extreme to the other. Do Syrians have a smaller appetite and do they generally consume very little water?

Like I said, I've only had him for five days, and before I got him, he lived in a small bin in the back of the pet store for almost two months because he was too old to be on display (he's probably about 4 months) and they had to make room for the newer shipments of hamsters. For the first couple of days, he didn't even know how to use the wheel I have for him- although he's got it all figured out now :D He is very active and alert and super friendly. If he wasn't so active, etc... I would be a lot more worried. Could his lack of appetite be because he is still adjusting to his new environment? I'm going to cook him some egg and chicken tonight, but he NEEDS to eat his dry food too. I'm going to try a different mix (the one they fed him at the petstore), but does anyone have any advise or input?

Thanks!

Bunsey
07-04-2009, 08:56 AM
i'm not too sure really, but the word "lettuce" rang alarm bells for me somewhat.. how much lettuce are you feeding him (and carrot too), because they only need the tiniest amounts of veg (actually they don't NEED any veg). I only give one tiny piece (half an inch square or less) less than every day and only of ONE veg or other. I never give lettuce because it's water content is too high and can give them diarrohea.

If you're feeding too much complementary food then he won't eat his mix (it's like giving a child a ton of cookies and wondering why they don't eat their dinner ;))

They don't drink much and my dwarfs do drink about twice as much as Syrians. It could also be that he's getting so much water from the lettuce that he's not thirsty.

Unless he's underweight or looks too thin, don't feed him anything else other than his dry food for a while and see how that goes.

He also doesn't need to have chicken AND eggs in the same day. I'd just give chicken one day and egg a few days later. about 50% of days my hams don't have anything other than their dry food and when they do have a treat (e.g. chicken, egg, veg) they have one tiny piece of ONE of these only.

rebel
07-04-2009, 01:25 PM
Thanks Bunsey

Don't worry, he didn't get both chicken and eggs yesterday. I gave him a tiny piece of scrambled eggs and he ate one tiny hamster bite. He also got a bit (about the size of my fingernail) of oatmeal with flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and wheatgerm mixed in- which he liked. I know that the petstore frequently gives their hamsters lettuce and carrots, as I called to ask what food he had been given there. However, when he gets veggies from me, he only gets a small amount. And I finally saw him drink yesterday. I'm not as worried about him anymore, now that I know he is eating and drinking.

Thanks for your advice, that was really helpful :)

souffle
07-04-2009, 03:05 PM
Sometimes you barely notice how much a hamster eats. We do tend to give them quite a lot but the average syrian only eats about 5-10g a day which is only about a teaspoon maximum. As long as he is active, curiousm glossy and not looking boney I am sure he is eating well. We give our hamsters a little bit of fruit or veg or a bit of chicken etc ever second day or so and they seem to enjoy it.

rebel
07-04-2009, 08:11 PM
Thanks Souffle :)

Timothy is active at night and his eyes are bright and his coat looks healthy. He does however tend to sit very still in the corners of his cage and stare out at the room, especially after he first wakes up in the evening. It's like he gets lost in his little hammy thoughts ;)

I think I'm just used to Poonchki and how he would devour his food each night. I spent six months constantly monitoring his food and water intake and controlling his diet, so having a non-diabetic hamster is a bit of a change for me. I think I just need to relax and stop being an overprotective hamster mommy ;)