Too much corn, not enough kibble?

BrainGirl · 10-07-2013, 10:57 PM

Unlike Timmy who vacuums up every last crumb of his food, Peach is a picky eater. She started out eating everything but the alfalfa pellets in her mix (VitaSmart), now she's avoiding the alfalfa pellets, the red heart-shaped kibbles, and the green round kibbles. I hung a dried corn cob in both of their cages and while Timmy hasn't touched his, Peach has managed to eat almost her whole cob!

Should I take the corn away from her and hope that she'll eat more of her kibbles? Is the corn bad for her in such high amounts? I'm not sure what she's missing out on by not eating the extruded portions of her mix since I don't know what they're actually made of. I've read the ingredients and I can guess what went into them by elimination but I don't know what they add nutritionally other than protein.

racinghamster · 10-09-2013, 05:10 AM

Hi, some hamsters are just choosy, but I wouldn`t eliminate any of the parts within their mix as it`s better to let them choose than choosing for them. Corn is an essential part of their nutritional balance. Could you be offering too much food? I have a single roborovski and tend just to add a fresh teaspoonful every three days or so to make sure he`s having a nibble at everything. If I find the mix is hardly touched, I leave it for a few more days and only feed a small piece of apple as a treat every couple of days and a small piece of millet spray. x

BrainGirl · 10-09-2013, 08:21 AM

I wouldn't take the corn out of the mix itself, I was just wondering if I should remove the whole cob I hung from the roof. It's possible I'm offering too much food but I thought I had it about right. I give about a tablespoon a day, maybe a wee bit more because Peach is a good sized hamster! Plus the occasional treat which can be a bit of baby porridge, some greens, or a couple of cat kibbles.

BrainGirl · 10-09-2013, 08:22 AM

I've also tried leaving her with her untouched kibbles and not topping up her dish but she just eats more corn from the cob :-/

racinghamster · 10-09-2013, 09:43 AM

Yes, I would say she is choosing the large sweet corn treat over her actual mix. Fresh corn on the cobs are better. I used to buy a couple from the supermarket and keep them in the fridge and just use a knife to shave off a few strips for my Syrian and he loved them. The whole dried corns sold as cage treats are enjoyed by hamsters, but I feel they distract the hamster from their daily diet in favour of the big corn treat!

caro317 · 10-09-2013, 05:18 PM

Agreed - if you give most kids a big tub of sweets and then put out their dinner, chances are they'd choose to pig out on the sweet stuff rather than the nutritional goodness - same principle here! I try to only give larger treats in play areas so they have a limited amount of time to gorge themselves!

BrainGirl · 10-09-2013, 06:07 PM

Darn. I really thought it would be ignored most of the time because I hung it from the top. It's quite a job to get at it but apparently she likes corn a lot! Timmy must be really lazy, he only eats what's at nose level