Too small???

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-28-2016, 05:45 PM

Here are the weights of my 4 dwarves, not counting the 2 new ones cause I can't weigh them yet. I'm going to change up their diet to Higgins Sunburst seed mix & Kaytee or Mazuri Lab blocks?
I don't know which one would be better? Probably Kaytee Forti Diet Lab blocks?

I'm kind of concerned cause they are all on the light-weight side but all 3 except Rose run non-stop on their wheels.

Here are their weights:
Rose 20 mo Winter White w/ tumor...34 G
Koala 6 mo Russian dwarf 32 G
Cinnamon 7 mo Russian dwarf 40 G
Latte 10 mo robo 23 G

Do you think they stash/ clear out their food dish cause they don't like their Vita Kraft vita smart seed mix?

I'm going to take Higgins out tonight of the freezer and switch them over & see if they don't fatten up a little?

Any suggestions welcomed?

cypher · 03-28-2016, 09:12 PM

They are all a bit on the small side but Russian hams weight can vary a lot from one to another, how do they feel in your hand, if they feel thin then you may need to make some changes but if not these weights may be ok for them.
Is it the first time you weighed them? It's only really when you've been weighing regularly for a while that you can get a proper idea & watch out for any changes.

I did notice in some of your photos that the blocks you feed are really big for a dwarf ham, do they manage to eat those all right? I would try breaking them up into smaller pieces.

How often do you feed or top up bowls & how much of their food do they eat?

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-29-2016, 02:47 AM

I just bought the scale, so was excited to use it, I think the weights are not surprising since the run so much, but Rose doesn't run & she's light too? They don't appear to be too thin thou by looking at them. I'll weigh them one every week & see how they do?

The blocks are soft, Pet-Co uses this food for all their small animals. Rose has been on them all her life. They just nibble away at them. It's the Vita smart they don't like, I'm almost 100% sure. Tonight they'll be getting Higgins Sunburst seed mix.

Just a little bit of seed mix, so they eat those blocks too. I do break them in 1/2 sometimes but they'll eat them without breaking them too from being used to it at the pet store.

Rose, Izzy & Maddi all are on Kaytee blocks only, Rose gets seeds but she prefers the pellets. I think I won't introduce seeds to them right now.

Latte, Cinnamon & Koala all get the seeds & they love them but I don't think they eat anything else besides the seeds so I'm cutting way back on the seeds for them. What do you feed your hammies?

cypher · 03-29-2016, 03:25 AM

I'm a bit confused as to why they give soft blocks to animals that need hard food to constantly wear down their teeth?
Even if they have chews they should be wearing their teeth down on the food mostly, seems a bit strange to me.

Seeds are really good for them but they do need to be part of a balanced diet not just an add on really.
I feed a combination of a few different mixes but nothing you can get over there, except they do have a little bit of oxbow which I think it pretty good overall even though the protein is a bit low.

They shouldn't be underweight from running in the wheels, sometimes you have to take care with very young babies over doing it in the wheel but adults should be fine.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-29-2016, 03:37 AM

So you mean that it's ok to feed 1/2 seed mix & 1/2 blocks?

That's what I'd like to do?

The Pet-C0 lab blocks aren't real soft, they aren't so hard though where a baby robo couldn't eat from it either? So they just break off tiny pieces of it with their teeth and then just keep wearing it down from there

cypher · 03-29-2016, 04:12 AM

As long as the nutrition levels work out right with half & half that should be fine.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-29-2016, 04:35 AM

Yes, they do. I know your not a fan of Mazuri but I noticed that Cinnamon likes the Mazuri better than the Kaytee. I've been giving them a choice. Koala hides his so I can't tell?

Since 3 of them are fine with the Kaytee Forti Diet, meal worms & veggies, maybe they'll get a tiny bit of seeds too (probably)

But the other 3, Latte, Cinnamon & Koala, I'll put them on a Mazuri & Sunburst Diet then just leave it in there till its' gone. But I have a soft spot so if I see that they haven't exactly finished their entire lab block, I'll put more seeds in the next night. ( I think breaking them in smaller pieces is a good idea!)

What should I do about Latte & Koala who stash the entire bowl? Should I check their stashes daily and just not give them anymore food till the stash goes down?

WinnieTheHam · 03-29-2016, 05:04 AM

I think Nutritional content should come before palatability. Feed the food that is better for them, They will eventually eat it if they need to. They should still find it palatable but if you want to put weight on them and make them healthy the correct nutrition is the way to go. Do you not have Oxbow where you are? Apparently that's one of the best feeds for hams in the US.

Most people, I think, feed their hams every 2-3 days, and they feed veg every other day, or 2-3 times a week.

cypher · 03-29-2016, 05:11 AM

If they stash the whole bowl then yes I would check their stash, maybe every couple of days to see how much is eaten.
They do need a stash so shouldn't be forced to eat all of it but on the other hand it doesn't need to be huge!
I agree, especially if they get fussy, it's best to just give 2 or 3 days food in one go & not fill the bowl again until it's gone.
I also agree about oxbow & it's a nice size for dwarf hams too.
With all the hams you have now it will make life much easier if you can feed them all the same & stick to a 2 or 3 day routine.
I do give veg daily though.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-29-2016, 05:14 AM

Wow! I feed mine every night. Maybe I should make that every 2-3 nights and just put enough food in there to last? My stashers would love that though, couldn't do that for them cause a lot of food would go to waste.

Pet Smart uses Oxbow but I usually buy my pets from Pet-Co. So my hammies are already used to the Kaytee diet when they come home with me. That's what makes it so convenient.

Pet Smart isn't carrying any animals where I live right now, they are having trouble with their supplier. I hear they will be using a supplier closer to where I live, hopefully. They weren't getting the animals until they were 6 months old with their old supplier, at least 6 months old. I think people want babies and weren't buying them? Just guessing?

If given a choice Oxbow doesn't go over too good with my hamily. My robo used to eat it but as soon as I started giving her the seed mix she wouldn't touch the Oxbow anymore and I didn't use tough love. My fault!