What do I do?

[Melissa_2424]

Hello HC!

I need help! I have two russian dwarf hams in a cage, they are sisters. I noticed that Pip was gaining a lot more weight than Squeak. She has grown significantly bigger than Squeak in the fast few weeks that I've had them. She is looking a little too fat and she needs to go on a diet. I've thought about cutting their food down but I'm worried Squeak will loose weight too (she definitely doesn't need to). The problem is that whenever I put fresh food down in the morning, Pip's the first one out and hordes or eats almost a whole 2 teaspoons of food. There are two bowls, both are filled with 2 teaspoons of hamster mix everyday, and most mornings Pip eats out of both. I always make sure Squeak gets enough food, giving her more mealworms as treats than I do with Pip.

So my questions is, how do I get Pip to loose some weight without it affecting Squeak?

P.S I'm not comfortable putting Pip in a hamster ball yet because I only got them a few weeks ago. I want to cause as little stress as possible!

Thanks!

[cypher]

Hamsters don't often get over weight & normally regulate their food intake, only eating what they need & stashing the rest so this isn't so much about Pip eating too much as it is about a dominance issue, you should never put a ham on a diet as such as this can result in them getting a nutritionally unbalanced diet & giving Squeak extra mealworms really isn't helping too much either as she will be getting a bit too much protein & fat & not enough of the other essential nutrients she needs if you keep doing this.
One option is to stop using bowls completely & just scatter feed which will give Squeak a much better chance of getting to food before it's all been nabbed by Pip, you can do this by literally scattering the food widely across the cage & also finding places to hide the food in the cage (egg boxes are good!) this is good practise anyway with a pair or a single ham.
Have you considered separating them? That would solve the problem & Squeak may be a lot happier alone being the submissive one.

I really wouldn't recommend using balls for dwarf hams btw as they can be very dangerous & many dwarf hams really don't like them & get very stressed, running in the ball may look as though they are enjoying it while they are actually desperately looking for a way to escape.

ETA I just had a quick look at your other thread & see you give them yogurt carrot & apple drops, I would avoid giving sweetened commercial treats like these, if you got your girls from a pet shop then they are hybrids & have a greater risk of developing diabetes so avoid anything sweet, stick to natural seeds like sunflower, flax or millet, the occasional monkey nut, moderate amounts of mealworms or tiny pieces of plain cooked or dried chicken, fresh veg rather than fruits & other healthy natural foods for treats.