Old hamster nutrition

[Ithuviel]

I'm sorry for making a new thread on this subject. I'm sure there is one allready on the forum and i tried finding it but i couldn't

So apparentrly my male russian dwarf Scormonelli is getting old. I've been suspecting this and i took him to the vet as he was becoming less active but they told me that he is fine and fat (46 grams-i wouldn't call that fat)

Lets start from the begining. I adopted Scormonelli mid December 2019 from some very irresponsible people that kept him with a female and they kept having babies litter after litter. He was in a 30 by 20 cm cage with 10 other hamster (2 litters of pups). The whole owner familly was affraid of them and their 4-5 year old daughter was the only one handeling them. When i got there the watter bottle in the cage was almost completly empty. I tried to ask for the purchase date but they were evasive event though they told me that it was a present for their childs birthday. Hard to forget a child birthday....anyway....

I noticed right away that Scormonelli's spine was not right and that he was walking a bit odd. As a didn't have any russian dwarf before i tought that that is hpw they walked. About 2 months passed and i notice that he is a bit innactive (as opposed to my roborovski) so i decide to take him to the vet.

As he was not enjoying his wheel i orderd a silent wheel from ali-express. The new wheel arrived about 2 months ago and he loved it. That means he would give more than 2 spins of it from time to time. I weighted him about one month ago and he was 40 grams. As a didn't weighted him regulalry i was thinking that is was fine and that he is getting exercise now from the new wheel.

However five days ago a do some spot cleaning around his nest and i put him in a carrier. After i finish cleaning i noticed that he slept the entire time in the same corner i put him. I began to worry and i weighted him again and he was 36 grams. I imediately gave him baby food with chicken which he ate happily. He's been on a diet including: baby food with meat, boiled eggs, crushed pellets, yogurt for 5 days now. He is 39 grams and doing much better. He also has his seed mix and i give him sunflower seeds every day right now.

The odd thing is that even at 36 grams he still groomed himself, walked around, apart from his spine, there are no lumps. Now he is a bit more energic at 39 grams and grooms himself, walks around, digs in sand and fills his pouches. i also listened to him breathe and i can't hear anything unusual.

My conclusion after this is that he is getting old as everything was slowing down very gradually. Tell me if i am inccorect in assuming this. Vets are basically not an option right now because of the lockdown.

So any advice on nutrition is much appreciated. I would like to get him to 40-42 grams first before i start cutting down on food.

Sorry for such a long post.

[cypher]

It does sound as though it may be age related & they do sometimes tend to lose weight as they get older, you're doing the right thing with what you've been feeding him, I would try him with porridge too as that's really good for him, small pieces of nut & pumpkin seeds are good too.
He may need to continue with extras to maintain his weight, he won't need so much protein now so try not to give too much in the way of high protein extras & if he eats quite a lot of soft foods or seems to be going off the harder foods keep an eye on his teeth just in case they start to get too long.

[Ithuviel]

Thank you for your answer. I still haven't removed the shelf in his cage. Should I also do this at this point?

THere are pics of his setu right now. Should i make the porridge with water or milk? I haven't made it in years




mom and dad baby generator

[cypher]

Usually porridge with just water is best but for some weight gain you could use a little milk.
Rather than removing the shelf you could deepen the substrate to raise everything up & level things a bit, I would be a bit concerned with the potential for falls from those ladders though. They don't really need height to climb on, more floor toya, tubes, hides etc are better.

[Ithuviel]

Update: i removed the ladders an Scormonelli is now at 40 grams after holding 39 for 3 days. I will venture today at the supermarket to get more baby food(i was giving him leftovers from the pups) and i will also try to find pirridge oats.

Thank you for the answers.

[cypher]

Good to hear he's slowly but surely regaining some more weight.

[Jadetooth]

Cage looks lovely!

[Ithuviel]

So Scromonelli died a week ago. I made this video for him.

[cypher]

So sorry to hear that Scromonelli has gone to the bridge Ithuviel, that's a lovely video memorial for him, what a lovely little man he was.