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Old 07-15-2021, 06:29 PM   #1
Imogen
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Exclamation Worried about Oreos food...

Hi!

Making so many posts ... again... so definitely a paranoid hamster mum!

I've been looking at Oreos food and I've been a little concerned he isn't eating. At the pet shop he was obviously fed from a bowl, but I transitioned on to scatter feeding and providing half in a small teapot shaped bird house that has a ceramic plate attached to it so it's nice and cool as well as food available inside.

For those not aware he's a Russian dwarf.

However, I first provided food on Thursday and honestly I don't think I've given him any since then! There's food scattered around and in the little 'hide' so I'm a little concerned. He does seem to be focusing a lot on his aligator chew which has been damaged so much more than Remys already and Remy has had his for at least 3 weeks, Oreo only 1 week!

I'm not sure what to do here. Should I remove the alligator in case he's focusing on that as his 'main source' of food? Well, not really food either though is it, it doesn't really contain more than half of the dietary requirements.

I've got into a schedule with Remy, his feed time is two tablespoons once every other day completely scatter fed. I was expecting Oreo to eat within a matter of max of 3 days since I only provided 1 tablespoon considering his small size but why is it there's still so many bits in there?

The pet shop for some reason wouldn't tell me what food he was on (?) super bizarre so I had no choice but to really have him straight on Harry Hamster - I broke up most parts of the large chunks into like halves or 3 sections but they're still there? I did just put a small scoop of some of the small bits of feed without the largish chunks to see if it is that - and if they disappear I know for sure he's struggling.

I do plan to convert on over to pets at home muesli as I have two 1kg unopened packs that expire at the end of 2022 because the harry hamster does go past it's best before date next month and they will go to adoption centres to be used up or something.

Is this normal? If chunks are too big are they left? I'm so sorry if this is such a rookie mistake - first time with a dwarf and honestly I thought breaking up some of the largest bits would do the trick but guess not (?).
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Old 07-15-2021, 06:34 PM   #2
Imogen
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

I couldn't help but chuckle and see the title only shows up on the front page as 'Worried about Oreos...' ... completely off topic but couldn't help but find it amusing.
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Old 07-15-2021, 10:31 PM   #3
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

With my robo I just remove the whimzee every now and then. I would stop scatter feeding for a few days and just leave it in the feeder so its easier to keep an eye on it.
I remember reading somewhere abour robos having a fast metabolism so they can eat a lot and need to eat a lot or something like that, i dont know if its the same with other type of dwarf hamsters..
Personally, i think Harry Hamster is a good basic, cheap mix for syrians, but not sure it is that suitable for dwarfs.
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Old 07-16-2021, 04:05 AM   #4
Petite
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

I have always used Harry Hamster for my dwarfs, and they have always enjoyed it. They don't have any trouble with the larger chunks, and I've never tried breaking them up. The only thing that gets left is the light brown chunks, and for some reason I've never had a ham that likes them.

It might be worth having a wee peek in Oreo's nest or wherever he keeps his stash. Is he his normal self in other ways, lively, using his wheel, maintaining his weight, etc, or is he beginning to look rather thin? I think I recall from one of your other threads that he is quite young, so is it possible he's still settling in? If this is the case, I would just be inclined to watch him for a few days to see how things go, and maybe take out the alligator for a day or two to see if that makes him more interested in food generally. You could also try some small pieces of fresh veggies to see if those encourage him to eat more.
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Old 07-16-2021, 06:07 AM   #5
Imogen
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

Thank you both Luna and Petite.

Luna
Okay, will switch to just fully feeding him in a food bowl and see if he's eating okay. With the harry hamster, knew it wasn't a good based mix as it lacks some of the content from one category so I added some extra bits in to make it a bit different such as mealworms, rose petal and timothy hay. As stated though I have been breaking up the larger chunks but it seems as though nothing has been touched (?). I noticed a few seeds gone earlier from the small top up I did but that was it.

Petite
Yes, Oreo is roughly 7 weeks old now. He is normal in himself, but I haven't see him use the wheel - he's awfully shy and very skittish still. I've seen him on it but never have caught him spinning around.

He doesn't look any different to when I got him and I haven't been in his hide as he is never out when I want to see him. It was 3 days I hadn't seen him until yesterday, I'd see a glimpse of him darting to his hide whenever he would see someone walking in. Family managed to catch him flicking about in the sand bath though yesterday for about 15 seconds and as soon as they walked back from the other end of my room he was already gone and hidden! So he seems to be moving quite fast and okay.

Will be removing the alligator today for a few days to see if that helps and yes, Oreo is being introduced to some fruits/vege slowly at a time to help reduce the amount of upset stomach. He seems to be taken it but as far as I know if he's eating it? No idea, as stated I don't want to dive into his hide when he's in it which seems to be the case of always at the moment...
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Old 07-16-2021, 08:45 AM   #6
Eliana
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

I have 3 dwarf hamsters 2 male 1 female.

When we first got our first one she was very curious and rather nosy, interested in us almost straight away from the pet store, and let us hold her, she's not keen on the Harry hamsters food, so we had to buy another brand we found in poundstretchers, we now mix this and the Harry one and add a few mixed seeds to it. Our 2 boys were completely different when we got them they were 4 weeks old, ( which might be too young I think) but they prefer the Harry hamster mix, they were very nervous wanting to hide and never came out much, it was hard watching how scared they were, they ran to hide if we went near the cage, but slowly they have got used to us, we left them to settle in just went in to give food, occasionally checked in the house make sure they were ok, left treats for them, slowly they came out and stopped running in, they now run to greet us, just like our other hamster, but it took months we got them back in april, this year, and it's only being in the last month they have come around we can now hold one of the boys, ( he loves running on his wheel) we still have a shy one tho ,he will now takes food from us and let us touch him, but he hates to be picked up. We used to leave there food near where they were.
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Old 07-16-2021, 02:39 PM   #7
Imogen
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

I wanted to show why I was concerned also about Oreo focusing on the alligator.

Look how devoured Oreos alligator is after just 1 week but Remy's isnt? (Again Remy has had his for like 3 weeks!)
Oreo's is the right one, Remy's is the left.

alligator — ImgBB
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Old 07-16-2021, 02:45 PM   #8
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

Whimzees taste sweet so hamsters tend to love them. It doesn't look very excessively chewed to me for having been in there a week, but if you're not sure if he's eating well I would definitely take it out just in case he's eating it instead of his real food.
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Old 07-16-2021, 03:02 PM   #9
Ria P
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

Looks all normal to me and not excessively chewed at all. I expected the alligator's tale to be missing, lol.

Why don't you weigh Oreo weekly? That way you can monitor his weight and if he's not losing weight, then he's eating.

Maybe he's not much of a hoarder and only eats what he needs. Hamsters eat very little but vary so much in their habits.

Rory's food bowl is usually near empty because he takes it all to his hoard and Rodney's usually looks almost untouched because he doesn't hoard.
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Old 07-16-2021, 03:56 PM   #10
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: Worried about Oreos food...

I agree with Ria, does not look excessive to me either, my robo does more damage on his hedgehog one before I take it back out of his cage for a break
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