Elderly hamster feels 'bony'

[Vierville]

Hello.

My Campbells Russian dwarf hybrid Monty, who is 20 months old, has always been a generously covered hamster. At points she's even been chubby.

I've noticed in the last few weeks though that she feels a bit bony. I weighed her last night and she weighed 57 grams which is exactly what she weighed a year ago as a young adult hamster so she is definitely not underweight yet it just seems like I can feel her bones more than I could before.

She is behaving exactly as normal and is eating fine. I have checked her teeth as well and they look fine.

Is this a normal part of ageing?

[Ria P]

I haven't got an elderly hamster as yet but know plenty of elderly humans (incl myself) and yes through age one loses muscle tone and everything starts to look and feel a bit scrawny. Wished i was a furry hamster.

[Pebbles82]

It’s a normal part of ageing that they feel more bony and lose plumpness and muscle tone. It’s a good time to start supplementing with something like a pinch of daily hemp seeds and a nut or two weekly. Hemp seeds have virtually all vitamins and minerals and they seem to like them - they’re a bit nutty- and they provide calories as well but with healthy fats. Pecan nuts are about the highest calorie food also with healthy oils. I used to give half a pecan nut a week and the hemp seeds to help keep condition. It can partly be nutritional as well if they start getting toothache and aren’t eating properly. Giving some softened food at this age can help. Put the normal dry hamster mix out (they like pouching and hoarding it even if they don’t eat much of it). And in a separate dish put a bit of the mix softened with a bit of water. It takes 10 mins or so to soften when you add the bit of water. They also enjoy a bit of baby food - I use the baby food kids to put the other extras in - eg the hemp seeds in one and the softened hamster mix in the other and some baby food in another. Also keeps their life fun and interesting in old age with extra things to look forward to.

Age 4 months baby food is usually ok as they don’t have spices, onion etc which should be avoided. Tomato is also supposed to be avoided. The fruit ones usually have lemon juice in which is also not safe for them. I usually get some chicken and veg ones.

[sushi_78]

Tomato is ok for hamsters. It's no more acidic than apple and when in a baby food any acidity will be neutralised anyway. My hamster and gerbils eat tomato flesh (not the gel or seeds) without issues. Likewise for lemon juice, it'll be neutralised in a baby food, though I wouldn't feed lemon on its own.

[AmityvilleHams]

I know that citric acid is fine as a preservative, although there have been concerns in the pet community for various pets including hamsters. It is very important to keep in mind that citric acid and citrus fruit juices are not toxic(potentially irritating, yes, but highly unlikely at the levels in baby foods and as preservatives). You will see people improperly label citric acid, citrus juices, etc as toxic though which is just not true!

The general consensus in the hedgehog community as far as baby food was concerned was that as irritating as lemon juice in particular can be on its own, there is so little of it in any given baby food that it isn't a significant enough concern. I would have to agree there - we're obviously never going to advocate for the feeding of plain citrus or their juices or anything with similar acid content levels, but the fear based avoidance isn't entirely reasonable.

I know in the US we have Beech-Nut baby food. It's often a pretty good brand to choose(still being cautious of ingredients), but I know some of their fruit/fruit and veg baby foods don't have any citrus(for example their Beech-Nut Naturals apple & kale Stage 2 Baby Food is 86% fresh apples and 14% kale - not ideal for hybrids or diabetes prone species in general but a good example). If you could get that brand where you live, they also have a decent variety of non-fruit baby foods.

To put things further into perspective on citrus content though, here's an example of numbers. Beech-Nut has an organic banana stage 2 baby food, which is 99.333% organic bananas(112.24629 grams out of 113) and the equivalent of 0.75371 grams(out of 113 total grams) of lemon juice. Keep in mind this is for the entire jar - less baby food fed at a time, less lemon juice consumed at a time.

[Vierville]

Thank you Serendipity7000 and AmityvilleHams, that is really helpful information. I will get some pecan nuts (I've given these as treats before but will include them regularly now) and hemp seeds.

I'll start looking at appropriate baby foods as you advised - my knowledge of baby food is extremely limited but I will follow your advice. I don't think we get Beech-Nut here, I certainly don't recognize that name but I know we get a brand called 'Gerber' or 'Purity'.

Also, from a calories perspective, is shaved dried coconut good for them?

Thank you so much for all the advice.

[AmityvilleHams]

Coconut might not be a bad idea as long as there are no other ingredients. A significant portion of the calories come from fats(much like nuts), which could be beneficial for weight gain. However, walnuts for example have more fat than coconut would and slightly more calories.

[Vierville]

Thank you AmityvilleHams. The coconut I have is just plain dried coconut shavings, nothing added.

I will definitely get some walnuts too.

[Vierville]

So I went and got hemp seeds, raw pecan nuts and walnuts and will start supplenenting Monty's diet with those. I really appreciate all the advice.

[Pebbles82]

I find they love coconut but I'm not sure it is particularly calorific? I used to spoil mine and get the fresh pieces - the supermarket sells snack pots. They only last a couple of days in the fridge but I eat the rest Pecan nuts only once a week really as they can have too much. Hemp seeds are fine every day. I forgot to say I get the shelled hemp seeds - they're kind of fluffy and they just licked them up. But straight hemp seeds will probably get eaten as well. The shelled ones are sold for humans to put on their breakfast cereals!

Thanks for all the info about lemon juice in baby food. I was always ultra cautious but I can see it must be tiny amounts.