Munchkin isn't eating

[Onion]

As far as I can tell he isn't eating. He is acting fine, active, drinking, and seems pretty happy. However I fill up his food dish and when I go to clean out his penthouse days later it is ALL in there. When I give him treats he just pouches them and I find them a couple of days later in his stash. He is also getting thinner again.

My first thought was his teeth but I check them every day after the last incident and they are fine. I'm close to taking him to the vets. The only reason I haven't is because he seems completely normal. He is only 1

I just don't know what to do. Should I still take him to the vets? Maybe he doesn't like the food anymore?

[Peachesmum]

How long has he not eaten for? I would think he must be eating a little or he'd be very ill by now

[souffle]

They really don't eat an awful lot so if he is still perky he must be eating something!
If he is pooping and peeing then he is eating. Check the cage for these!
He is at an age where many hamsters start to show signs of old age such as weight loss and his kidneys may not be as great as they used to be as well as him not absorbing his food as well.
If he has had previous problems then it is worth a vet check if you feel at all worried. Monitor the pooping for a few days and add some more porridge and maybe some vitamins to his diet.
I hope he is OK x

[Onion]

Thanks! I can be a bit overprotective sometimes. I guess I just panicked when I saw so much food was always left. I'll keep an eye out for poops and add what you said to his diet.

[racinghamster]

Onion, try giving him a small spoonful of oats (dry porridge oats are fine but jumbo oats are bigger) and see if he eats those? My syrian loves oats and I feed them over his food daily. Oats are a good source of natural fibre and a slow release carbohydrate food. Dry buckwheat would also go down well. Both can be purchased in Tesco. The Jumbo porridge oats are around £1.22p a bag (black bag in the porridge section in Tesco) and the buckwheat is in the isle that sells gluten free products normally aswell as lentils and other nuts and grains. A small bag is cheap. Buckwheat can be soaked in water overnight aswell to soften it and fed raw the next day, only the texture will be softer.

My syrian is around 14 months now and he`s a strapping lad! Must be the oats! If you feed Harry Hamster or a mix with large extruded biscuits, hamsters do normally hoard these but rarely eat them. Try giving him less of this and top up with a mix like Burgess Supahamster Harvest, which has smaller biscuits and much more grains and banana pieces in it. Add a few human grade monkey nuts also. Tesco sell these aswell. I find that sometimes adding more interesting ingredients keeps their appetite strong. Fresh veggies of a small size a few times a week like broccoli, carrot, kale, baby sweetcorns (all raw) are good for him.