Hamster weight loss

[John1711]

I would like to ask how much baby food should I feed him, I’m planning to get the hipp organic sweet squash and chicken one.

 

[Coco61]

When I needed to give my last hamster his medication mixed with baby food, I used a small ice cube tray and squeezed the pouch into the tray. Then froze them. This meant that I did not have to throw any away that was uneaten in the pouch after a couple of nights. It turned out that I had to give the meds for months so I bought several flavours so I could rotate them each night. Once frozen, I emptied the cubes into a small freezer bag, one for each flavour, and then took out a frozen cube about an hour before needing it to mix with the meds. I put that into a small bowl and left it for him to eat in his own time.

 

[elusive]

I give about half a teaspoon of baby food daily, if he isn’t eating any hard food then you could also give some soaked hamster mix or science selective or some porridge.
The science selective will give him most of the nutrients he needs if he eats that, baby food doesn’t really have enough nutrients on it’s own but it does help.

The main thing now is to try to figure out how to stop the bar chewing.
Do you have a photo of his cage & set up? We may be able to offer some ideas on any changes that might help with that.
Does he have out of cage time?

Sometimes they chew on the water bottle too & can actually get too much water if they do that as well as not being good for the teeth so I would try him with a bowl along with the bottle to see if he uses that, if he does use the bowl yo could take the bottle out.

It definitely sounds as though he’s damaged his teeth with the chewing, they may grow back if you can stop the chewing but a vet check would still be a good idea.

 

[Maz]

I wonder what set off the bar chewing. Was it something that just started out of the blue or has he always done it? Sometimes it can start after a big cage clean - it can stress them if all their scent is removed in one go. Or some other change.

He won’t have any teeth to bar chew now but knowing hamsters it wouldn’t surprise me if he still tried to and then he could get a sore nose and gums.

 

[elusive]

I only just remembered you said your ham is a Russian, it’s best not to give them any fruit as it’s too high in sugar for a diabetes prone species & that baby food has fruit in it.
Hipp organic do a veg with sweet potato & chicken which would be a better option for him.

 

[Maz]

Is sweet squash not similar to sweet potato? Coco's suggestion is good too - but check the label - some say do not freeze. tIt should last a day after opening though, in the fridge.

 

[elusive]

Is sweet squash not similar to sweet potato

Squash is fine but I checked & it also has apricot & I think it was apple too can’t remember for sure without having another look.

 

[elusive]

I forgot to say when I mentioned taking him to the vet to check what’s going on, to be a bit more specific, he has probably damaged the roots of his teeth if they’ve broken off so he could be in quite a lot of pain which may prevent him from eating as they can eat with their back teeth to grind food so he should still be eating at least a bit if he isn’t in pain.

 

[Maz]

Well spotted - I didn’t realise it had apricot and apple in.

 

[elusive]

I think I’ve probably used all the safe ones so if it’s one I haven’t used I know there must have been a reason!