Let's start with something simple - if you are sure that your pet's diet is balanced, he gets enough vegetables and greens, and also regularly exercises on a wheel, then there is no need to worry. But be honest, don’t you spoil him with something tasty from time to time? And sometimes you’re just too lazy to let him out of the cage and you hope that the hamster entertain yourself? Here you go. It seems it's time to take action.
How can you tell if your hamster is too fat?
To check concerns, contact your veterinarian. He will easily determine the danger of a hamster's weight to life, based on the age and breed of the pet.
So, for a Syrian hamster, a healthy weight is considered to be 12 grams for every centimeter of length. An adult healthy pet weighs about 200 grams. This figure is different for each breed. Dwarf and Djungarian hamsters are much smaller.
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Don't forget that hamsters, like people, tend to lose weight as they age. The older the pet gets, the lighter it should be.
Guard! What to do if you are overweight?
No need to panic, take action. If you have sought help from a veterinarian, he will help you draw up proper diet and daily routine. Or take care of it yourself.
So: good mood, diet and exercise. First of all, solve the issue with training. In nature, rodents travel several kilometers a day, so they need exercise. Buy a quality wheel and a special ball for walking around the room. Pay attention to playing with your hamster, but do not forget to watch closely so as not to lose him.
Now it's time to reconsider your diet. How often do you feed your hamster fatty nuts and seeds? It is not necessary to exclude them, just cross out junk food from the daily menu and use it as a rare treat.
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Add as many vegetables and fruits as possible. Carrots, cabbage, celery and apples are great. Never offer your pet oranges - sour citrus fruits harm digestion and cause stomach diseases.
Finally, make the fat guy work hard for food! There is no need to carefully put it in the feeder every day. Move it to another part of the cage so that the hamster has to run around in search of a hearty dinner. Don't worry, he will benefit from burning some calories.
What if it's not really fat?
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If your beloved beautiful hamster suddenly gets fat, and neither exercise nor healthy eating- think about it! What if it’s not a matter of obesity at all, but a charming addition of 10-12 babies will soon appear in your cozy hamster house?
And most importantly: try not to overdo it in trying to make your pet’s life better. You shouldn’t hide food so that he can’t find it, feed him nothing but cucumbers, or torment him with daily five-hour training sessions! After all, a little swelling never hurt anyone, right?
Let's start with something simple - if you are sure that your pet's diet is balanced, he gets enough vegetables and greens, and also regularly exercises on a wheel, then there is no need to worry. But be honest, don’t you spoil him with something tasty from time to time? And sometimes you’re just too lazy to let him out of the cage and you hope that the hamster entertain yourself? Here you go. It seems it's time to take action.
How can you tell if your hamster is too fat?
To check concerns, contact your veterinarian. He will easily determine the danger of a hamster's weight to life, based on the age and breed of the pet.
So, for a Syrian hamster, a healthy weight is considered to be 12 grams for every centimeter of length. An adult healthy pet weighs about 200 grams. This figure is different for each breed. Dwarf and Djungarian hamsters are much smaller.
christinayong960207.files.wordpress.com
Don't forget that hamsters, like people, tend to lose weight as they age. The older the pet gets, the lighter it should be.
Guard! What to do if you are overweight?
No need to panic, take action. If you have asked a veterinarian for help, he will help you create the right diet and daily routine. Or take care of it yourself.
So: good mood, diet and exercise. First of all, solve the issue with training. In nature, rodents travel several kilometers a day, so they need exercise. Buy a quality wheel and a special ball for walking around the room. Pay attention to playing with your hamster, but do not forget to watch closely so as not to lose him.
Now it's time to reconsider your diet. How often do you feed your hamster fatty nuts and seeds? It is not necessary to exclude them, just cross out junk food from the daily menu and use it as a rare treat.
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Add as many vegetables and fruits as possible. Carrots, cabbage, celery and apples are great. Never offer your pet oranges - sour citrus fruits harm digestion and cause stomach diseases.
Finally, make the fat guy work hard for food! There is no need to carefully put it in the feeder every day. Move it to another part of the cage so that the hamster has to run around in search of a hearty dinner. Don't worry, he will benefit from burning some calories.
What if it's not really fat?
www.wallarthd.com/
If your beloved beautiful hamster suddenly gets fat, and neither exercise nor a healthy diet helps her, think about it! What if it’s not a matter of obesity at all, but a charming addition of 10-12 babies will soon appear in your cozy hamster house?
And most importantly: try not to overdo it in trying to make your pet’s life better. You shouldn’t hide food so that he can’t find it, feed him nothing but cucumbers, or torment him with daily five-hour training sessions! After all, a little swelling never hurt anyone, right?
I never thought that I would encounter the problem of obesity in hamsters. I’ve even heard about cats, but a fat hamster is something new for me.
Everywhere it is written that cats and rodents do not overeat, but now I understand that all these beliefs are very relative.
And yet, with sadness I inform you that Lolka (Froska’s daughter) is getting fat. And he’s getting fat by leaps and bounds!
And her mother, Froska, is 2 times thinner than her daughter!!! And she constantly runs on her fitness wheel!
I don’t understand why she didn’t teach Lolka to run on a wheel!!!
Below they will be and you can see for yourself how much thicker one hamster is than the other.
![](https://i0.wp.com/ic.pics.livejournal.com/sladkowa/66239508/895906/895906_900.jpg)
Khomka Lola is in my daughter’s strong little hands, you won’t be able to escape from them! Pay attention to the thick snout, have you ever seen something like this on a hamster?
The worst thing is that due to obesity, the hamster may develop health problems... He already leads a sedentary lifestyle, I notice that Lolka is too lazy to even go down to the first floor...
Lolka on a laptop)
Let me remind you that the breed of my hamsters is Syrian (Syrian hamster).
That’s why it should be so big, but it definitely shouldn’t be so thick!
Lolka looks like a chipmunk) And as she gained weight, she began to resemble him even more, because... increased in size...
By the way, when Lolka was little, she still ran in a wheel:
... so her mother taught her to run after all. Why doesn’t Lolka run on it now?
For comparison, I will attach photos of the hamster Froska - Lolka's mother now.
Fitness - Frosechka eats kupuska and often runs on a wheel)
And sometimes in a hamster ball:
As you can see, Froska has not a lick of fat! I have no idea what to do with Lolka. I think we need to separate them and feed them separately.
For some reason, when you put food on Lolka, she eats it literally in 1-2 days, but Froska can have food lying around for a whole week)))
The amazing thing is that hamsters live in the same conditions, but they are so different)
Lolka probably got the “overeating gene” from her hamster dad))))
Fat hamster - what are the consequences?
Even though excess weight may make an animal look funnier and cuter, it is worth remembering that obesity is a serious disease. If you do not pay attention to this problem in time, it can cause:
- cardiac arrest;
- blockage of blood vessels;
- problems with the digestive system;
- other diseases.
Obesity shortens the already short life span of rodents. Even if obesity does not lead to fatal diseases, the condition of the body as a whole will not be very good.
How to determine if you are overweight?
To find out if your hamster is obese, you need to do the following:
- Take the animal in your hands and gently lay it on its back.
- Feel the ribs from the abdominal side.
If during the examination you notice that the ribs protrude and can be felt too clearly, this indicates that the animal is underweight and needs to be fed better. The inability to feel the ribs indicates that the pet has problems with overweight. If each of the animal's ribs can be felt individually, but they do not protrude, we can say with confidence that the pet's weight is normal.
How to deal with obesity in hamsters?
Obesity is the result of a sedentary lifestyle as well as poor nutrition. First of all, you need to review your pet’s diet and change the amount of food it consumes per day. It is worth knowing that the animal should eat two heaped tablespoons of food per day. This amount of food is enough for him not to feel hungry. If you notice that your pet is constantly eating excessively, you should adhere to the following recommendations:
- reduce the amount of grain consumed by animals;
- diversify your diet;
- reduce the number of nuts in the feed;
- give more vegetables and greens.
In addition to reducing the amount of food, it is necessary to provide the animal with an active lifestyle, make sure that it sits in one place less and gets bored. To do this you can:
- Buy a running wheel.
- Buy a running ball.
- Let the animal run around in the evenings, for example, on the sofa, since at this time of day the animal is most active.
It is worth remembering that outside the cage the animal must be constantly supervised, since even while walking on the sofa, the hamster can fall and get injured, or simply run away and die.
If you provide the animal proper nutrition, then your fat hamster will lose weight after a while, and the condition of his body will improve significantly.
During the daytime, it is better not to disturb your pet and you should not wake him up in order to make him run. This is due to the fact that hamsters are nocturnal animals and are accustomed to sleeping during daylight hours.
Why are hamsters obese?
These animals, despite living in domestic conditions, live in accordance with their instincts. In the wild, the only thing a rodent does is constantly run through fields and forests in search of food. All the food that the rodent finds is either immediately eaten or transferred to its burrow in its cheek pouches.
That is why it is common for a rodent to eat for future use, since there is a high probability that the hamster will not be able to find more food in the near future. For this reason, it is worth making sure that representatives of the hamster family do not overeat and do not stock up in their cage by burying them in sawdust.
The right approach to feeding your pet, as well as providing it with exercise equipment and attractions such as a running wheel, will help it maintain its normal weight. If the owner properly organizes his pet’s lifestyle, then even the fattest hamster will return its weight to normal.
Individuals of the hamster order are essentially mobile and active animals, however, it is sometimes found that they accumulate extra pounds. A fat hamster, whose photo is posted on the page, may suffer from impaired functioning of the digestive tract, its metabolism may be disrupted, which, in turn, will lead to the rapid death of the pet. Obesity, which occurs in hamsters, can lead to irreparable health problems, and therefore it is important to know how to deal with it and what preventive measures to take action to prevent it.
Causes of obesity
Many people wonder why they have a fat hamster, because the diet is selected according to all the rules. Despite the fact that the animal is at home, it lives according to natural instincts that awaken inside it at birth. In the wild, hamsters are constantly on the move. They either eat the pasture that they see on the spot or store it for the winter.
For this reason, children in forests and fields try to immediately eat in advance, since they may not be able to find new food for several days. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure that the animal, while living in a cage, does not overeat, and also does not store in sawdust. When cleaning his home, it is worth removing all the food supplies he made for a rainy day. Fat pets may show anxiety when they get into a cage and cannot be found, however, after some time this condition will pass.
Methods for determining obesity
To understand whether a fat hamster is really overweight, it is enough to perform several manipulations. These include:
- carefully place the pet with its paws up;
- slowly feel the rib parts of the body.
In the case where the ribs protrude too much, a lack of grams can be diagnosed. In such cases, it is worth adding more high-calorie foods to your diet. However, if the ribs cannot be felt at all, then the situation is completely opposite - the animal needs to be helped to get rid of excess weight. When the weight is normal for the animal, the ribs of the hamsters can be felt individually, but they cannot be called protruding.
How to get rid of obesity?
Fat, clumsy hamsters need to review the food they eat and the feeding system in general. Do not forget that the maximum daily dose of balanced food for crumbs is two spoons, characterized as tablespoons. Hamsters develop habits quickly, so it is recommended to feed them small portions at the same time. In order for your pet’s diet to be balanced, it is necessary:
- reduce the amount of grain consumed by the animal;
- add vegetables, fruits, berries in small quantities to the main products;
- reduce the number of nuts in the feed.
In addition, it is worth reconsidering the number of accessories intended for organizing the animal’s leisure time placed in the cage. Among them must be:
- drum;
- running ball.
If you purchase a sealed ball, you can let the animal run around the apartment without fear that it will chew off wires or get hurt, for example. Overweight hamsters with health problems may require additional vitamin supplements, which should be discussed with your veterinarian.
Consequences
Many people believe that fat pets cause affection because of their clubfoot, however, it is worth knowing that obesity in individuals of the hamster order can have serious consequences. These include:
- heart failure;
- thrombus formation;
- disruption of the functioning of the digestive system;
- other diseases.
The lifespan of hamsters is already not very long, and if extra pounds are added to the baby’s other problems, it begins to shrink altogether. Even if it does not cause life-threatening diseases, the pet’s well-being will be extremely disappointing.