I have a little dwarf hamster, kinda tan colored, not like the ones I had as a kid, tehy were gray. Her name is putter, and I bought her when she was about 5 weeks old. So she's now 12 weeks. She's such a sweety, we've finally gotten over our cage aggresion. That's why I only buy young hamsters. She seemed normal when I first got her, but now she consumes watter like you wouldn't believe. I have to refil her waterbottle every day. The sound drove me nuts so I took her food bowl (average hamster bowl) and filled it with water and put it in there along with her water bottle. She much prefers the bowl, as do I. But she'll drink the entire bowl in less than two days. Is she ok? She's a picky eater, loves carrots and sunflower seeds the best. I try to give her a well rounded diet, fresh papaya, other fruits and veggies like carrots and apples, her seed mixture, sometimes cheese and a peice of pancake when my dad makes us pancakes. She eats well, loves to chew on things.
Answers:
Diabetes is very common in dwarf hamsters. Get her tested, preferably by a vet or at home using urine test strips. Make sure she has a diet low in sugar. A homemade diet is best as commercial prepackaged hamster food contains corn and other foods high in processed sugar. With dwarf hamsters, it's always a good idea to take the dried corn out of their seed mix as a precautionary.
Use Carefresh ULTRA bedding. i used it for my hamsters. and i still use it for my ferrets. (hamsters died =(. )
She might have been drinking more because of the cedar bedding, or if you're giving her too many salty foods. (Are there peanuts in her food mix? Those plus the sunflower seeds and the cheese are naturally salty.) DO NOT FEED RODENTS CHEESE! They can't digest the lactose, even though it's fatty and salty and they LOVE the taste of it! (Same for milk with cats!)
I would discourage against using a bowl for water. Or at least have something in the dish, in case she falls in, you don't want her drowning. Some bottles come with plastic balls inside so they're not as noisy, you might want to try one of those instead.
As far as bedding, I would reccomend CareFresh, or try using Aspen wood shavings. They have no odor or oils, and the CareFresh is super fluffy, my rats love it. Good luck!
You shouldn't feed dwarfs fruits because they can have hereditary diabetes.Cedar wont cause them to drink more water.Some cedar can contain phenol.Which is why cedar or other soft wood bedding's aren't recommended.Phenol can damage their respiratory system and or irritate their skin.
Perhaps you should try removing any high sugar foods like fruit and corn from it's diet,or take it to a vet and have it tested for diabetes.
She doesn't sound strange maybe she just has a thing for water? :P
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