Maurice’s New Diet

Apr 13

Written By Rachel

Maurice has been on the struggle bus lately. My once, pudgy little guy as thinned out a lot, without any clear reason.

It first started sometime in December. I noticed he had stopped gathering up all the seeds in his enclosure. He still spent time digging around in the coconut fiber, hunting for them, but seemed to only take home a few.

My initial thought was that he was sick of those seeds, he needed variety! So I searched for variety.

I noticed he got excited about peanuts (particularly in shell). He snatched up walnuts and pecans eagerly. He even spent afternoons nibbling on Mazuri Lab Blocks he had hoarded. And yet, he continued to be a waif.

What gives, Mister Moe?

So I started to give Moe extra, fresh foods - scrambled egg, baby foods. At first they were a hit, but he seemed to tire of these too.

AND THEN I remembered my lovely little dwarf hamsters, Laverne and Shirley. A pair I fostered for a rescue (then called) Tiny Tracks Rescue, a part of the California Hamster Association. Both Laverne and Shirley had issues eating in their old age. Shirley lost her top teeth entirely, Laverne just seemed to lose the jaw strength. They enjoyed baby food, but it wasn’t enough calories to fulfill their needs. So one day, I whipped out my Mini Cuisinart and started grinding up anything I could grind up, and sprinkled it around the cage.

It was a HUGE success! Hamsters are gatherers. Laverne and Shirley got to enjoy the thrill of finding their food, sprinkled on cork logs and various surfaces all around their enclosures. Once again, they got to live the hamster life. Shirley grew back the hair she had lost from being malnourished. Laverne managed to stay her round, little self.

SO, Maurice has begun his journey with ground up food. I started with some tofu, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, & lab blocks. I’ll continue to add to the array of options as I go! So far, Maurice is a fan, Yay!