Hamster won't eat anything but yogurt drops?

Question

I give him food in his bowl, but he only seems to eat the yogurt drops and only eats the food if I don't give him a drop. . Do you know why this is, or if it is normal or not? I only give him one yogurt drop at a time.

Answer 1

Yogurt drops are treats. You can feed them once in a while. Don't feed it everyday! Hamsters need to eat their own food. See, if you don't give a yogurt drop, it eats its food, right? Maybe a yogurt drop once in a while won't hurt, but too much of a good thing isn't always good.

Answer 2

if he eats his food when you don't give him yogurt drops then stop giving them to him and he will learn to eat his food all the time and take yogurt drops as a treat not as food.

Answer 3

I agree, quit feeding the yogurt drops. Hamsters (especially dwarfs) are prone to diabetes (who knew?) and the yogurt drops are almost pure sugar. This can actually kill a hamster.

They need a good quality hamster food with a variety of grains and seeds. For a treat, feed a small piece of cleaned carrot or a very small piece of fresh, raw, UNSALTED almond once or twice a week.

Answer 4

Well, pets are like kids.  They'll eat what's good and avoid nutritious stuff.

That being said, you may want to have his teeth checked.  It may actually hurt him to chew his regular food.

Answer 5

Hamsters don't need yogurt drops.  Please stop giving them to him.  It is sugar and totally unnecesary for his diet.  It is like feeding a small child nothing but ice cream.  The companies that manufacture them appeal to the human desire for snacks not food.

Answer 6

Please stop giving your hamster yoghurt drops. It is meant to be a treat (one piece once or twice a week) and not the main food. Hamsters hook on to anything unhealthy too and it is our responsibility to make sure that they get healthy food.

Place a good commerical feed in his food dish and stop putting yoghurt drops in it. He might be agitated for a few days about it but will slowly and surely start eating his proper food.

I know it is hard to resist when your cute hammy look through the cage with his glassy pleading eyes for a yoghurt drop :) but you have to control your urge to fall for his pleas for his own good health.

And as Sandra R has mentioned, these treats are actually pretty unhealthy and are more for their appeal than actual goodness. So it would be better if you can feed your hamster natural treats like sunflower seeds, bits of hard boiled egg (hamsters love them), carrots and plain rice krispies.

Answer 7

Maybe because you are encouraging him. A hamster's diet is only supposed to consist of 10% treats, an a yogurt drop is a treat. Buy him a different kind of food. When I bought my hamster I asked them what kind of food hamsters like best. They said the Fiesta hamster & gerbil food.

http://www.petsr4u.com/prodimages/kaytee...

My hamster loves it! Just change the kind of food you give your hamster. My hamster loves the yogurt drops too. I only give them to her as a treat. And I don't give them to her often.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

Yogurt drops are treats. Treats cannot exceed %10 of his diet. Start giving him regular hamster food.

Answer 9

Stop giving him the yogurt drops, then. It's just a snack, and there's far healthier choices for snacks, anyways.

It's more important for your hamster to be eating his base diet, than it is for him to be getting sugary snacks.

It's perfectly normal for a hamster (or any animal) to choose treats over the real meal. Heck, even children would take a cookie over whatever's for dinner.

It's up to you to make sure he gets a healthy diet.