Is this a good weight for my Syrian Hamster?

My hamster is over weight,help?

• my hamster flapjack is a 11 month old syrian hamster.he is gaining weight and is just lain lazy.so this is the problem:i got the critter trail discovery deluxe and the critter trail x but i still didn't think that was enough so i made him a homemade cage and hooked them all up.ever since i hooked them together he only went into the the homemade cage and i thought is was because it was on the bottom and hamsters liked the dark space so i left it alone.but then it became worst were be would only come out for treats i left him,water and extra food.i didn't really take this as a big problem because i barley saw him and didn't know.i never really had to open the bottom made cage because i cleaned it out once every 2 weeks(he never was a messy hamster)i always put a bowl of fresh food n there and if he ran out he would get some from the other food spots until i cleaned his cage out.i found out because i went to put him in his ball after about 2 weeks of not doing so.when i did it it was at maybe 10 at night so he should have been active(he was up for about one hour before that)i put him in and he didn't move around like he normally does(the ball is his favorite toy of all times)he moved for maybe 2 minutes stopped found a nice spot cleaned his self and went to sleep.i took him back out and as soon as he got out he went to sleep in the bottom cage.i need help.i have stopped giving him house hold food and switched to only pellets.he is in his ball right now and yes he is moving around but i feel he could be moving like before.is there any things that i can do to make him loss weight?is there any things i can do with him to help him??? any technics other than the ball?

• Answer:

  You cannot just switch to pellets, this can upset his stomach because of the sudden change and he can become mal-nutritioned. Whats best it to slowly bring down the amount and type of foods you give him, so the change will be less dramatic. However as excersize goes for the little chubbster you should start right away, while he is in his ball encourage him to run around, by lightly pushing the ball around. You can also encourage him to run around by giving him, healthy treats he likes, he will try to get them. Just slowly change his diet ad play with him as much as you can, it my take awhile, but the fat hampster you have now may become much skinner if you just stick to it!