Everything comes down to the floor, near the nest
An elderly Campbell's dwarf hamster should find food and water on the cage floor within a short walk of its nest, because stiff hips and weakened back legs make climbing for supplies a cost an old dwarf increasingly refuses to pay. Move the seed dish to the area the hamster already crosses on its evening rounds, and place a small extra portion near the nest entrance, since a senior Campbell's often makes one brief trip out, eats what is close, and retreats. A hamster that has to cross the whole cage and scale a platform for dinner will, on its sore days, simply skip dinner.
A dish sized and weighted for a small, stiff body
Use a small, heavy dish with low sides for the seed mix, heavy enough that a leaning hamster cannot tip it and low enough that it can eat sitting beside it rather than climbing in and scattering the mix through the bedding. Very deep dishes force an old dwarf to brace and stretch; very light ones end up overturned under the substrate by morning. Some elderly Campbell's cope better with a defined feeding patch of mix scattered thickly on a flat tile or saucer in one corner, which lets them forage at ground level in the posture they choose, without managing a rim at all.
Lowering the bottle and proving it works every day
A water bottle mounted for a young hamster's reach can sit awkwardly high for a senior Campbell's that no longer stretches up on its hind legs. Lower the bottle so the spout sits at a relaxed standing head height, angled so the hamster drinks without tilting its head back. Then build one habit into the routine: every day, tap the spout and watch a drop appear. Small bottles block easily, and a tiny elderly hamster that finds no water on its one evening trip out may not try again for hours. A shallow backup water dish, heavy and small, is worth adding in warm rooms, emptied and refilled daily so it never turns stale.
Remove the climbing the cage used to demand
Audit the whole cage the way an arthritic dwarf experiences it. Platforms reached by steep ladders, houses with high door sills, and wheels mounted with a jump up to the entrance all become barriers or fall risks in old age. Replace ramps with gentle slopes, choose a hide with a floor-level doorway, and make sure the wheel — still valuable gentle exercise for a senior Campbell's — can be stepped into rather than climbed into. Deep, soft bedding throughout cushions the falls that still happen and lets an old hamster burrow to its nest without navigating obstacles in the dark.
Read the results in the hamster's own routine
An elderly Campbell's that is still out at its usual time, pouching food with enthusiasm and drinking steadily, is telling you the adapted station works. One that emerges less, leaves the dish untouched, or feels lighter in the hand at health checks needs the setup moved closer still — and a vet conversation if appetite does not return, since dental wear and other senior problems commonly hide behind a feeding change. Note the final dish positions, bottle height, and water-check habit on your Campbell's KinsLe profile, and share them through Family Sharing, so a relative covering a weekend feeds from the same floor-level layout instead of helpfully tidying everything back up high.