Hamster Food
Tips on Choosing the Best Hamster Food
The first hamsters were found seventy years ago in the Syrian Desert, where hamster food consisted of grasses, seeds, leaves and insects. The food of a hamster in captivity also needs to have good variety. Pelleted hamster foods are available in most pet stores, and these provide good balanced nutrition. However, it is also up to you to provide fresh foods to supplement the pellets.
Hamster food can include fresh vegetables and fruit, such as cauliflower, asparagus, basil, avocado, okra, peas, spinach, green and red peppers, cucumber, and squash. Syrian hamsters can eat fresh fruit, such peaches, melon, apples, pears and bananas. They like strawberries, blueberries, cranberries and cherries (remember to remove the pit). If you have a dwarf hamster, eliminate the fruits as these hamsters tend to get diabetes.
Some hamsters like whole wheat bread or small portions of whole oats, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, hard-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, and tofu. Some things should never be used for hamster food--these include green, leafy vegetables (which give diarrhea), chocolate, green potato or tomato, dried corn, garlic, raw beans, potato eyes, processed foods, or any food with a high quality of salt or sugar. Natural wood chews and dried branches from fruit trees are good hamster food treats. Check to make sure that they have no artificial colors and that they have not been sprayed with pesticides.
Do not feed your hamster food that contains ethoxyquin or molasses. It’s very important that your hamster has a good diet so that he can live a long healthy life. It also is necessary for reproduction if you are considering breeding hamsters. Don’t worry if you see your hamster eating his own droppings, as this normal and necessary for rodents. In the case of hamsters, it gives them the bacteria they need to produce B12, a much-needed vitamin. Hamsters need a diet that is 16% protein.
If you do feed fresh fruits and vegetables, they need to be removed if not eaten in twenty-four hours. Also place your hamster’s food bowl as far away as possible from the bathroom area. Use common sense when giving new foods. Don’t overdue it and introduce any food very slowly, a little at a time. Water is a necessity, of course, and the best method of giving water to a hamster is with a water bottle that hangs on the side of the cage.
A dog biscuit is often a nice chew for a hamster. Hamsters need to keep their teeth clean and their incisors worn down. They are one of a few creatures whose teeth never stop growing. Twigs are also good, especially from fruit trees, beech trees, maples, or willows. Cardboard-type toys are also OK for hamsters to chew. These can include cardboard boxes, toilet paper and paper towel rolls. Don’t let them chew newspaper as the ink might make them sick.
Always wash your hands after handling your hamster and make sure the whole family does as well. Hamsters and other rodents/reptiles are carriers of salmonella poisoning. As long as you feed your hamster a good diet and give him proper exercise toys, he should lead a long, healthy life.