Hamster Dietary Habits
A high quality hamster diet should be available for your pet to eat at all times. Most hamsters will eat much everyday, about 1 tablespoon of food. Hamsters will eat most food night. Note that tracking hamster dietary habits can be tricky since some hamsters like to hoard and hide food. If you feed your hamster a variety or pellets and seeds, don't be surprised is the pet picks out favorites and neglects food that he or she doesn't like. Hamsters prefer seeds, so at minimum provide a mixture of seeds and pellets.
Fresh water should be provided daily as well. All food dishes and water bottles need to be cleaned daily.
Put out fresh food when it becomes dark out, about the time the hamsters wake up.
Types Of Hamster Foods
The two basic types of hamster foods are seed and pellets. The problem with seeds alone is that they are high in fat and if fed as the sole food could lead to obesity. Look for pellets that contain approximately 15% to 25% protein. Do not provide pellets manufactured for other animals, only hamster feed.
In addition to the pellets, provide your hamster:
- 1 teaspoon of fresh vegetables everyday
- 1 teaspoon of fruit 2x per week
- Occasional treats
- Fresh hay daily (helps with wear on teeth)
- Choose from alfalfa (source of calcium and protein), timothy, oat, brome hay
Recommended Foods and Diet
Commercial Hamster Pellets:
A good choice that meets hamster dietary requirements is Oxbow Healthy Handfuls. It has the recommended balance of protein.
Hamster Vegetables:
Recommended vegetables include:
- broccoli
- collard greens
- carrots
- cucumber
- mustard greens
- squash
- spinach
Remove any uneaten vegetables 4 hours after they are placed into the hamster cage. Do not overfeed vegetables to avoid stomach problems.
Recommended fruits:
- Banana
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Grapes
Do not overfeed fruit since the hamster digestive tract does not tolerate fruit well.
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Reader Question: Cause of Hamster Green Poo
Why is my hamster's poo green? He is around 10 weeks old, and i fed him cucumber a few days ago. Could …