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maxhanckel · 02-14-2018, 03:54 PM

Hello! I just created an account but I have been sifting through various forums for several weeks now. I am the very happy dad of three hamsters: a dwarf, a long-haired Syrian, and a Winter White.

I am very interested in making food for my little critters for a few reasons. It is very important for me to feed myself and my pets as much of an organic diet as possible (although my pets tend to get more organic food than I do!) and as of yet, there are no organic hamster foods I can find. I want more control over what they eat, and I personally believe they are better off receiving nutrients from whole foods rather than synthetically added vitamins and minerals that may or may not be readily bioavailable. Right now they all eat the new GMO-free Oxbow and they're used to getting a small portion of fresh vegetables every day and some freeze dried protein (chicken, shrimp) or some egg.

I see a lot of different recipes for 100% homemade diets and I'm just wondering what's ideal in terms of portioning out different foods. I understand that the bulk of the diet should be seeds and cereals: perhaps a mix of millet, barley, quinoa, oats, buckwheat, rye. I could definitely add in flax and sesame seeds and such too. As far as veggies, my little guys love broccoli, bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, and kale.
However, I see various suggested amounts for nuts. Some recommend only using nuts as treats, and some say small amounts can be mixed in every day. I also see varying amounts of herbs and things that can or should be added in (as treats vs. part of the daily diet.) My dwarf loves herbs, but I haven't tried parsley, mint, or anything like that with the others yet.

I read that hamsters actually eat a lot of grasses in the wild. Wheatgrass has a lot of great nutrients in it. Do people use wheatgrass much in home diets? I see a lot of people sticking with grass seeds.
Kale is chock full of great nutrients, too, but I don't see a lot of people using it?
Anyway, if anyone has any good general guidelines or recipes that I could try to follow, that would be great!

I'd like to add that I will not be making any drastic changes to their diets until I am comfortable with the knowledge I've accumulated, and I may even stick to 50% commercial and 50% home made if I'm not fully confident in the nutritional value of my homemade mixture, but I'd really like to get to the point where I can do 100%

Thank you in advance!

02-14-2018, 03:54 PM
maxhanckel Newborn Pup Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Washington, US Posts: 13	Homemade diets Hello! I just created an account but I have been sifting through various forums for several weeks now. I am the very happy dad of three hamsters: a dwarf, a long-haired Syrian, and a Winter White. I am very interested in making food for my little critters for a few reasons. It is very important for me to feed myself and my pets as much of an organic diet as possible (although my pets tend to get more organic food than I do!) and as of yet, there are no organic hamster foods I can find. I want more control over what they eat, and I personally believe they are better off receiving nutrients from whole foods rather than synthetically added vitamins and minerals that may or may not be readily bioavailable. Right now they all eat the new GMO-free Oxbow and they're used to getting a small portion of fresh vegetables every day and some freeze dried protein (chicken, shrimp) or some egg. I see a lot of different recipes for 100% homemade diets and I'm just wondering what's ideal in terms of portioning out different foods. I understand that the bulk of the diet should be seeds and cereals: perhaps a mix of millet, barley, quinoa, oats, buckwheat, rye. I could definitely add in flax and sesame seeds and such too. As far as veggies, my little guys love broccoli, bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, and kale. However, I see various suggested amounts for nuts. Some recommend only using nuts as treats, and some say small amounts can be mixed in every day. I also see varying amounts of herbs and things that can or should be added in (as treats vs. part of the daily diet.) My dwarf loves herbs, but I haven't tried parsley, mint, or anything like that with the others yet. I read that hamsters actually eat a lot of grasses in the wild. Wheatgrass has a lot of great nutrients in it. Do people use wheatgrass much in home diets? I see a lot of people sticking with grass seeds. Kale is chock full of great nutrients, too, but I don't see a lot of people using it? Anyway, if anyone has any good general guidelines or recipes that I could try to follow, that would be great! I'd like to add that I will not be making any drastic changes to their diets until I am comfortable with the knowledge I've accumulated, and I may even stick to 50% commercial and 50% home made if I'm not fully confident in the nutritional value of my homemade mixture, but I'd really like to get to the point where I can do 100% Thank you in advance!