Hand-fed (safe) treats for chinese hams?

[racinghamster]

So, I`m thinking about all the little things that can be hand-fed as treats to chinese hamsters that are not:

Honey/syrup or sugar coated?

Right now, I break up a mealworm (dried!) into two or three pieces and feed these as hand-held treats, which Prinny loves and I also pick out little things like Buckwheat, millet and the odd piece of broken peanut from her own mix. But what else could I add to this list? Any ideas? :)

Chinese owners only please. ;) I realise they are classed as dwarf hamsters, but I`m really just interested in what other chinese keepers like to feed as treats only thanks.

[shazzy]

Willow loves me feeding her sunflower seeds, the little grey ones (think thats what they are...) and also porridge oats.

Funny how they love being hand-fed isnt it :) Willow gets really excited about it

[Roxie]

Good thread, I've been looking for more treat ideas for Shiloh. It's so difficult finding "safe" stuff.

At the mo, I do the same as you. Bit of mealworm, some sunflower seeds and also some very tiny seeds from Harry Hamster. Those tiny seeds really helped with taming as she had to get so close to my finger to take them. Apart from those, I give her a little bit of Broccoli now and then and small pieces of cucumber.

Gotta say, hand feeding is one of my favourite activities with Shiloh, it really helped us bond <3, and no matter how many times she does it, I still squee when she puts her little paw on my finger whilst she takes the food :D.

[racinghamster]

I also pick out the smaller (I think the seeds in the Harry Hamster are whole wheat?) not too sure. Little round things with a split up the middle? Prinny loves these aswell. :) It sounds as if we all do much the same thing and prefer to feed `treats` that are basically bits taken from their own mix, rather than anything we actually buy seperately from a pet shop that perhaps a syrian might get like those seedy treat bars and corn snacks, which chinese can`t have.

To be honest I feel giving them little foody treats from within their own food is probably the safest way to ensure they are eating treats we know we can feed without worrying too much, but the hamster also enjoys the enrichment of taking little feeds from our hand and as Roxie rightly said, it helps with bonding from day one and really helps with taming.

I`ve done this with prinny from the start and she was a year old when I rehomed her and she had the intelligence to still trust me and her new surroundings and has adapted so well I can`t believe it! :)

Prinny lives in a Gabber Rex tank and I still feel she would benefit from a Zoozone 2 as she darts around digging and enjoyng the space! :mad:

[Quedos]

I'm glad she's doing well Racinghamster. Squeak also loves being hand fed and really coming out of her shell now. She normally get broccoli/cauliflower/meal worms/ sunflower seeds

[racinghamster]

Hey! :) Glad to hear little Squeak is doing well! That`s great. I tend not to feed any veg to Prinny mainly because I`m not too sure what is good or bad really. :confused: I`m scared I will upset her tummy if I start going down the veg route. My syrian gets apple & carrot but Prinny can`t have these due to their sugar content.

[shazzy]

Willow has a small piece of broccoli everyday - has had for the last 2 months - and its not done her any harm. No runny poos or anything

[Silver]

Is it ok if I sneek in here....I don't have a chinese ham but I do have a pet shop WW/C hybrid that's diabete's prone....does that count? :D

Nuts! only a small amount each day because they are fatty

Dari Nibble Cob - Naturals Range this is a big spike of Dari so break some off & give it to the ham to pick off while you hold it.

Millet spray they are big so break some off & hold it while hammy pulls off the millet

Mix some Puffs up, Puffed Rice, Millet & Buckwheat (make sure the ingredients is 100% & no added anything can be found in health food shops)

Saflower seeds

Rice cake (with no salt again may need to visit a health food shop)

Broccoli

French bean

Runner bean

Sprout

Cabbabe

[racinghamster]

That`s a nice list Silver! :) And yes, Russian Campbells dwarf/hybrids can be counted as they are also prone to diabetes. Sorry I should have mentioned that!

I already feed Kallo organic wholegrain puffed rice (although plain puffed rice is available online from Rat Rations and other good healthfood places) as this has nothing added to it. It`s just plain grains of rice that are puffed. Organic jumbo oats from Tesco also go down really well, but plain porridge oats are fine as long as they are not too dusty in consistency.

Millet sprays: I also cut a piece off and give that as a treat she can nibble away at in her own time.

Dari nibble cob: ? Not sure I`ve seen these locally! I`m sure they are good though if you can get hold of them.

Nuts: I agree, I pick out the large peanuts in the hamster mix and break one up and feed it in smaller pieces rather than allow her to gorge herself on too much fat on a daily basis as she is`nt the size of a large syrian! :mad:

I also feed canary seed along with millet seed as this contains hemp seed, linseed and a very tiny black seed which is either niger or rapeseed, I`m not too sure which as I bought it loose from my local pet supplier. But it also adds to the variety.

[Silver]

Coconut curls go down well with all my three as well as walnuts xxx

Here is the Dari nibble cob

http://www.equinecaninefeline.com/catalog/naturals-dari-nibble-p-1139.html

[Roxie]

Coconut curls go down well with all my three

Ah funny you should mention Coconut, I was wondering today whether it would be alright for Chinese. I have the Naturals Rats Dream for Cookie so can take a few bits of Coconut out of that. I assume the sugar content in Coconut is low? I'm pretty dumb when it comes to these things :p

[Silver]

if you was to feed 100g of coconut (which obviously you would NEVER do that) there would be 6g of sugar.

[racinghamster]

Thanks for the Dari link Silver. I`ll do some reading up on that! Coconut I`m not so sure about. I have read (somewhere but can`t remember where....the rat forum I think) that coconut is quite high in fat? As for sugars, I wouldn`t feed coconut if it contains any sugars at all ladies. I know if something is very small in sugar content, it`s probably safe enough to feed occassionally as a treat. If that was the case, I would probably just add a single niblet of corn, since corn is made up of glucose! Which is why I remove it from my mix.

It really is an educational trip feeding chinese (and hybrid dwarfs) because there can be so many hidden elements to cetrain foods and when you consider that carbohydrates turn to sugar naturally, they are also needed for energy, warmth and basic needs, so they are unavoidable really. I would say as long as their daily mix and add-on`s are all carefully monitored and we know what each ingredient is, then giving the odd little treat now and then won`t hurt, just as long as it`s not a daily thing.