A nutty question...

[nightminder]

Hi all, just a quick question, any ideas on how hammies like seasonal british nuts? Got a lot of acorns and chestnuts coming into the garden (no pesticides or weedkillers etc used so no probs there...). Just wondering if Gizmo would like a couple of acorns from time to time ;)

Thanks
Nightminder and Gizmo

[n_t]

i think they would love stuff like that, and leave the shells on so they have to work hard to get at the nut inside! maybe slightly crack the acorn just a tiny bit so its not too difficult but also your hamster will have their teeth filed down by trying to chew into it and probably good for their nails too! go for it!

[souffle]

I think acorns are OK but the horse chestnuts I would not give. They are not the same as the edible sweet chestnuts. I never see the squirrels eat them here so am not sure they are safe. The shells are also prickly!

[ellisyellis]

hiya good idea to give them our seasonal nuts. i would also love to know what was safe to give them. i would be very carefull before giving them acorns as i have ponies and acorns are very poisonus to them. infact they can be deadly to them if eaten in volume! i wonder how we could safely find out what can be given????? what the squirrels eat may be fine for them but i wouldnt want to risk it with my hammys unless i was 101% sure. i will have a look on the web and see if i can find anything about what is safe. or maybe somebody on here may know???????

[ellisyellis]

right, i have looked on some websites and they say you can feed the following and its safe.

chestnuts, clover, figs, water chestnuts, dandilion leaves, monkey nuts, peanuts, almonds without shells, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, acorns and hazel nuts.

im still not convinced about giving my boys acorns because of what i know they can do to animals a hell of a lot bigger than them. i know hammys are completely different to horses but it is a scary idea from where i am coming from! if anybody on here has fed acorns i would love to hear from them as i would like to know :D

[n_t]

what does it mean by almonds without the shells? is it the brown skin around it? i gave my hammy an almonda yesterday with the skin on, i am soooo worried now...i mean he looks fine, but just incase. should i take him to the vet?

[ellisyellis]

no no no huni your fine! sorry if i worried you. it says without shell because they are hard to get off. just so your hammy can get into it. x

[nightminder]

Thanks for the advice guys! Gonna start with just a couple for now and see how he likes them (if he can get into them that is ;) ). Will let you know if anything develops ;)

[n_t]

no no no huni your fine! sorry if i worried you. it says without shell because they are hard to get off. just so your hammy can get into it. x

thank god! was starting to get worried!so its ok if he ate the brown skin on the almond then, no problems with it?

[souffle]

I still would not give the chestnuts as they might mean the sweet ones you can roast or make chestnut stuffing with not the horse chestnuts that grow here. I have given dandelion leaves before but they are a diuretic. In fact I think I'll stick to regular mix :D :D

[stripeybea]

we do get the sweet chestnuts in england i pick some every year at christmas time for my dad from a tree near us

[souffle]

That must be nice for christmas stripybea :D We only have horse chestnuts round here. :?

[stripeybea]

yes tho i have never seen another sweet chestnut tree round here so it might be that it was planted purposely. but i have heard that sweet chestnuts are fine for hamsters

[daffee]

We have a sweet chestnut tree on our estate and our squirrel keeps bringing them into out garden so we assume they must be ripe :lol: My OH is planning on going to harvest some at some point *yum*. Not sure we'll be able to get enought to feed us and all the beasties though :( Going to the shops seems so much easier to me :oops: