Nutritional Needs

[StarlightSerenity]

What do hamsters need, nutrition wise, on a daily basis? (I'm not quite sure how to put that question... hopefully you get what I mean >.<). IE calories, protien etc. Obviously it will differ from species to species so if you know a figure, don't forget to say what species it's relevent to :P

[StarlightSerenity]

Doesn't anyone know anything about hamsters nutritional needs??

Come on guys, I'm positive you do

[KatiePillow]

I once spent hours reading about syrian hamster protein requirements, and the forms which it's best to get that protein, and I think that study was between 15-19%, harry hamster is 19% and most references I've seen are to 19%, but I don't know.. I think fibre is about 5-8%?

[kyrilliondaemon]

*hopes Silver will turn up as thats probably the best hope for a really specific answer*

And thanks KatiePillow, I'd seen this before and wondered if anyone knew, so its not just SS who wants to know and will be glad to get answers

[Hamtastic]

Wouldn't the calorie intake vary from hamster to hamster, depending on their size, sex, age, and condition (and type)? I don't know the right answer, but based on this complete high quality high-energy lab diet by Purina Lab Diet (ProLab RMH3000 formula) that's highly recommended in the U.S. by professional breeders,
http://www.labdiet.com/pdf/5p00.pdf

I can estimate the following:

It says "adult hamsters will eat up to 14g a day", and the gross energy value is 4.10kcal/g, physiological fuel value is 3.46kcal/g, and metabolizable energy is 3.2kcal/g. I'm not sure how those values compare to normal human foods, but taking the average, we get 3.59kcal/g. I think human food is counted by gross energy value. Anyway, it means that an adult hamster (syrian) will eat up to 50.2kcal / day average and 57.4kcal/day (gross energy value from food). That means less for dwarf hamsters and smaller syrians.

Hope my analysis is not too far off! You can see other nutritional value comparisons in that PDF file of nutritional information.

P.S.: this is for a fit lab animal--chubby lazy hamsters at home probably consume a bit more.