Dwarf dietary questions - diabetes and tumors

[Circe]

I'm a new hamster owner as of Wednesday. When I first brought home my three little dwarf hybrids, I thought caring for them would be easy. But after days of researching their care I have become incredibly paranoid about their feed and the diabetes risks. After reading many pages of dietary lists, I went into my local pet store with a shopping list.

For basic food, I didn't see Silver's or Hazel Hamster or any of the things I've seen recommended. I did, however, find Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls. The food claims the following:

Recommended by top small animal veterinarians worldwide.
Nutritionally complete with added vitamins and minerals.
No seeds, sugary fruits or nuts.
No artificial preservatives, colors or flavors.

A little google action from my phone left me with some mixed reviews, but overall I found that people recommend it as one of the better food options. The only thing I did read that could cause concern is that it may be a little off in the requirements (listed below):

Crude Protein (min)... 15.00%
Crude Fat (min)... 4.50%
Crude Fiber (min)... 10.00%
Crude Fiber (max)... 15.00%

At any rate, this seemed to be the safest option for my babies outside of ordering online. Comments from other users (or non-users) of this food welcome.

But here is where my head started to spin. I wanted to get some extra added treats for my little guys based off of the dietary lists I've seen. I went with sunflower seeds, canary seed blend, and millet spray. I was also considering dried mealworms but passed on this visit due to price. All three of the clerks started chatting with me and became concerned about the high fat content of these treats. They advised me to be wary of feeding them any seeds (especially sunflower) because of the increased risk of cancer and tumors.

So what is a girl to do? I still bought the seeds as a little treat because I feel sad just feeding them the Oxbow. But now I'm even more paranoid, because I feel like no matter what I do I will give my babies diabetes or cancer... or both!

Please help, kind hamster lovers! I feel like worrying about their feed will drive me insane!

[Stockannette]

Hi - welcome!

I don't have dwarf hams, but I can tell you that in my area they carry Hazel at PetCo but not PetsMart.

[Stockannette]

Oh, and here is a link about dwarves on my local pet shop's web site; it mentions veggies like broccoli and zucchini.

[Circe]

Thanks for the response, and wonderful link! We will definitely be giving them some veggies, but my main concern is what I was told about seeds. I keep reading on here and elsewhere about giving them seeds and mealworms to supplement fats, but then the pet store scared me by saying it could cause tumors. Any truth to that? Is there a good rule for portions?

[Stockannette]

I personally have never heard that. Maybe they were trying, in a weird way, to discourage you from feeding them nothing BUT seeds?

Flower eats the occasional mealworm or two, and has sunflower seeds, and from time to time a bit of pecan or walnut. I have learned to ask the "helpful" people at pet supply stores, "Oh, how many hamsters do you have?" to see if they are just offering random advice they've heard somewhere or if they are even familiar with the species. An employee in one store told me Flower should have "a little cabbage as a treat - and that's it!" I only called a crazy person in my head.

I bet someone familiar with dwarfies will chime in any minute.

[Circe]

I must admit they acted like I was a bit crazy when I came in with a special shopping list saying dwarf hamsters are diabetic... and they reminded me to not believe everything I read on the internet. I tried to very politely let them know my information was coming from websites and forums specifically for owners and breeders of dwarf hamsters. So yes, I could see their information being misinformation. But it still has caused me to wonder if there was something to their claims that fatty seeds can cause cancer.

I do hope some folks with dwarfies will chime in as well!

[racinghamster]

Have a read of this: Diabetic Hamster Diet

Diet is important for diabetic prone dwarf hamsters (Campbells, Hybrids and Chinese hamsters). You are basically looking at still feeding plenty of variety in the form of seeds and grains, without additions like sweetcorn/yellow flakes maize, peas and anything within a hamster mix that would have natural straches or sugars that are high. Here are a few things you can add to their diet safely:

Hemp seed
Porridge oats (dry)
Buckwheat (dry)
Budgie seed/canary mix/millet vareties sold for birds
Dry mealworms (a source of protein)
Pinhead oatmeal
Millet spray (sold for cages birds)

The bird se mixes also have linseed and other millet varieties within them already.

Feed raw veg in very small amounts only a few times a week until the hamsters get used to it. Broccoli is the best as it`s very nutritious. Water cress and bean sprouts also go down well.

Edited to add: The scare stories about tumours or foods causing tumours, I wouldn`t put too much worry on that. Soya for example contains estrogen, so you might want to avoid feeding soya in any form especially if you have female hamsters. But everything else is fine. Cancer in small rodents is usually genetic/hereditory, so feeding them a good variety in their diet is important.

[HorseyMandz]

Silver will be able to advise you best, but really, don't believe anything the petstores tell you. Half of the time it's stuff they make up to make more money, or to sound knowledgeable. But mealworms are a good treat for dwarfies
Sunflower seeds are a bit fatty and should be given in moderation, but the others should be okay

[Silver]

Hello Circe

Anything in my Basic Dwarf Hamster Mix Dwarf Hamster - Basic - £1.38 : ratRations.com

Or in my Basic Dwarf Hamster ~ With No Fish Dwarf Hamster - No Freshwater Shrimps - £1.20 : ratRations.com

Can be fed to Diabetes prone dwarfs.

I think they are scaring you about the feeding fat can cause tumours. No one knows what causes Cancer.

The things to avoid are Flaked Peas/Corn & all Fruit. Carrots & Sweet Corn. Thes are high in natural sugar once digested which in Humans is not very much but a small Dwarf it's a lot more for there body's to digest.

Same goes for treats nothing with sugar or fruit. I have made a list of diabetes prone Dwarf Hamster Treats

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

Millet spray

Mealworms

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

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

Saflower seeds

Cabbage

Sprout

Runner Beans

French Beans

Cooked egg

Cooked Plain Chicken

Cooked Pasta

Pumpkin Seeds

Egg Biscuit (make sure it is sugar free as sometimes the binder can be sugar based)

Sunflower Seeds

Sprouted Seeds


feed a small bit of veg two/three times a week. A treat from the above list once a day

Hope that helps a little

Silver xxx

[Circe]

Thanks for the additional link. I did do a lot of research and went in with a shopping list for their diabetic needs. I was just incredibly confused when I was then told their special diet might cause cancer! Glad to hear it was probably just the staff being misinformed.

I was working off a couple different resources that were not the one you just posted. I had read before that hard boiled eggs can be a good source of protein, but your link specifies for the first time I've seen that it should be egg whites with a small amount of yolk. That is good to know now otherwise I would have given them an equal balance of both.