Treats

[TheGoldenDwarfTV]

Hey!

Are you for or against commercial treats? If you do or do not give your hamster/s treats - why is that? I am against them because I feel as though there are much more healthier alternatives such as vegetables.

D

[kyrilliondaemon]

We give treats but the majority of them are healthier treats like millet as opposed to the chocolate drops e.t.c you can buy in pet shops. Our robo Rufus is quite partial to the odd honey drop but most of our pet treats are just seeds and things like that

[barley]

I have some carrot drops from P@H and some little nibble biscuit sticks for Rupert, they're the only commercial treats I have for him. I don't mind giving them when used as intended (as a treat!) because the rest of his diet is good and I personally don't think a little bit of something treat-like occasionally does any harm. Just like people who have a good diet but have the odd bar of chocolate or crisps!

The ''you never know what's actually in them'' argument could be applied to absolutely all foods (including complete hamster mixes) so I don't think that stands up really...

[kyrilliondaemon]

I just want to register my protest at the first post in the thread being edited after myself and Barley had replied, thats cheating!

For anyone wondering, the original post was asking about treats in general and did (obviously) say you never know whats in commercial treats. In light of the change to it saying about healthier alternatives like vegetables... Even veg in excess is harmful. Most seeds, heck even most veg, if not fed as treats then they're going to be bad for the ham. Most of a hamsters diet should always be a decent hamster food/diet and treats should be just that, treats. Unless you feed a pellet diet (in which case you trust that pellet diet a heck of a lot) a hamster will always selectively feed to some degree. Their nutritional needs also change throughout their lives. Given that we can never meet anythings needs exactly - not even a humans, I really don't think the odd treat will do them any harm and very, very few treats are truly healthy when you look at them.

I say we give mostly heathier things but I'm fully aware that a few sunflower seeds or mealworms are probably about as bad as the honey drops I mentioned earlier really - and loads of people give mealworms and sunflower seeds far more reguarly than any of my own pets get the honey drops. We moderate even the healthier treats and give a varied enough mix to feel our pets get tasty things fairly often just as part of a balanced diet I really don't think it matters too much what treats you feed as long as they really are just occasional treats

[Thin Lizzy]

I give mine treats but in moderation, I always make sure they have their mix and fresh veggies daily. Fruit they get once or twice a week.

[racinghamster]

See my recent thread about making your own:
Yummy natural treats!

I never buy shop-bought treats because I feel most are money wasted.

[Fluffagrams]

I tend to think that there's no harm in giving the odd treat in moderation.

I give Meat half a carrot drop after his evening playtime. He enjoys them a great deal, he's very old and I probably won't have him all that much longer. I want him to enjoy the time he has left and if that means that he gets a little bit spoilt then so be it.

May is a fussy little madam and only likes the apple drops but she only gets given them every few days. She has a small piece of fruit some days instead of the commercially prepared treats.