Is it safe to feed Baby Spinach?

[lolguy67]

I recently got a hamster health wise he is great but for the past few days I have been feeding him a Yogurt Berry thing as a Probiotic (Im not sure what it is called exactly) and two leaves of Baby Spinach. One Berry every other day and a leaf of Spinach in the morning then one when I get home at night.

I just wanted to know if it is 100% safe to be feeding him this. The only reason I do is to balance out the diet with some greens instead of only eating his food mix I think its called Sunburst but i'm not sure.

[Drago]

Yep! Spinach is just fine and it's healthy too. I feed my hams a leaf or two of spinach on a weekly basis. I however would recommend you switch hazel/Harry hamster if he's a Syrian as this is the best mix out there on the market. If he's a dwarf, I've heard burgess dwarf hamster mix is good

[AmityvilleHams]

Higgins Sunburst is much too low in protein on its own You need to mix it with another higher protein food,I personally use Higgins Sunburst and Carefresh(the hamster version)which are both good together as one is too low in protein to be suitable as a daily diet and the other has far too little variety to be a daily diet.You still need extra animal protein with that combination,but something like Pure Bites or alternatively boiled chicken with no seasonings or spices would be a great option.Animal protein is very important,as long as it is a safe source with no additives or seasonings/spices.

Yogurt drops aren't really good for any pet,as they're essentially sugar.They don't offer any health benefits contrary to some claims you might see,and you'd be far better off just buying probiotics and mixing them into hamster-safe baby food instead which would be much better for your hamster.Dairy is also not good to feed,since it can cause digestive upsets and just isn't easily digested by pretty much any pet

Fresh food every day is a bit much.Every 2-3 days would be fine,but daily is quite a bit!Plus,spinach can be one food that does irritate stomachs and if fed daily there's an even higher chance of that happening.

If you mix Carefresh and Higgins Sunburst,you'll get an almost perfect food that just needs that extra bit of animal protein to be perfect.It's very affordable too,as both foods combined can be purchased for less than $14 and will last no less than 4 months.

[cypher]

Try to give as much variety of veg as possible from within the safe list, not too much of the same thing too often.
A good mix should form the basis of the diet, if you can get Hazel (Harry) hamster that is about the best, treats should ideally be natural foods like seeds & nuts fed in moderation, fresh food is important so I think daily (small amounts) is good personally.

[Pebbles82]

Agree with the others - have a mix like Hazel or Harry Hamster (the contents are identical - just depends which is easier to get hold of) and think of the veg as healthy extras. Supplementing the protein a bit is good too, so treats like half a brazil nut once a week, half a walnut once a weak, a small piece of cheese (like 1cm cube sized). I used to put out every day:

Tablespoon of Harry Hamster
Small piece of veg (again about 1cm cubed size - doesn't have to be square lol)
One or two extras which I would put somewhere he could find them but not in the food bowl - gives them something to do

Baby spinach is good - I wouldn't give it every day but it keeps well in the fridge. I try and give a different veg each day or every couple of days. Usually broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, cucumber - and occasionally things like spinach, a brussel sprout, green beans. Lettuce and cabbage are best avoided.

I wouldn't give probiotic berry yoghurt as it's probably got sugar and all sorts in. Your hammy shouldn't need probiotics unless they've been unwell or on antibiotics and I think you can buy it as a powder for pets.

Harry and Hazel Hamster are sugar free - most mixes aren't. Hammies can get dental caries from sugar, just like humans ans a lot of problems with their teeth when they get older, so it can be good to have a sugar free mix and just give the occasional rare sugary treat Like Hammy chocolate drops as an extra special treat or when training. Must be hamster ones though - human chocolate is poisonous to them.