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Old 09-12-2017, 05:56 AM   #1
Euan
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Default Treat Ideas - Variety being the spice of life and all that

Hi Guys,

We've got a young Campbell dwarf who is in the latter stages of taming who likes food, like me, and I want to make sure he gets a varied diet generally and treat to offer him from my hand. I don't want hammo to become blobbo.

I know you can give them small amounts of pasta, broccoli, carrots and most seeds.

What do you guys find your hamsters like as an irregular treat, fresh food, dried food and human food?
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Old 09-12-2017, 06:54 PM   #2
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Default Re: Treat Ideas - Variety being the spice of life and all that

Plain puffed rice or other hamster safe grains would be a good idea.These would be on the cereal aisle of most grocery stores,and they tend to be fairly inexpensive.

The main idea with any product(treat or otherwise)is keeping it simple and natural.Avoid any artificial flavors,artificial dyes,maltodextrin/dextrose/sorbitol/sucrose(or other processed sugars and artificial sweeteners),unspecified biproducts(digest,derivatives,meat and bone meal,animal anything like fat or liver,etc).Propylene glycol and sulfur dioxide are also best avoided,as with BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin("E&C approved" antioxidants/preservatives in the UK,these are known to cause cancer though so really not worth risking).Nothing should be sourced from or made in China either,as well as not being treated with irradiation.

You could definitely avoid harmful ingredients and have certainty that you're only using safe ingredients if you made your own hamster friendly and species appropriate dog biscuits(no corn or wheat or wheat/corn products or relatives though as with all products that would be shared with dogs/other carnivores,as these are quite bad for dogs as well as any other carnivore such as cats!).An example would be a base of brown rice flour,almond flour,or even a bean/legume based flour with safe seeds,nuts,and other things added.You could add plain pureed pumpkin(pumpkin and water only,no spices and such)as well.
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Old 09-13-2017, 12:08 AM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Treat Ideas - Variety being the spice of life and all that

I posted some ideas for various seeds & treats in your other thread, don't know if you saw those or not?

As an occasional treat mine tend to like nuts, a small piece of walnut or pinenut are favourites or a monkey nut, they get veg daily so I don't count those as treats really, I rarely give any human foods, sometimes a tiny bit of plain porridge or some cooked pulses but not much else.
Favourites always seem to be the more natural hamster foods, seeds etc but as a treat they do love more of the high fat ones of course!

I wouldn't bother with the puffed grains for a campbell or hybrid tbh, I have tried them a few times with various hybrids & they aren't interested & I do think it far better to stick to more natural slow release carb foods like whole unprocessed grains or seeds with those susceptible to diabetes.
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Old 09-13-2017, 02:58 AM   #4
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Default Re: Treat Ideas - Variety being the spice of life and all that

Thanks guys, some good ideas there, very helpful.

Apologies Cypher, I didn't get the email notification for it and didn't see it, thanks for sharing your wisdom!
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Old 09-16-2017, 02:12 AM   #5
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Default Re: Treat Ideas - Variety being the spice of life and all that

We have a Syrian but Im sure some of the same treats would go down well Each day I put out his hamster mix in his dish, a very small piece of veg nearby, and an "extra" in a different part of the cage (he expects it to be there and runs to find it, then dives into a little hidey house near the treat to eat it). So I try and put a different veg out each day, usually broccoli, carrot, cucumber or a bit of green bean, or cauliflower. I end up buying more veg than we usually would, so keep it in the fridge - they last a long time then. Carrots last for ages in the fridge.

The extra is different each day as well - usually either a small piece of walnut, or pecan nut, or brazil nut or a couple of pumpkin seeds, or a tiny piece of cheese (only once a week with the cheese). He also has a Rosewoods naturals treat stick to chew on (they are sugar free so won't cause tooth decay!)

Cypher knows about seeds for dwarf hammies so her info will be good.

If he's out of the cage I'll give him a tiny piece of chicken (if we have any in) - plain cooked, not if it's been cooked in a sauce eg. Or any other cold meat we happen to have. Our last hammy had beef, pheasant, grouse and fish occasionally too! but I only give those fresh extras out of cage as they tend to eat them straight away and I'd worry they'd be hoarded and go off in the cage.

It's best to avoid sugary treats - especially with dwarf hammies as they are prone to diabetes. Pumpkin seeds usually go down well here. You can get little packs of them and nuts, in the supermarket. Most kinds of nuts go down well - but just plain, not salted. And almonds are debatable. I keep in plain cashew nuts, brazil nuts, monkey nuts in the shell, walnuts and pecan nuts. Trouble is I end up eating the nuts myself and having to buy more.
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