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Old 11-09-2018, 06:40 PM   #1
jna
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Join Date: Nov 2018
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Exclamation How often do I have to feed my dwarf hamster?

Hi everyone, I’m a newbie here and I recently adopted 10 months old russian dwarf. I’m not so sure about feeding him as many sources are completely different so I’m very confused about it. How often do I feed him? Is it suppose to be 1 tablespoon daily? Do I change the food everyday? Or do I put2-3 spoon and change in 2-3 days? Also what is the best mix food for hamster? I’m currently thinking about getting Burgess dwarf and Harry mix. The old owner feed him with Wagg and many carrots which seems to very bad. Please tell me in details I really want to take care of this little boy as good as I can.
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Old 11-10-2018, 10:35 PM   #2
MeganAndMisty
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Default Re: How often do I have to feed my dwarf hamster?

Hi welcome to Hamster Central! I also have a russian dwarf hamster, I usually feed my hamster daily, I give her a tablespoon a day, some people give their hamsters more than that but I've found that she very rarely eats it all anyway. Though I'm sure feeding every 2-3 would be ok as long as the bowl is never empty..

I usually put half of her food in her bowl and scatter the other half in different places around her cage to encourage her to forage like she would have to do in the wild. It's a fun way for her to get her food and she seems to really like it. Some people just do this with all of their hamsters food instead of using a bowl at all it's called "scatter feeding" Or you could just put all of the food in a bowl, it's completely up to you.

As for food - I currently use a mix of Burgess Dwarf Hamster Harvest and Harry Hamster. You could mix them together like I do or you could use either of them - Though, I do find Burgess to be a bit plain by itself so that's why I mix them together. My hamsters seems to really like it. I also mix in dried mealworms and she LOVES them.

I've never used Wagg but I've also never seen people recommend it so I would personally stop using it. If you do decide to change your hamster diet try not to just do it all at once as this can cause stomach issues. I would mix the new food with the old food for about maybe 1 -2 weeks and slowly put more of the new food in and taking more of the old food out.

As for carrots, they're high in sugar and as dwarf hamsters are unfortunately prone to diabetes they can't have them very often. I only feed my dwarfs carrot VERY rarely and some people don't feed them at all. However, hamsters do love fresh vegetables so I give my hamsters things that are a bit lower in sugar like broccoli and cauliflower. If you do feed him fresh vegitables or fruit make sure you take it back out of the cage after a day so they don't end up eating it once it's gone bad! Here's a list of safe and unsafe food for your hamster - https://erinshamsters.wixsite.com/ha...amsterfoodlist
Hopefully this helped.
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Old 11-10-2018, 11:26 PM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: How often do I have to feed my dwarf hamster?

Hi & congrats on your new ham, well done for adopting him & giving him a forever home

It doesn't really matter if you feed daily or every few days really, the idea is to try to avoid picky eating so you want to wait until at least most of the food has gone but never leave the bowl empty, a tablespoon is quite a lot for a dwarf ham but they rarely eat too much & do need to make a hoard as well so it doesn't matter if you give a bit more than they need.
I wouldn't leave it more than a few days without giving fresh food though so if there is a lot left after that time then give a bit less.
Harry Hamster is far from ideal for a dwarf ham & unfortunately Burgess are going to discontinue their dwarf hamster harvest & just sell a pellet type food which isn't good either, if you have a look at this thread you will see some alternatives that have been suggested.
Important info - Burgess hamster foods

I do half & half with bowl & scatter feeding too, it helps when you have a new ham to use a bowl as it's easier to see what is or isn't being eaten but once you can see how your ham is doing scatter feeding or just hiding food around the cage is a great form of enrichment for them.

Giving fresh veg daily is really good too, begin slowly with just a small piece every few days to begin with gradually building up & give as much variety as possible.
This is a fairly complete list of veg you can give.

Safe veg, those marked * are relatively high in sugar so only feed to diabetes prone species as an occasional treat if at all.
Asparagus
Basil
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Common or red clover
Cabbage, green or red
Carrot*
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Coriander
Courgette
Cress (not mustard & cress as commonly sold together)
Cucumber
Dandelion leaves & flowers
Endive/chicory
Green beans/runner beans
Kale
Lettuce (not iceberg)
Pak choi/Bok choi
Parsley
Peas/mange tout/sugar snap/snow*
Peppers, any colour
Potato/sweet potato cooked only*
Radicchio
Spinach
Squash/pumpkin*
Swede
Sweet corn/baby corn*
Turnip
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