Would it be cruel to "force" my hamster to finish her food mix?

[10Minutes]

My hamster can be pretty picky about food and she only likes some parts of her mix. This makes me concerned that she isn't getting a balanced diet.

Would it be all right if I didn't feed her until she finished her food? And by that, I mean I did give her a couple of sunflower seeds and mealworms today, but I feel like I am being so cruel when I watched her going to her food bowl today and sadly munching on something I know that she doesn't really like much.

Of course I will definitely give her more food soon if she insists on not touching the remaining food, but she does eat them, just very reluctantly. And I am sure she does have plenty in her hoards and pouch. I'm trying to be a good mother to her, but at the same time it's so heart wrenching because she kind of looked disappointed that her favourites weren't in the bowl today. Should I give in and fill her bowl or insist she finishes the remainder before giving her food?

Not sure what is the better and healthier option because I have read somewhere that if they don't eat it, they probably instinctively know their bodies don't need it.

[Hammygal]

[My hamster was becoming a picky eater, so I started giving some of all the food, not just what she likes. She is now eating a little of everything. I give her what she loves for treats.FONT="Comic Sans MS"][/FONT].

[Ria P]

Opinions will differ and i can only give you mine.

On days when my hamster eats bits of what i eat like a bit of boiled egg, a drop of porridge, a piece of boiled pasta, bit of fresh fruit or nuts he may eat very little of his hamster mix. He always eats (and hoards) his fresh veg in the evening, pinch of linseeds and some seeds. He nibbles on wheat sprays and dried herbs, also gets fresh herb leaves and has insect mix scuttered around his cage. He has a choice of foods available to him at all times.

On days when i'm not home he eats more of his hamster mix but never finishes it.
Do i insist that he finishes it? No, i don't.
I may leave it for a couple of days if there's a lot left in his bowl but otherwise i empty leftover mix and replace with fresh.

I prefer certain foods and don't expect any different from my hamster.

I'm not saying that's the right way to feed a hamster but i've never made an issue of food. The only time i would worry is if he'd stop eating.

[10Minutes]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Opinions will differ and i can only give you mine.

On days when my hamster eats bits of what i eat like a bit of boiled egg, a drop of porridge, a piece of boiled pasta, bit of fresh fruit or nuts he may eat very little of his hamster mix. He always eats (and hoards) his fresh veg in the evening, pinch of linseeds and some seeds. He nibbles on wheat sprays and dried herbs, also gets fresh herb leaves and has insect mix scuttered around his cage. He has a choice of foods available to him at all times.

On days when i'm not home he eats more of his hamster mix but never finishes it.
Do i insist that he finishes it? No, i don't.
I may leave it for a couple of days if there's a lot left in his bowl but otherwise i empty leftover mix and replace with fresh.

I prefer certain foods and don't expect any different from my hamster.

I'm not saying that's the right way to feed a hamster but i've never made an issue of food. The only time i would worry is if he'd stop eating.

Thanks for your opinion! I think Henry does get lots of healthy supplements with you (boiled egg, insects etc) so it's not a concern with him at all. My hamster tends to be a tad picky and she doesn't really eat those foods. Maybe she would eat them if I left them long enough, but I'm worried about them spoiling and remove them immediately if she doesn't want them. The only type of food I would dare to leave long in her cage is her food mix and pellets.

I had a sudden moment of heart wrenching self doubt when I saw her munching away looking so dejected, I somehow felt that she was really sad about not finding her favourites in the bowl and I felt I was being so mean to her. And then I got concerned about whether she doesn't like eating those because they may actually be things her body doesn't need.

She always looks so happy and scuttles excitedly when she discovers I filled her bowl with new treats.

[Ria P]

I think you need to relax a bit and give her a chance to try new foods providing she wants to. Food doesn't spoil that quickly.
Henry stil has a bit of leftover porridge in his egg cup from this morning and its 18.45 now. He came out a couple of times in the afternoon for some more but i'll remove it now.
The insects are a dried mix from the pet shop and don't go off.
It's so easy to overthink things where our precious hamsters are concerned and worry too much...i do it myself.

[10Minutes]

Originally Posted by Ria P

I think you need to relax a bit and give her a chance to try new foods providing she wants to. Food doesn't spoil that quickly.
Henry stil has a bit of leftover porridge in his egg cup from this morning and its 18.45 now. He came out a couple of times in the afternoon for some more but i'll remove it now.
The insects are a dried mix from the pet shop and don't go off.
It's so easy to overthink things where our precious hamsters are concerned and worry too much...i do it myself.

I think I am also concerned about her hoarding perishable food somewhere and I'll never be able to find it in the substrate, then it'll go bad. LOL. Porridge does sound like an idea, that way maybe she won't be able to hoard it. Thanks, I'll try and leave foods out a bit longer, maybe in the evenings when I am free to watch her for long time periods!

[Isleofhamsters]

My hamster can be picky at times (he doesn’t like mealworms much) but I don’t give him more food in his bowl till he has eaten all of it.

Every morning I usually give him a nut or a piece of fresh veg, but that isn’t enough to satisfy his hunger.

If the bowl is empty I refill it and this system works pretty well. He isn’t to fat or skinny, and when I spot clean, there isn’t any much food left.

Hope this helps!

[10Minutes]

Originally Posted by Isleofhamsters

My hamster can be picky at times (he doesn’t like mealworms much) but I don’t give him more food in his bowl till he has eaten all of it.

Every morning I usually give him a nut or a piece of fresh veg, but that isn’t enough to satisfy his hunger.

If the bowl is empty I refill it and this system works pretty well. He isn’t to fat or skinny, and when I spot clean, there isn’t any much food left.

Hope this helps!

Thanks! I'm just wondering if maybe there's a reason she doesn't like to eat some of her foods (her body doesn't need it), but from your experience, it seems that sometimes they just pick their favourites because they like the taste, not because of its nutritional value

[Isleofhamsters]

Yeah that is usually the case. If your seed mix has got the right nutritional values, then obviously the hamster is being picky.

[10Minutes]

Originally Posted by Isleofhamsters

Yeah that is usually the case. If your seed mix has got the right nutritional values, then obviously the hamster is being picky.

I'm not too sure if the nutritional values are right. I can only rely on my own inexperienced self to try find the best I can this side of the world (the commonly recommended ones are not available here), so hopefully it works out.

She always avoids her lab blocks though, and only eats them when she's really hungry (I cut up a block once a week and mix the pieces into her feed), and I would have thought those were the most important supplement she could have for the protein: Protein 24%, Fat 4.5%, Fiber 5.0%. Her current mix is only 17% for protein. It's an internal struggle in me to wonder if I should give up on feeding her the lab blocks/ pellets altogether, since she clearly only eats those when nothing else is available.