Common fresh foods for your hamster

From Hamster Central WIKI

In addition to feeding your hamster its regular daily feed, it’s important to offer fresh foods on a regular basis. Fresh foods can include almost any sort of fruit or vegetable. When beginning to offer fresh foods its important to start introducing them in small amounts and gradually to avoid diarrhea.

Start offering fresh food once or twice a week in pieces no bigger then roughly one inch square in size. Its recommended you continue this feeding regimen for a couple weeks then increase to feeding a small piece of fresh food each day. If your hamster starts to show any signs of diarrhea, stop feeding any fresh foods until the diarrhea stops and then slowly reintroduce the fresh food into the diet.

When offering fresh foods be sure to watch the hamster closely. Only offer as much as it will eat and take away anything uneaten as soon as possible. Fresh foods that are stored will eventually become moldy, so be sure to search the hamster’s cage for any leftovers encase your ham may have buried it someplace for later.

• Suitable Fresh foods to feed.
• Apples
• Banana
• Basil
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Dandelions (leaves and flowers)
• Grapes
• Green beans
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Melon
• Oranges
• Peas
• Spinach
• Sweet Potato
• Turnip
• Watercress
• Zucchini

Other treats you might find around the house!

• Eggs - cooked, scrambled or hard boiled and with no salt. Especially good for pregnant and nursing hams.
• Dog Biscuits - help keeps your hamster teeth worn down
• Milk - just a teaspoon or less.
• Mixed birdseed – parakeet or canary in particular.
• Nutritional yeast – the kind found in health food stores.
• Dry Sugar free cereals.
• Whole wheat bread.
• Uncooked Pasta.

Resources

The Hamster Handbook by Patricia Bartlett, www.petwebsite.com