Hamster Central - View Single Post - Dwarf dietary questions

racinghamster · 09-09-2012, 01:14 AM

Have a read of this: Diabetic Hamster Diet

Diet is important for diabetic prone dwarf hamsters (Campbells, Hybrids and Chinese hamsters). You are basically looking at still feeding plenty of variety in the form of seeds and grains, without additions like sweetcorn/yellow flakes maize, peas and anything within a hamster mix that would have natural straches or sugars that are high. Here are a few things you can add to their diet safely:

Hemp seed
Porridge oats (dry)
Buckwheat (dry)
Budgie seed/canary mix/millet vareties sold for birds
Dry mealworms (a source of protein)
Pinhead oatmeal
Millet spray (sold for cages birds)

The bird se mixes also have linseed and other millet varieties within them already.

Feed raw veg in very small amounts only a few times a week until the hamsters get used to it. Broccoli is the best as it`s very nutritious. Water cress and bean sprouts also go down well.

Edited to add: The scare stories about tumours or foods causing tumours, I wouldn`t put too much worry on that. Soya for example contains estrogen, so you might want to avoid feeding soya in any form especially if you have female hamsters. But everything else is fine. Cancer in small rodents is usually genetic/hereditory, so feeding them a good variety in their diet is important.

09-09-2012, 01:14 AM
racinghamster PM Fluffy for custom title Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Central Scotland Posts: 13,415	Re: Dwarf dietary questions - diabetes and tumors Have a read of this: Diabetic Hamster Diet Diet is important for diabetic prone dwarf hamsters (Campbells, Hybrids and Chinese hamsters). You are basically looking at still feeding plenty of variety in the form of seeds and grains, without additions like sweetcorn/yellow flakes maize, peas and anything within a hamster mix that would have natural straches or sugars that are high. Here are a few things you can add to their diet safely: Hemp seed Porridge oats (dry) Buckwheat (dry) Budgie seed/canary mix/millet vareties sold for birds Dry mealworms (a source of protein) Pinhead oatmeal Millet spray (sold for cages birds) The bird se mixes also have linseed and other millet varieties within them already. Feed raw veg in very small amounts only a few times a week until the hamsters get used to it. Broccoli is the best as it`s very nutritious. Water cress and bean sprouts also go down well. Edited to add: The scare stories about tumours or foods causing tumours, I wouldn`t put too much worry on that. Soya for example contains estrogen, so you might want to avoid feeding soya in any form especially if you have female hamsters. But everything else is fine. Cancer in small rodents is usually genetic/hereditory, so feeding them a good variety in their diet is important. __________________ Get A Life, Get A Rodent! Last edited by racinghamster; 09-09-2012 at 01:20 AM.