[NewHamOwner]

Okay so I just got my first hamster a couple weeks ago. She’s a winter white dwarf and they didn’t know her exact age but said all the hamsters were around 2 to 3 months. At first I bought the VitaKraft VitaSmart complete nutrition. She didn’t seem to like this very much and was also picking through it and only eating certain pieces of the food mix. I returned it and bought the All Living Things Power Of 5 pellets for hamsters/gerbils. The pet store was feeding her Kaytee pellets which looks pretty similar to the pellets I’m feeding her now. I also thought this would be better because she wouldn’t pick through it since they’re all the same instead of a mix. I’m not sure what’s good and what’s not. But she seems like she dislikes this food even more than the vitakraft. She does eat it but it seems like she’s only eating it when she absolutely has to, and then she only takes a few nibbles. I give her treats every now and then like a few little pieces of lettuce or cabbage (which she LOVES) and I’ve given her a blueberry or a piece of mango (not all at once obviously) and I think it’s making the problem worse because it seems like she’ll wait for me to bring her a treat instead of eating her food. From now on I’m not going to give her any fruit at all besides a super small piece every once in awhile like once a month or something. I’ve given her a few pumpkin seeds which she likes too. I also have the vitakraft strawberry drops and i give her one or two a week, at first I gave her like once a day but I’ve cut back on giving them because the first ingredient is sugar and I know that’s bad for hams. Besides that, I have the Wild Harvest Mini Treat Sticks (honey flavored.) It came with 4 mini sticks and I break one stick in half and leave it in her cage. She absolutely loves these as well. But these have positives and negatives. The positives are that
-she gets nutrients from them
-she likes them
-provide some entertainment
-she won’t chew on wood (I’ve tried multiple different kinds of chews for her. She just doesn’t want them.) so these help because I know they need to chew stuff to keep their teeth worn down and since they’re so solid she has to chew at it for awhile to get the seeds off.
But the negatives:
-it doesn’t provide all the nutrients she needs for a complete/healthy diet, so I’m worried that she will choose to only eat these since she seems not to care for her actual food.
-they have sugar in them and I’ve seen a few people say these aren’t good for your hams. But besides the honey/sugar, they have different kinds of seeds including sunflower seeds so I don’t see why these would be real bad??

So my questions are:
-What do you recommend to feed my winter white dwarf hammy?? I’m looking for something that is healthy and provides all the necessary nutrients and vitamins/minerals that she needs, but also that she is going to enjoy. Also something preferably affordable. I do think she enjoys mixes more than pellets but I don’t want to enforce her habit of picking through and only taking the good stuff because then she’s not getting all the needed nutrients. I also don’t make much money so I prefer something under 20 dollars.
-Does anyone know anything about the wild harvest treat sticks?? Are they fine for her to have in her cage at all times, or should I only give them to her every now and then and if so, how often? Or are they that bad that I should toss them?
- how often can I feed her fresh vegetables? Does my hamster need to be eating other things everyday as well or will she be fine eating JUST the food in her bowl? I enjoy giving her other foods n treats and stuff, but if I did go a few days without giving her anything besides her pellets will she be okay or does she need to be fed vegetables and stuff everyday too?
-any recommendations on healthy but delicious treats to buy? As I’ve said I have the vitakraft strawberry drops and she literally LOVESSSSSS these but sadly those are only for “special occasions” or every once in a blue moon since they’re filled with sugar, so what are some treats I can buy for her that I can actually give her a few times a week or maybe even once a day, that she will love but don’t have sugar??