Hamster Central - View Single Post - Having issues with food, what should I feed her?

mangoandmimi · 07-26-2019, 06:59 AM

Hi. An all pellet diet is entirely inappropriate as a hamster food regardless of whether you supplement it here and there with a few seeds, bits of veg etc. At least the vast majority needs to be a seed mix with variety. They are foraging animals who thrive off variety. I really don’t like the argument that pellets are “nutritionally complete” as they are forced to eat them because that’s all there is - which doesn’t solve anything in the long run as it just makes them miserable. A large part of their enrichment and purpose is to find and collect food, deshell it etc so it is essential to find a food that they like and thrive on.

That rules out Oxbow too Carrie, there is also too much grassy materials in there (on top of the fact that they are pellets) so it really isn’t a good food at all.

So a food mix with enough variety is the way to go and ensure it has enough protein by adding insects (can be dried) such as mealworms, crickets, shrimp. I don’t know too much about food mixes as I assume you are in the US - but look at Higgins Sunburst or Vita Garden. The latter has less variety but also less in the way of sugar as they’ve cut out the dried fruits and stuff in there. I don’t advise feeding fruits to hybrids so would be inclined to try Vita Garden myself, and supplement with healthy treats.

Healthy treats are great, not yoghurt drops or anything filled with sugar/fat. There are plenty of seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, linseed etc. Also nuts - walnuts, Brazil, cashews, peanuts in the shell, hazelnuts. Those go down just as well if not better than the store bought treats.

Some chew sticks are ok once in a while but I would stay clear of the ones with lots of sugar or bound by honey and filled with fruit. I’m not sure what you can get but really with a good seed mix, their teeth should remain more or less ok so I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping them down. Like I said nuts in shells also help with teeth so give those a go. Can you get whimzees dog chews? I like the small alligators for dwarfs and they tend to love them - again good for the teeth.

07-26-2019, 06:59 AM
mangoandmimi Little Miss Tinytoes Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: UK Posts: 7,036	Re: Having issues with food, what should I feed her? Hi. An all pellet diet is entirely inappropriate as a hamster food regardless of whether you supplement it here and there with a few seeds, bits of veg etc. At least the vast majority needs to be a seed mix with variety. They are foraging animals who thrive off variety. I really don’t like the argument that pellets are “nutritionally complete” as they are forced to eat them because that’s all there is - which doesn’t solve anything in the long run as it just makes them miserable. A large part of their enrichment and purpose is to find and collect food, deshell it etc so it is essential to find a food that they like and thrive on. That rules out Oxbow too Carrie, there is also too much grassy materials in there (on top of the fact that they are pellets) so it really isn’t a good food at all. So a food mix with enough variety is the way to go and ensure it has enough protein by adding insects (can be dried) such as mealworms, crickets, shrimp. I don’t know too much about food mixes as I assume you are in the US - but look at Higgins Sunburst or Vita Garden. The latter has less variety but also less in the way of sugar as they’ve cut out the dried fruits and stuff in there. I don’t advise feeding fruits to hybrids so would be inclined to try Vita Garden myself, and supplement with healthy treats. Healthy treats are great, not yoghurt drops or anything filled with sugar/fat. There are plenty of seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, linseed etc. Also nuts - walnuts, Brazil, cashews, peanuts in the shell, hazelnuts. Those go down just as well if not better than the store bought treats. Some chew sticks are ok once in a while but I would stay clear of the ones with lots of sugar or bound by honey and filled with fruit. I’m not sure what you can get but really with a good seed mix, their teeth should remain more or less ok so I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping them down. Like I said nuts in shells also help with teeth so give those a go. Can you get whimzees dog chews? I like the small alligators for dwarfs and they tend to love them - again good for the teeth.