How soon to give fruit and treats

[lorrapaw]

I just got my hammy felix on friday (hes 6 weeks old) and was wondering how soon i could give him a little hamster treat or wee bit fruit. The girl in shop said to wait about 3 weeks before doing this but i think i gave my hammy's in the past treats and fruit sooner than this.

[Angelhamster]

I don't know that, but if you want to give felix a treat perhaps a bit of carrot or sweetcorn. I think these are less sugary than fruit. Ours loves sweetcorn. We also gave ours Boneio dog biscuit which she used to love but nowadays just stores it in her nest for company !

[Van Diemen]

The pet shop told me the same thing about Teddy. However they gave them all bits of carrot in store so I'm going to give him a bit later.

Angelhamster's advice sounds good to me

[lorrapaw]

Thanks ive got some carrot in the house so i might try him with that. Had him out for first time last night he was so cute was ok me petting him in a box but didnt like being picked up guess i'll have to be patient.

[kyrilliondaemon]

If its any help, we might be collecting a ham on the weekend and it'll have veg from the minute it goes into the travel cage.

I'm sure you'll be fine to offer treats within a few days. Just wait until its settled to try and reduce the risk of new stuff upsetting its tummy

[racinghamster]

What breed is he? If he`s a syrian you will be fine to feed very small pieces of raw veg or `safe` fruit, but nothing more than 5mm in size. At six weeks old, a syrian coming to a new home can be prone to a condition called wet tail if they feel stressed and feeding him too much fresh food too soon could cause a tummy upset. So I would go easy on the fresh food given his age and has recently moved to a new home. Be sure also to check the WIKI list of safe foods for hamsters.

If your lad is a russian dwarf or a chinese hamster, they cannot have any fruit or sugars as they can be prone genetically to diabetes. No corn, no peas, no high fat. Syrians don`t suffer from this condition though but thought it worth mentioning incase you didn`t already know.

[lorrapaw]

Hes a Syrian hes very unusual colour hes white with light and dark grey on him.

[racinghamster]

Thanks for confirming. I would stick to his dry food to be honest and only feed a small square of fresh apple a few times a week to begin with because he is still quite young and is still adjusting to a new home. What food mix is he currently on?

[lorrapaw]

Hi hes on hamster muesli from pets at home.