dwarf hamster food

baerblsabin · 10-08-2013, 09:19 PM

I have 3 dwarf hamsters. They love fresh corn, fresh broccoli and romaine lettuce. Besides that I give regular hamster food, most of which they don't eat, budgie food (they are crazy about it when I put it in but pick out only a few things), and sunflower seeds which they really like. For the last couple days I gave them hamster pellets because they are so choosy. They nibbles on them, but still lots of all the food is thrown out. Any advise?

racinghamster · 10-09-2013, 05:06 AM

Hi. If you are in the UK, I would recommend the Burgess dwarf mix as it contains Canary seed, which dwarf hamsters love. If you have Russian dwarf hamsters, they tend to need lower sugar content due to their diabetes risk, so buying mixes like WAGG or any of the supermarket brands may have added sugars, but I personally prefer to feed what a hamster enjoys rather than worrying too much about diabetes. It`s added treats and fruit that are to be avoided more than the mix itself even if it has a little sugar added in the form of syrup. This just makes the mix more palatable to the hamster.

If you are in the US or elsewhere, I`m not too familiar with the mixes available, so will have to let members from your area give you their opinions on the brands available where you are. But in the UK, the Burgess Hamster Harvest mixes are great. x

paula_dolphins · 10-09-2013, 05:44 AM

I feed mine on harry hamster as I have found that has the lowest sugar amount in them, all my hamsters get the same, I also add extra seeds to it and they love a sprig of millet seed! they all get natural treats such as broccoli, carrot, rice, apple, peas and little bits of chicken.
I think all hamsters are a tad picky, some of mine leave the brown bits in the mix, others leave the coloured bits and others eat it all, Gale and Cookie are particularly neat and leave all the seed shells in their bowls for me to throw out!

baerblsabin · 10-09-2013, 08:02 AM

Thank you for your input. Looks like most of you guys are in the UK. The idea with the millet sprigs is great. I will try that. And yes, they are picky. Used to like carrots in the beginning. Now won't touch them anymore.

Pilgrim77 · 10-09-2013, 10:13 AM

I give mine little bits of cooked chicken from time to time, as well as a mix of Burgess and Harry Hamster which they love. Millet sprays are a big hit too. Could try them out on some monkey nuts too?

Clairealex · 10-09-2013, 10:52 AM

Hi baerblsabin

I have a wee hybrid and he's spoiled for food! He started on Harry Hamster but after a rather traumatic vet trip he got a huge piece of corn stuck in his pouch and it became impacted. He had been going off HH anyway and I had started to mix it in with Burgess Supahamster Dwarf so I just got rid of the HH and switched to the Burgess. He seemed to prefer that anyway, and it's in smaller pieces.

I now feed half Burgess, half JR Farm Dwarf Harvest. It gives good variety and he just about clears the bowl. I also give two small pieces of broccoli and a small piece of cucumber every day. Usually only one piece a day, but he's just about finished his course of Baytril (result of impacted pouch!) so he gets it on his food. I also add a mealworm or two to his basic mix, and I like to crush up one or two of the big HH biscuits I have left and put them in too. He gets a millet spray once every two weeks which he loves. He also gets a tiny, tiny piece of apple every now and again. They're relatively low in the glucose risk category and he's was getting a wee bit once a week with his owners before i adopted him so I've cut it way down. He just enjoys it too much to cut it out completely!

I used to top up the bowl even when he'd only eaten half of his food, but now I tend to leave it until it's more of less finished. It's the only way to be sure he's getting good balance and means I have less wastage. Although, after moving from the HH as his base, the wastage is almost non-existent anyway!