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Old 10-21-2021, 12:30 PM   #1
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Join Date: Sep 2021
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Default Can I give cheese to my dwarf hamster?

Hi!
Can I really give cheese to my dwarf hamster? Does it have to be a special cheese or it can be the cheese I eat and just bought from Lidl?
My friend told me that I can't, because I will poison him, but I've read some of the members giving cheese to their hamster.
I, myself am hesitant to give cheese to my hamster. I mean it already sounds weird. A hamster eating a cheese…
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Old 10-21-2021, 01:47 PM   #2
sushi_78
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Default Re: Can I give cheese to my dwarf hamster?

Hard cheese such as cheddar is ok though not very healthy. I give it as a treat very occasionally.

I would avoid soft cheese and blue or mould-ripened cheese.
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Old 10-21-2021, 02:35 PM   #3
Ria P
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Default Re: Can I give cheese to my dwarf hamster?

I give a tiny piece of cheddar as a treat now and again. Ours love it.
Not that weird a hamster eating cheese. Rodents and cheese kind of go together like a mouse eating cheese.

A friend of mine has a yellow VW camper and wants it painted to look like a big block of emmenthal cheese with a mouse climbing out of one of the holes. Went a bit off topic here, sorry.
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Old 10-22-2021, 12:49 PM   #4
Jeir
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Default Re: Can I give cheese to my dwarf hamster?

As others have said, hard cheese, such as cheddar, is fine. The idea that it might 'poison' a hamster is that, like the vast majority of animals, they are lactose intolerant once weaned. Thankfully, aged cheese such as cheddar (especially mature and extra mature) are naturally low in lactose*, so it's safe in reasonable-sized** amounts for hamsters (and other rodents).

*"Enzymes added to milk as part of the cheesemaking process naturally feed on the lactose sugars in the milk developing the flavour of the cheese until the lactose sugar is all naturally used up." - Cathedral City website.
**'Reasonable sized' being about the amount they can hold comfortably between their paws/thumbnail-sized at most for Syrians, maybe half that for dwarfs.
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