New here, new hammie

[BZoo]

Hello all! I went to PetCo last night to get bird food, came home w/a lovely little female Syrian. I just fell in love w/her. Named her Lilly. My last Syrian ("black bear"), Rita, passed away not too long ago, old age. My sister had been taking care of her for the last few months. LONG story, had a major personal upheaval since the beginning of the year. Sis took Rita in to care for her and fell in love. So, when we got settled, it didn't seem fair to uproot Rita again. But, she is "home" now, w/a lovely Mum planted over her grave.
Anyhow, back to Lilly. I can't seem to find any good websites that show all the colors. I can't really describe it, grey/beige? I can't post a pic at the moment, camera batteries are dead and can't find charger! Ugh!
She doesn't seem to like her little house, but I know they can be persnickety. I may just end up getting a large Igloo, they seen to like those. She also needs a new wheel, but I think Sis has a spare.
Does anyone here have a favorite brand of food? I like to rotate between brands, avoiding those w/ethoxyquin, and offer timothy hay as well. Years ago I had some Robos and man, did those two little ones love their hay!

[Shana]

Welcome to you and Lilly! Obviously without a photo it's a bit hard to tell what color she is, but it sounds like she could be mink or dove, maybe cream. There are lots of photos of other hamsters that are those colors on this site - try doing a search.

I probably don't have the best advice when it comes to food. My girl is picky, and I currently feed her a mix of three (in order of most to least) - Oxbow Essentials, Kaytee Forti-Diet Healthy Support (the blocks, not the mix), and Higgins Sunburst. The last two have some sugar in them, so I don't give her as much. Generally it's good to feed some sort of nutritionally balanced block food (Harlan Teklad is a brand a lot of people recommend) and then supplement it with a seed mix. Hamsters often pick out the bits they like best from mixes, leaving the healthier stuff behind, and feeding them primarily blocks can prevent this. Also, once you find food that works, it's best not to switch it if you don't have to - hamster digestive systems can be pretty sensitive to change.