Domesticated hamsters, like their cousins in the wild, will eat just about any food they can find. Hamsters learned to forage for grains, vegetables, grasses and insects in the wild and your pet hamster needs those same basic nutritional needs met even though he or she lives in a cage.
A balanced diet for hamsters will consist of the proper amounts of proteins, carbohydrates (and fats), minerals, vitamins and water. A balanced diet can help keep your pet hamster healthy, happy and disease-free for the duration of his life. Most commercially packaged hamster food mixes available at pet shops will meet those basic nutritional needs with a blend of seeds, corn, oats, barley, wheat, alfalfa and dehydrated vegetables.
Hamsters enjoy and can benefit from dietary treats added to their basic food mix, but it is important to choose only treats that add nutrition and do not harm your hamster. Birdseed, small bits of cat or dog biscuits and small amounts of fresh vegetables can be added one or twice a week. Sweet treats and chocolate are not acceptable hamster foods at any time.
Good basic commercial hamster food mixes generally sell for about $2 per pound. If you buy in smaller quantities, the price will go up. If you step up to the large 25lb. bags of hamster food mix you can usually bring the cost down to about $1 per pound. A good basic hamster mix costing about $1 per pound in quantity will contain a mix of ingredients like:
Alfalfa Pellets, Flaked Corn, Ground Wheat, Flaked Beans, Flaked Field Peas, Soybean Meal, Linseed Cake, Straw Pellets, Oats, Sunflower Seeds, Toasted Wheat, Dehulled Peanuts, Corn, Wrinkled Peas, Oat Middlings, Wheat Middlings, Shelled Peanuts, Soybean Oil, Vitamins & Minerals.
Premium commercial hamster food mixes will sometimes contain additional nutrients like vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and extra fiber. You will pay about $2 per pound in quantity for mixes that contain ingredients like:
Corn, Oats, Wheat, Milo, Sunflower, Millet, Green Split Peas, Oats, Ground Wheat, Shelled Peanuts, Pumpkin Seed, Sun-cured Alfalfa Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Corn, Barley, Safflower, Raisins, Dehydrated Carrots, Dried Bananas, Canadian Field Peas, Dried Papaya, Dehydrated Sweet Potatoes, Dehydrated Apples, Ground Oats, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Soy Oil, Dried Cane Molasses, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Lysine, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Ethoxyquin, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin B12, Vitamin E, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Cholecalciferol, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Biotin, Folic Acid, Cobalt Carbonate & Sodium Selenite.
Regardless of the mix you choose, it has been proven that a healthy diet equals a healthy animal. If you treat your pet hamster to a properly balanced diet it will be both happy and healthy.
Danger Foods for Hamsters – Avoid!
- Almonds (contains cyanic acid)
- Apple Seeds
- Canned food
- Chocolate
- Candies
- Chips and Junk food
- Pork Products
- Potatoes (raw)
- Raw Kidney Beans
- Eggplant
- Fool’s Parsley
- Grape Seeds
- Avocado (contains cardiac glycosides)
- Raw Rhubarb
- Tomato leaves
- Oranges or Tangerines (no citrus fruits)
- No watermelon (causes diarrhea)
- Cherry Stone
- Peach Stone & Leaves
- Apricot Stone
- Lemon or Lime
- Jams and jellies
- Spices
- Garlic
- Onions
- Leeks
- Scallions
- Chives
- Pickles
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