Hamsters are cute animals that make great pets because of how small they are and how lively they can be. Caring for a hamster is an important task, and one thing that all hamster owners should keep in mind is what their hamster should eat. They can’t just be fed in the same way that a dog would be. Here are some tips for the best foods for hamsters to eat.
A popular choice that is often recommended as a food source for hamsters are pellet foods. These pellets contain everything a hamster needs to have a balanced diet. Generally, they look similar to small cookies, cereal bits, or biscuits, but they can also come in other shapes. When eating other forms of food, hamsters can sometimes have an unbalanced diet because they get picky and choose only the parts the like the most. Since the pellet has everything for the hamster, this is avoided. However, some hamsters will stop eating the pellets after a while because they get tired of them. Adding some supplemental foods to the pellets can counteract this behavior.
Seed mix diets are an alternative food source to the pellet diets for hamsters. A mix that contains seeds, grains, and dried vegetables arranged loosely is best for hamsters to eat. Surprisingly, pellets can also be found in some seed mixes, which is even better than a seed mix alone. Seed mix should not be added to the hamster’s food bowl until it has finished any mix that was put in it previously. This will prevent the hamster from only going after the items that it has a strong preference for and avoiding the others.
Hamsters can also be given some foods that humans normally eat. The key is to only give the hamster enough of these foods so that they don’t make up more than 10 percent of what the hamster eats. Healthy foods like grains, fruits, and vegetables are good for the hamster, although the hamster can get diarrhea if it eats too much fruit. Hamsters should really eat foods that have a lot of sugar, especially dwarf hamsters. This means that honey sticks and yogurt drops aren’t allowed.
Hamsters love peanut butters just as much as humans do, but owners have to feed it to them as carefully as possible. This also applies to other foods that are sticky, because their cheek pouches are a good place for sticky foods to become stuck. This can lead to health problems in no time. Owners should only place the peanut butter on a piece of wood in a thin layer when feeding the hamster.
Chocolate, citrus fruits, and junk food in general should never enter a hamster’s diet. This includes anything that is salty as well. Hamsters simply can’t handle the same kinds of foods that our bodies can, and exposing them to these foods will result in serious problems or possibly even death.
When given a balanced pellet diet with healthy supplements, or a mix of seeds and pellets, the hamster should be able to thrive. As long as the hamster eats all of its food, it will have the energy it needs to run around and be playful.
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