What to feed hamsters, or proper nutrition for your furry pet. How to feed a hamster at home

What to feed a hamster

The diet of domestic hamsters differs from the diet of wild hamsters in nature. And, of course, from the human diet: food from our table is intolerable to the delicate hamster’s body. Processed foods with fats, sugar, salt, and spices are deadly harmful to rodents. And especially sweets, although they love them. Hamsters don’t know which foods are good for them and which are harmful, they eat everything. But since you know about this, you will take care of your pets!

Dry food for hamsters

Grain food for parrots, rats, guinea pigs and other rodents and birds has a completely different composition - you cannot buy it for hamsters!

Wet food for hamsters

Hamsters' diet must include succulent and green food every day - only fresh and washed!

Vegetables. Carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, beets, lettuce and other vegetables from the list of permitted foods. Cabbage, potatoes, watermelons are prohibited!

Fruits. Apples (starting from 2 months), grapes, currants, in small quantities - pears, apricots, bananas rarely, as a delicacy. Dried fruits - dried apricots, raisins, apples (except prunes). Exotic (kiwi, avocado, persimmon, pomegranate, etc.) and citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines) are prohibited!

Greenery. Hamsters can be given green grass in small quantities (read the list of permitted products for which one - here), in particular, lettuce, parsley, dill, dandelion, yellow clover, which grow far from the city and highways. It is not recommended to give hay to your hamster, except short stems (there is a danger that the paw will get tangled in a long stem and die). You can grow grass for hamsters on the windowsill, sowing grains that they have not eaten in a pot of soil.

Nuts and seeds. Some texts on the Internet contain advice to add nuts in shells and pits from apricots, peaches and plums, and pine cones to your hamster's food. This is absolutely forbidden to do! Animals can injure the mouth, cheek pouches, and break teeth, and treating hamsters is much more difficult than taking precautions. In addition, the grains of stone fruit trees (plums, peaches, apricots) are bitter and toxic to hamsters. Nuts and seeds of sunflowers and pumpkins are included in the main food, so they are additionally given to hamsters only as a treat, no more than 2 times a week.

Daily protein supplement: cottage cheese no more than 2% fat, boiled egg, boiled chicken breast without salt and spices, mung bean or oat sprouts - everything alternates every 2 days.

There should be a stick in the cage for chewing (hamsters need to wear down their long teeth): it can be prepared from a branch of birch, apple, hazel, beech - trees growing outside the city. Before use, the stick is boiled for an hour and a half and dried.

Water for hamsters

Many people think that since hamsters do not drink the entire water bottle in a day, then they do not drink water. But hamsters are not elephants, you simply won’t notice the amount you drink. Therefore, a drinking bowl with fresh (every day!) water should always be ready. Not in a bowl “under your feet”, but in a clean hanging drinking bowl.

Many people ask: what kind of water should I give hamsters? Not boiled, not distilled, because... beneficial active substances are “killed” in them. Feel free to give the water that you drink yourself: well, tap, spring, passed through an aquafilter, etc.

Vitamins for hamsters

Pet stores sell special vitamins for hamsters. But if you buy good, expensive food over 100 rubles per 400 g, it already contains vitamin supplements, and this is enough for the hamster.

If you buy inexpensive domestic food, sprinkle it with a store-bought vitamin-calcium supplement several times a week. Human vitamins are not suitable for hamsters: the composition in them is intended for people and is destructive for animals.

Many stores offer drops and crackers as “vitamins.” These are nothing more than treats, and of low quality - with chemical additives. Be careful!

Food for elderly, sick and weakened hamsters

When a hamster gets old, his teeth weaken, so you need to notice in time that he is no longer eating as actively as before, and offer him (without fanaticism!) ground food and nuts, pureed vegetables, as well as children's dairy-free cereals and purees ( no sugar, salt, starch, no potato, no rice). The hamster will eat this food with pleasure. But he must have the main grain food constantly to prevent intestinal upset.

It is convenient to add medicines and vitamins to such cereals and purees for sick and weakened hamsters. Just remember that an opened jar of puree should not be left in the refrigerator for more than 2 days.

Warm chamomile is a drink for the sick and weakened. It is brewed 2 times a day, because... the broth quickly deteriorates. Milk and honey, contrary to some advice, are prohibited!

Often in a situation where a hamster is sick and refuses to eat, you need to force feed it, and as often as possible, otherwise it will not recover. Then you can soak the ground food in hot water until it becomes creamy and feed it warm from a syringe without a needle, holding the syringe in one hand and the hamster in the other at a slight angle. Children's cereals are fed in the same way. Feeding and watering should be done carefully so that the hamster does not choke.

What does a hamster eat in the wild and at home?

Since wild hamsters are steppe and lowland dwellers, their natural diet includes seeds of cereals and legumes: rye, wheat, oats, buckwheat, peas, corn, sunflower and other crops. And, of course, dry herbs, root vegetables, berries, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

In nature, hamsters eat fully only in the warm months; the rest of the time, their food comes from reserves that are brought into underground storage using cheek pouches.

For domestic hamsters, the food is the same, but it should be taken into account that they are domesticated, not wild, and are not so hardy as to feed on natural reserves and grain from bags. For hamsters, their delicate organism, balanced nutritious and fortified food is prepared, which is sold in pet stores.

The owner should not try to create feed mixtures on his own: he will not be able to provide the required composition of a complete basic food, which includes various grains, legumes, and plant granules - in the quantity needed for the normal development of the hamster’s body and keeping it in shape.

On the Internet you can find advice to soak large grains and seeds for dwarf hamsters in milk. This cannot be done: milk is too poorly absorbed in the hamster’s body and leads to an imbalance in the intestines. For dwarf hamsters, store-bought food that contains all the necessary ingredients is quite suitable.

The main grain food should always be in the hamster's feeder. Do not pay attention to the recommendations to give out a tablespoon per day, pour in handfuls. You can't skimp on your hamster's diet. A hamster, whose feeder is quickly emptied, worries about the lack of food, begins to create reserves from a meager diet, and as a result is malnourished and gets sick.

Basic basic food for hamsters can be bought at pet stores in boxes with one of the following names written on them: JR Farm, Vitapol, Vitakraft, Beaphar, Benelux, Fiory, Versele-Laga, Little One - imported, best and fortified food; “Khomka”, “Little Animals”, “Rodent”, “Sultan”, “Waka” - Russian, low quality.

Treats in the form of a spikelet (a stick covered with grains using a sweet substance) should not replace the main food. You need to give this stick once a month. Other “goodies” - nuts, seeds, dried apricots, raisins, biscuits for rodents, crunchy granular additives - should be given infrequently and in small quantities, for example, alternating every 2-3 days. The hamster's body cannot tolerate sweet, fatty, spicy, floury foods and quickly breaks down.

When choosing food, you need to take into account the age, habits, and health status of the pet. To choose the right diet, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the character and behavioral characteristics of rodents in the wild. Hamsters drink little liquids; they store the bulk of food “in reserve,” so if your pet tries to bury food in a secluded place in the cage, do not interfere with it, but rather reduce the portion of food.

What can and cannot be fed to hamsters?

Grain mixture . The feed should be in the form of granules or a mixture of seeds. Most often these are cereals (oats, wheat), millet, corn, seeds (pumpkin, watermelon, sometimes sunflower), peas, beans. Sometimes you can give nuts: cashews, pine nuts, peanuts, walnuts. The food may also include dried berries and pieces of fruit - an additional treat for rodents. The feeder should not always be empty, because then the hamster will think that the food is running out and will begin to make strategic reserves. In winter and autumn, hamsters can be given whole grain bread; in summer, their consumption is reduced.

Green food . All greenery should be collected away from roads, if possible outside the city. You can give dandelion leaves, plantain leaves, clover leaves, meadow grasses, lettuce, beet and carrot tops. Sprouted grains (oats and wheat) are also beneficial for hamsters. In winter, rodents should not lack hay. To grind down the incisors, give tree branches (pre-washed and scalded with boiling water) - apple tree, linden, maple, birch, willow, raspberry, black currant, rose hip, pear and others.

Vegetables and fruits . You can and should add pieces of vegetables and fruits to your rodent’s diet. This could be carrots, zucchini, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, pumpkin, bell peppers. As for fruits, these are pieces of apples, peaches, apricots, bananas, pears; in winter, you can give soaked unsweetened dried fruits. Berries - strawberries, currants, wild strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries.

Animal products . You can also include a small amount of cottage cheese, milk, boiled eggs in the diet, and pieces of boiled meat once a week. Many hamsters also eat small insects: beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, ants, worms. It is better to purchase “live” food at a pet store.

“Crickets should make up about 3% of the diet of small rodents, which will significantly improve the health of the animal. This is especially important when the animal gives birth to children,” said Anneke Wermelin-Slick, a European expert and pet breeder with a total experience of more than 45 years. For the last 15 years, Anneke has been secretary of the Dutch Standards Committee for Rabbits and Rodents, as well as a board member (and former chairman) of the Dutch Rodent Club.

ONTO Biotechnology company launched the production of canned crickets. This is a unique product that contains only whole, fresh crickets, which do not contain any preservatives, chemicals, or medications. Insects are raised on our own eco-farm, under the strict supervision of specialists. Therefore, cricket is very useful for rodents.

The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is a dietary, healthy product containing a lot of protein, calcium, chitin, 9 amino acids, OMEGA-3 and OMEGA-9 polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin B12, oligosaccharides. These insects contain little fat, so the animals will not gain excess weight.

Vitamins and mineral supplements . They can be purchased at pet stores, most often they are sold in the form of tablets or liquid drops - they can be added to fresh food. There should also be mineral stones in the cage - they are used not only for the hamster to sharpen its teeth, it is also a powerful source of calcium, phosphorus and other trace elements. We would like to remind you that there is no need to be overzealous with vitamins: follow the dosage indicated by the manufacturer, or even better, consult a veterinarian.

It is recommended to feed fresh food in the morning and grain food in the evening. There is less chance that the hamster will hoard a perishable product in reserve. When choosing ready-made food, try to take mixtures that contain a minimum of sunflower seeds: hamsters love this delicacy very much and often choose only this from the bowl, and the rest of the food goes to waste. The packaging must be sealed and indicate the expiration date and composition of the product - pay attention to this.

You should not give your hamster food from your table, exotic fruits, mushrooms, flour, fatty dairy products, sweets, garlic, onions, sorrel, cabbage.

Pet rodents are fascinating creatures that both children and adults love to watch. When deciding to get a pet, the owner takes full responsibility for the maintenance and feeding of the animal. A properly selected diet plays a big role in the health of a hamster. Despite the variety of special foods and snacks, every owner has a desire to please their pet with some tasty product from their own diet. Hamsters, as great food lovers, almost never refuse their master's treats, which is not always to their benefit. Therefore, a caring owner should know everything about products that can be fed to a rodent at home without consequences.

What can you feed hamsters?

A safe feeding choice is balanced grain foods formulated specifically for rodents. They contain vitamins and hamster favorite treats like oats, wheat, corn and peas, as well as pumpkin seeds and nuts. This is the kind of food that should be included in the main diet of Djungarian hamsters and other types of rodents.

Sunflower seeds are often added to food, but the less of them in the composition, the better for the animal. Despite the pleasant taste that hamsters love, food for them turns out to be too fatty. Replace the seeds with pieces of walnuts, hazelnuts or peanuts. Don't forget to clean the shell, as your hamster can easily damage his teeth trying to chew it on his own. Do not offer your pet almonds, apricot or cherry pits; they are toxic to the hamster's body.

When choosing food in the store, give preference to special mixtures designed for rodents, including Djungarian hamsters. Pay attention to the composition: it must be suitable for your pet’s age. When you want to please your hamster with a delicious treat, offer him an unusual food on a stick, which is covered with tasty grains. In this case, the pet will be able to grind its teeth and at the same time be an independent food provider. Cereal sticks can be served once a month. By the way, similar recommendations will be made for various crackers and biscuits for hamsters.

Animals eat bread with pleasure, but it is advisable to offer them whole grain varieties. You can feed with bread only in the autumn-winter period and in small portions. Be sure to observe the rodent's stool and, if signs of constipation appear, it is better to refuse bread. There should always be grain food in the feeder so that the hamster does not feel like there is a lack of food. Otherwise, he is inclined to save, begins to stockpile and ends up with banal malnutrition.

What can you feed hamsters besides dry food?

A mandatory addition to the diet is fresh grass and greens, especially in spring and summer. Useful vegetation:

• fresh dandelion leaves;
• carrot and beet tops;
• lettuce and celery;
• alfalfa and plantain;
• garden rose petals.

To feed your hamster greens at home, you need to be sure that they are completely safe. It’s better to grow this healthy supplement yourself: in your summer cottage or on a windowsill. Animals love fragrant parsley very much, but it should be given in small portions, since excess will have a laxative effect on the hamster’s stool. By analogy, exclude parsley from the diet of a pregnant or lactating female.

When feeding your pet celery, monitor the animal’s reactions, since the concentration of harmful substances in this plant may well be too high for a small organism. Park areas away from busy city roads are suitable for collecting fresh weed. The best option is grass collected outside the city, away from dusty highways. If it is not possible to collect fresh grass, you can germinate wheat or oats at home. Choose the juiciest greens for your pet, be sure to wash and lightly dry before feeding.

Place young shoots of fruit or berry crops in the cage so that the rodent has the opportunity to grind down its teeth. Twigs of apple and pear trees, raspberries, currants and rose hips, linden and acacia work well. First, you need to rinse it well under running water, pour boiling water over it and let it cool, after which you can safely offer it to the animal.

In winter, provide your hamster with plenty of hay with the addition of wheat ears. It is not forbidden to pour grain feed directly into the litter, as some breeders do. The rodent will be interested in obtaining grains, choosing the most delicious ones for itself. Sometimes you can treat your hamster to homemade popcorn, excluding additives in the form of sugar, salt and flavor enhancers.

If dry food contains a meager amount of vegetables and fruits, feed your pet with the following crops:

• pumpkin and zucchini;
• sour varieties of apples;
• sweet peppers and radishes;
• strawberries and wild strawberries;
• cherries and currants;
• cucumbers and tomatoes;
• bananas in any form.

It is better to give vegetables without peeling and in small portions. Do not feed hamsters dried fruits, especially those with excess sugar. As an exception, you can treat your pet to raisins or a dried apple slice.

Once or twice a week, rodents can be fed cottage cheese, boiled eggs, chicken breast, lean beef and rabbit meat, and boiled boneless fish. Eating animal products will not harm the rodent, since its wild counterparts can eat about 60% of such food. Twice a week you can give your pet grasshoppers or worms from a pet store, remembering to monitor portions in moderation.

What not to feed hamsters: prohibited foods

Do not feed your rodent white cabbage, onions, garlic and sorrel. If you really want to feed your pet a crunchy vegetable, give preference to Chinese cabbage and lettuce. It is undesirable to treat animals with potatoes; they are poorly digestible due to the high amount of starch. Beets are considered useless food for rodents: there is no harm or benefit from them. Green peas can lead to bloating, so the hamster can only have a small portion and always in the form of a puree.

A variety of citrus fruits and kiwis are poorly tolerated by rodents due to their high acidity. Sweet fruits like apricots and peaches are harmful to hamsters, so you need to choose the most sour fruits, but always ripe ones. You should not feed hamsters the fruits of watermelon or melon, as they contain a lot of nitrates.

Grapes must be given carefully, choosing ripe small to medium sized berries; they should not be overripe or fermented. If the hamster decides to hide it in a secluded place, he may get poisoned from spoiled supplies. Make sure that the fruit pieces are fresh and without large seeds.

You should not feed hamsters salty and spicy foods; avoid excessively fatty and exotic foods and sweets in their diet. Avoid feeding semi-finished products, various types of sausages and sausages. Do not offer your hamster cheese, as it contains a lot of salt, spices and is too fatty for a small organism.

Offer greens and fresh food to the animal in the morning or lunchtime so that uneaten leftovers can be removed from the cage in time and not create a pathogenic environment with unpleasant odors. If unusual products appear on your table that you want to pamper your pet with, make sure they are safe. If you are unsure, ask your veterinarian what you can and cannot feed your rodent from “untested” treats. This way you can keep your pet in good health and vigor.

Everyone knows that a beloved pet does not cause much trouble and eats little.

But it is not enough to provide the hamster with comfort by placing it in a spacious room. Another important component of a full life for this funny animal is proper nutrition.

The material contains all the necessary information about what hamsters eat at home and what diet is most suitable for them.

Nutritional Features

The food must meet all the needs of the hamster. This is quite possible if you take the issue of nutrition seriously and plan your diet correctly.

Important!The main cause of death in domestic hamsters is diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and non-compliance with certain feeding habits.

It is important to provide your hamster with these important components of his short life:

• a complete diet;
• correct diet;
• maintaining food hygiene.

Complete diet

Hamsters belong to the order of rodents, so for a full life, the diet must contain food of plant and animal origin.

In winter, it is important to provide the hamster with a constant supply of hay - it acts as a substitute for fresh greens.
Sometimes hamsters prefer to eat small insects (grasshoppers, locusts, ants and worms), which are rich in calcium and iron. It is advisable to buy this kind of insects only at a pet store.

Diet

Veterinarians advise feeding your hamster twice a day: in the morning and in the evening.

The bulk of the dry food is served in the evening, since the hamster is a crepuscular animal and usually wakes up in the late afternoon.

It is advisable to feed hamsters at the same time. This regime will not lead the hamster to severe hunger and subsequent overeating.

Did you know? A hamster's cheek pouches can hold an amount of food equal to the hamster's weight.

Depending on the age and size, the hamster needs different amounts of food. Relative to its size, the hamster eats a fairly large amount of food. So, the daily food intake should be 80–100% of the hamster’s body weight. The animal's appetite may depend on the breed, personal preferences, and air temperature.

A hamster is a thrifty animal, and its feeder should always contain a sufficient amount of food and various treats.

The hamster's diet should be varied, this will saturate the body with useful substances. So, the optimal diet should consist of:

• from all kinds of cereals: it can be oats, wheat, millet, corn, peas, beans;
• croup: buckwheat, rice, oats, etc.;
• nuts: walnuts, peanuts, cashews, pine nuts;
• seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, watermelon;
• fresh vegetables: pumpkin, carrot;
• berries: currants, cherries (pitted), raspberries, etc.;
• some fruits: apricot, apples, pear, grapes;
• dried fruits: dried apricots, raisins, prunes;
• greenery: clover leaves, plantain leaves, ordinary meadow grass, beet or carrot tops, parsley (in small quantities), dill, lettuce.

Mandatory condition: all these products must be fresh and not spoiled.

Ready food

Special ready-made mixtures developed by veterinarians help to ensure maximum nutritional needs. Such mixtures contain a balanced content of essential microelements and nutrients, taking into account the needs of the hamster.
Finished feed is divided into:

• basic, as daily nutrition;
• feed additives, as additional support for the body at different periods of life;
• food treats, as an incentive supplement to the diet.

You cannot buy feed mixtures intended for other animals, despite the fact that the base in them is almost the same. When mixing, various (vitamin and non-vitamin) additives may be added that are not suitable for the hamster’s body.

Important! Ready-made feed mixtures may contain ethoxyquin, a preservative to increase shelf life, which can cause poisoning and illness in hamsters.

The most reliable and safe way to make sure that your hamster is eating the “right food” is to prepare the mixture yourself, which is quite easy to do at home. To do this, mix cereals that are healthy for the hamster, add nuts and dried fruits. For example: 20 g oats, 10 g wheat, 5 g sprouted wheat, 3 g pumpkin seeds, 2 g sunflower seeds, 10 g dried fruits, 10 g walnuts, 5 g hazelnuts.

As a result, there is not too much finished feed, which will prevent it from deteriorating and becoming stale.

During the season of fresh vegetables, before feeding the hamster, you can add a few small pieces of carrots and zucchini to this mixture. In addition, a sprig of greenery would be useful.

Porridge

It is useful to add ready-made porridges to the menu: buckwheat, oatmeal, wheat. They are prepared (or steamed) only in water, with the addition of a small amount of vegetable oil.

Such porridges are very useful and necessary for cubs and young hamsters with not yet strong incisors.

Cereals and legumes

Of all the grains, oats, barley and buckwheat are considered the most healthy.

Thus, oats and barley are rich in vitamins, micro- and macroelements, and buckwheat is healthy due to the protein and minerals it contains.

There is no need to give your hamster rice - all the useful components in the rice are removed during processing, and what remains after processing contains mainly only starch. It will not bring any benefit to the hamster.

The best legumes are young peas, lentils, chickpeas, and green beans. They are rich in potassium, phosphorus, carotene, iron and contain vitamin C.

Hamsters love sunflower seeds and often eat only them. Therefore, try to give them in small quantities so that the hamster has a need to eat other food.

Did you know?Hamsters' reserves of seeds and grains under natural conditions can reach 90 kg.

In the total diet, grains and legumes should make up at least 30%.

Nuts

It is advisable to give nuts in limited quantities. This is a high-calorie product, and to prevent your pet from gaining excess weight, you should not abuse them. In nutrition, they should act as a delicacy.

Nuts such as walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, and cashews should be present in the diet on an ongoing basis as a storehouse of protein and beneficial elements for the hamster’s body. It is necessary to give nuts already peeled so that the hamster does not injure its cheek pouches.

Milk

Hamsters love milk. It contains the necessary liquid and highly digestible protein. It contains many vitamins and minerals necessary for the hamster’s body. Milk contains sugar in small quantities, so it should be given no more than twice a month to be beneficial. You can soak a small piece of stale bread in milk and serve it to your hamster as a reward treat.

Kefir is allowed from fermented milk products, but not more than 1% fat content.

Meat

Once a week you can add a small amount of meat to your diet. A hamster will benefit from boiled chicken breast, boiled beef heart and liver. These products will affect the good appearance of the coat. From meat to hamsters you can't give pork, it will lead to serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The main condition when feeding meat is to feed a small amount that the hamster can consume at a time, without any leftovers.

Pasta and bakery products

Oddly enough, hamsters love to eat cooked pasta. They should be served in limited quantities, only boiled, without adding salt, much less any spices.

Periodically (very rarely) stale bread is added to the main diet.

The thing is that hamsters eat bread with pleasure, but it is prepared on the basis of yeast, which also leads to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Vegetables and fruits

Vegetables and fruits should be present in the diet on an ongoing basis. These are cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes and many others growing in the garden.

Vegetables can be raw or cooked. The only prohibition is no cold or frozen vegetables and fruits.

Also, you should not give your hamster spoiled or stale food, otherwise the animal may get sick.

Important! When stocking up on fresh vegetables, the hamster may eat them already spoiled, so it is necessary to monitor your pet’s cage and throw away such “stocks” in a timely manner.

Vitamin complexes

Another important component of a hamster’s complete diet is vitamins. He consumes most of the vitamins with food, but additional support for the hamster’s body will not be superfluous to diseases.

In winter, if there is a lack of green vegetables in the diet, it is useful to give the hamster sprouted grains (oats, wheat). This will replenish the animal’s body with vitamins.
The most common way is to buy special vitamin complexes in veterinary pharmacies. When buying vitamins of this kind, you should pay attention to their release form. Tablets and powders are considered a convenient form.

Vitamins in the form of granules or rice balls are used as prophylaxis and do not have medicinal properties.

In addition to vitamin complexes, hamsters need to be fed with minerals. Meat and bone meal is added to the feed as a mineral supplement, but not more than twice a week. When serving, meat and bone meal is mixed with porridge at the rate of 1–3% (young or adult) of the amount of porridge.

Additives to the basic diet include table salt. It is useful in small quantities - at a dosage of 0.02 g for young and 0.05 g for adult hamsters per day.

Water balance

Domestic hamsters cannot replenish their water balance from food, so a sufficient amount of fresh water must always be present in the cage. This is due to the fact that the hamster eats mostly dry food.
The water must be changed every day, thus preventing it from stagnating in the cage. Bad water will harm your hamster's health.

Some veterinarians, as a preventive measure for colds, sometimes recommend pouring chamomile decoction (1 teaspoon per 0.5 cup of water) into the hamster's drinking bowl instead of water. This decoction is suitable for no more than 12 hours.

The hamster's water bowl should be washed every day without using special detergents or using regular baking soda.

Prohibited Products

But not everything is so simple with the diet of hamsters. There are a number of products prohibited for consumption.

Here is a list of things that are not recommended to feed hamsters at home:

• bread;
• cabbage;
• almond;
• sausages;
• sweets;
• Exotic fruits;
• citrus.

It is forbidden to feed food seasoned with salt and spices. Prohibited products also include food that has undergone heat treatment (meaning fried food).

Important! To grind down teeth, you should not give your hamster branches of coniferous trees and cones because of the resins they contain.

Remember: what hamsters eat at home directly affects the quality and length of their life. By carefully following the basic rules of a healthy diet, you will certainly ensure your pet a long and healthy life.

Djungarian and Syrian hamsters are popular pets for children, taking up little space and not causing as much trouble as dogs or cats. It’s not enough to just have a pet and choose a cage for it. Proper nutrition and a caring attitude are important. Improper care will cause health problems and the rodent may get sick.

Nutrition of hamsters in nature

When creating a menu for animals, they take into account age, behavior, health status, season, and behavioral characteristics in the wild. The natural environment allows hamsters to easily find food in hard-to-reach places. Rodents living in the wild have strong immunity to disease and receive nutrients that maintain health.

Nutrition of hamsters in nature:

plant seeds, easily accessible to small animals, supply the necessary nutritional components;

cereals allow animals to remain agile and fast;

small insects enter the diet of rodents without being the main dish.

Feeding at home

At home, make supplies on your own; animals cannot find food; you need to provide your pets with vital substances. Features of a hamster's diet:

mixtures of grains. Traditionally, the main grain crops for feeding animals are wheat, oats, and millet with the maximum amount of protein. It is impossible to get by with a mixture of three plants; other products are needed. Winter depletes the body of animals suffering from vitamin deficiencies; in this case, sprouted grain is beneficial;

The rodent's diet consists of seeds that have a high percentage of fat: sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, rapeseed, peas. You should not overuse it - too much fat will harm the animal and disrupt digestion and metabolism. Lipid products make up thirty percent of the feed;

grain mixtures do not contain the necessary nutrients, there are few vitamins D and A, the hamster also needs other food;

legumes have enough protein to facilitate pregnancy and feeding young animals with milk. Mineral metabolism of pets takes place with phosphorus and calcium, sufficiently contained in beans;

Freshly harvested peas are bad for your health. An excess of legumes in the daily diet will cause obesity;

Hamsters get a lot of vitamins, fiber, and carbohydrates from the vegetative parts of plants: tubers, rhizomes, leaves, which are necessary for the rodents’ body in the winter. If it is impossible to feed the animal with vegetation in winter, give meadow grasses: clover, dandelion. Plants are picked away from city roads and highways and must be washed and dried;

A little animal feeding will make your pet healthier. More often, the role of food is played by insects and deposited larvae containing amino acids;

pet stores sell mealworms, gammarus and other products; they need to be fed dried. Live food is replaced with food of animal origin, for example, milk;

Hamsters love human food, which is better processed and easily digestible. Animals that prefer solid food sometimes refuse human food; habituation occurs gradually;

not all products consumed by humans are beneficial for the Djungarian and Syrian hamster. Some contain dyes and harmful additives. When adding to your diet, make sure that the product does not contain harmful substances. Cottage cheese, hard low-fat cheese, rye bread, boiled eggs are good food for rodents;

fruits and vegetables diversify food and introduce necessary moisture. Apples, bananas, pears, strawberries, pomegranates, and cherry plums in grated form are useful for dzhungarik. If it is impossible to feed the hamster with similar products in winter, dried fruits are introduced. You should not give citrus fruits, exotic fruits containing many harmful acids;

hay as a building material for a nest is required all year round;

shrimp without shell, tail, head;

lean, steamed fish;

Full development of a pet requires vitamins and mineral supplements of good quality, costing 200-400 rubles, offered by pet stores. Complexes intended for humans will cause irreparable harm to rodents and are not allowed in the diet of hamsters. Store-bought “vitamin” drops and crackers are low-quality treats and are dangerous because they contain harmful additives;

The diet of pregnant females includes a lot of liquid, low-fat natural cottage cheese, cheese, crushed egg shells, which supply the necessary trace elements and minerals.

In addition to food, the hamster should have wood at home to grind down its constantly growing teeth. The animals happily gnaw on twigs and cones. The best are considered to be the branches of birch, hazel, and flower trees. Pelleted food is good for your teeth. Food must be constantly present in the feeder, otherwise the hamster will think that it is running out and will begin to create reserves. A drinking bowl is required in the animal's cage: the dzhungarik is quite active, it needs to replenish the body's water balance. You cannot give unboiled water - it is harmful, contains harmful impurities of chlorine and metals. You can drink well, spring, or filtered tap water, adding vitamin C, changing it twice a day, and be sure to wash the drinking bowl without using chemical detergents. For weakened elderly hamsters, replace the water with chamomile decoction, changing it every 8 hours.

Food from people's tables should not contain sugar or honey. Give a little cottage cheese, milk, boiled chicken, hard-boiled quail eggs. Once a week a piece of meat is allowed. Food seasoned with spices, fried, processed with fats and acids is prohibited.

An old hamster is given soft food, dairy-free baby cereal, vegetable purees without additives, and a full teaspoon of food at one time. In winter and autumn you can give whole grain bread, but in summer you should limit it. Fermented milk products are prohibited: yogurt and kefir contain a lot of acids. Young animals can have cooked unsweetened oatmeal, semolina with milk, water, especially up to one and a half months of age - the stomachs of babies are weak, their teeth cannot chew solid food.

Butter, smoked meats, sausages, kozinaki, chocolate, baked goods, watermelons, coniferous wood, and mint are prohibited.

Types of Hamster Feeding

There are two main ways of feeding rodents:

combined - usually used in summer. For this type, you need to take care in advance of having several feeders: one contains a grain mixture, another contains fresh greens, and the third contains soft food. This type of feeding is not suitable for busy people: it takes a lot of time to prepare food for the day. Feeders will have to be disinfected frequently to avoid intestinal infections;

dry - more convenient in the cold season, here the diet is the most balanced, suitable for nutrition according to the norms.

Refusal of food for more than a day requires the introduction of artificial feeding. The food is ground, mixed with water until the consistency of sour cream, injected into a sterile syringe without a needle, squeezed out carefully, making sure that the pet does not choke.

Feeding mode

Regardless of the amount of nutrients received by the Djungarian or Syrian pet, it can get sick due to the owners’ failure to comply with the correct feeding regimen.

You need to give food at the same time, which will prevent the production of excess gastric juice. They are fed twice a day: at noon and in the evening. The peak activity of rodents occurs in the second half of the day. From time to time it is necessary to control the weight of the Dzhungarik within 70 g, and the Syrian - 120 g. Excess requires a diet, the introduction of a larger volume of liquid, limiting seeds, meat, dairy products, cereals, and introducing additional physical activity. Fresh food is recommended in the morning, grain food in the evening. You cannot change the amount of feed frequently, as this will cause exhaustion or obesity. Typically, dzhungariks are omnivores, they eat everything offered, but this does not mean feeding the animals with just anything. Foreign experts adhere to feeding small rodents five times a day, offering small portions of food that are eaten completely.

Remember, if you feed your hamster properly, he will live a full and long life, remaining happy and healthy.