If you recently bought or are in the process of getting a cool little hamster pet for your own, you may be asking yourself this important question: “What do dwarf hamsters eat?”
When it comes to dwarf hamster food, what you should really know is that there isn’t just one type of food that they can eat.
From specially formulated hamster mixes to fresh food, you basically just have to choose which ones would be able to provide the nutritional requirement your pet needs.
Dwarf Hamster Food Can Vary
Hamster mixes and pellets should make up the bulk of your hamster’s food as they come with more or less the complete nutritional requirements needed by your pet.
Fresh food is also a viable source of nutrients for your dwarf hamster but you should be careful when it comes to feeding your pet fresh food because not all of them are safe to eat. These should be given in moderation or as a treat for dwarf hamsters; at most twice a week.
Consider Water Content
When it comes to fresh food, experts advise hamster owners to feed their pets fruits with high water content. However, this doesn’t mean you should go overboard with feeding your hamster high-water-containing fruits because doing so might result in diarrhea – a disease that is all too common in the hamster world.
Consider The Possibility Of Diabetes
You should also watch how much sugary food you give your pet dwarf hamster because, unlike the Syrian variety, most dwarfs especially Campbells are prone to diabetes. Roborovski dwarf hamsters, however, are less likely to develop diabetes.
This is why fruits should be given sparingly to dwarf hamsters because they have high sugar content. Aside from fruits, some commercially available hamster formulas may also cause an imbalance in your pet’s blood sugar due to the same content, and to avoid this, you should specifically buy formulas exclusive to dwarf hamsters.
Safe to Eat
Dwarf hamsters can eat a variety of food but some are safer than most. Here is a comprehensive list of food that your dwarf hamsters would be able to eat without any risks to their health.
- Specially Formulated Hamster Mixes & Pellets
This should be the main food group that you feed your dwarf hamster because it contains the essential nutrients your pet needs. Do not feed your dwarf hamster formulas made for other animals; otherwise, it might suffer from malnourishment.
While hamster seed mixes are appropriate for dwarfs, oftentimes they would pick only the ones they like and this could also lead to malnourishment as they would miss some of the nutrients in the seed mix.
The best option for your pet dwarf hamster would be pelleted food. One tablespoon of food per day would be sufficient and any more may motivate the dwarf hamsters to hoard their food. When this happens, you may think that your pet is eating all the food when in fact, it’s just hiding them.
- Grains, Seeds, & Nuts
Whole grains make for a great healthy snack for dwarf hamsters. When it comes to cooked pasta, whole-grain rice, and wheat toast, make sure that they are cooled before you serve them to your pet.
You can also feed them nuts and seeds but only sparingly due to the high-fat content which can be very bad for your pet’s heart among other things.
- Fruits
Fruits are also an ideal snack for dwarf hamsters but because they contain high sugar content, you should only give these to your pet in moderation – about twice a week at most, in order to reduce the risk of diabetes.
- Vegetables
Vegetables are probably the best complimentary food for dwarf hamsters. If you’re going to feed them vegetables, go for the dark and leafy green ones because they contain the most vitamins and minerals needed by your pet.
You can feed your pet vegetables every day or every other day but only sparingly.
- Protein Sources
Dwarf hamsters need protein too and despite being herbivores, there are times when they will eat various types of meat and other protein sources. However, just like with fruits and vegetables, they should be given in moderate amounts so as not to compete with the main food for dwarf hamsters which are the seed mixes and pellets.
Some Food Can Be Harmful Too
You should be really careful with the kinds of food you give your pet dwarf hamster. This is because some food contains substances that are harmful and detrimental to your pet’s health. Almonds, for example, contain cyanide which is poisonous to hamsters. Garlic, onion, and chocolate are also toxic to hamsters just as they are to cats and dogs.
Below is a table detailing the foods that dwarf hamsters can and cannot eat.
“Hamster Food List To Eat and Not To”
GRAINS, SEEDS, & NUTS | FRUITS | VEGETABLES | PROTEIN SOURCES | FOODS TO AVOID |
1. Barley 2. Cashew 3. Cereals (Low or Sugarless) 4. Cooked Plain Brown Rice 5. Cooked Pasta 6. Dry Toast 7. Flaxseed 8. Lentils 9. Millet 10. Oats 11. Peanut 12. Pumpkin Seed 13. Quinoa 14. Sesame Seed 15. Soybeans 16. Sunflower Seed (Unsalted) 17. Walnut | 1. Apples 2. Bananas 3. Blackberries 4. Blueberries 5. Cantaloupe 6. Cherries 7. Coconuts 8. Cranberries 9. Grapes (Seedless) 10. Guavas 11. Honeydews 12. Lychees 13. Mangoes 14. Papayas 15. Peaches (Pitless) 16. Plums (Pitless) 17. Raspberries 18. Raspberry Leaves 19. Starfruit 20. Strawberries | 1. Asparagus 2. Basil 3. Broccoli 4. Beansprouts 5. Bell Pepper 6. Carrots 7. Cauliflower 8. Chestnuts 9. Chickweed 10. Choy sum 11. Celery 12. Clover 13. Cooked Potato 14. Corn 15. Cucumber 16. Dandelion Leaves 17. Green beans 18. Kale 19. Okra 20. Peas 21. Radicchio 22. Romaine Lettuce 23. Spinach 24. Squash 25. Sweet potatoes 26. Watercress 27. Wheatgrass 28. Zucchini | 1. Cooked Ground Beef (Greaseless) 2. Bread 3. Cooked Chicken or Turkey (Steamed/Baked) 4. Crickets (Pet Shop) 5. Eggs (Boiled/Scrambled) 6. Dog Biscuits 7. Fish Cod 8. Grasshoppers (Pet Shop) 9. Lab Blocks 10. Low Fat Cottage Cheese 11. Mealworms (Pet Shop) 12. Monkey Chow 13. Plain Tofu 14. Plain Low-Fat Yoghurt | 1. Almonds 2. Apple Seeds 3. Apricot Stone 4. Avocado 5. Canned Food 6. Chocolate 7. Candies 8. Cherry Stone 9. Chips & Other Junk Foods 10. Citrus Fruits 11. Chives 12. Eggplants 13. Fool’s Parsley 14. Garlic 15. Grape Seeds 16. Leeks 17. Lemon or Lime 18. Jams & Jellies 19. Kidney Beans (Raw) 20. Pickles 21. Pork Products 22. Potatoes (Raw) 23. Raisins 24. Scallions 25. Spices 26. Sweets 27. Tomatoes 28. Watermelon |