Hamsters are the most popular pets after cats and dogs. However, due to the seeming simplicity of caring for them, many owners make serious mistakes when drawing up the diet of their pets and thereby reduce the quality and duration of their life. To avoid trouble, you need to strictly adhere to the recommendations of specialists.
Basis of the diet
Although there is an opinion that hamsters are unpretentious and omnivorous, in reality there are a number of products that are categorically contraindicated for them. This should include cabbage, which causes flatulence and disruption of the digestive tract, potatoes, as well as onions and garlic. In addition, you cannot share the leftovers from your table with hamsters: no salty, spicy or fried foods, no chocolate. Citrus fruits are also not recommended for rodents.
It is best to feed hamsters with special dry food from pet stores, selected individually. You can consult your veterinarian or breeder about the choice. Food should always be present in the feeder, so keep a close eye on its freshness.
Russian feed manufacturers do not spoil the consumer with a variety and are inferior in quality to foreign ones, but they are quite inexpensive. But since they often lack nuts and greens, but at the same time there is a huge amount of oats (often unpeeled), which many hamsters do not eat, it is better to give preference to foreign mixtures, such as Vitakraft or Prestige Hamster Nature.
Additional food
Dry food is the staple of a hamster's daily diet, but it is not enough. Rodents vitally need nuts - here it is better to stop the choice on hazelnuts, cashews, walnuts. But they cannot eat almonds, Brazil nuts and pistachios. Peanuts, which Russian producers love to add to their feed, are not nuts - they are beans. Nuts must be thoroughly cleaned, otherwise the pet may injure the cheek pouches - and this is fraught with death.
Fruits and vegetables are a source of moisture and vitamins. Hamsters can be given apples, carrots, bell peppers, pears, melons, beets, peaches, apricots, broccoli, green beans, fresh green peas, fresh (not winter) tomatoes, bananas. Greens will also work - Chinese cabbage, iceberg lettuce, dandelion or plantain leaves, clover, as well as dill and parsley.
Dried fruits including banana chips, rose petals, and dried fruits can be used as treats. But the drops offered in pet stores are supposedly fortified sweets with the flavors of yogurt, chocolate, tropical fruits, etc. - in fact, they will not bring any benefit and may even harm. They contain dyes and flavors, and experienced veterinarians advise pampering hamsters only with natural products, such as dried fruits.
