What to feed a hamster: the best tips. What do hamsters eat: recommended and prohibited foods for your pet What do small hamsters eat

Domestic rodents are fascinating creatures that both children and adults love to watch. Deciding to get a pet, the owner takes full responsibility for the maintenance and feeding of the animal. An important role in the health of a hamster is played by a proper diet. Despite the variety of special foods and snacks, each owner feels the desire to please his pet with some delicious product from his own diet. Hamsters, as noble food lovers, almost never refuse the owner's treats, which is not always good for them. 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 choice in feeding is a balanced grain feed designed specifically for rodents. They contain vitamins and hamster favorite treats like oats, wheat, corn and peas, as well as pumpkin seeds and nuts. It is this food that should be included in the main diet of Djungarian hamsters and other varieties of rodents.

Often, sunflower seeds are added to the feed, but the less they are in the composition, the better for the animal. Despite the pleasant taste, loved by hamsters, the food for them is too fatty. Replace the seeds with pieces of walnut, hazelnut or peanut. Do not forget to clean the shell, as the hamster can easily damage his teeth by 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 should be suitable for the age of the pet. When you want to please your hamster with an exquisite delicacy, offer him an unusual food on a stick, which is covered with tasty grains. In this case, the pet will be able to grind teeth and at the same time be an independent food earner. Cereal sticks can be treated with a frequency of 1 time per month. By the way, similar recommendations will be for various crackers and biscuits for hamsters.

Animals are happy to eat bread, 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 watch the rodent's stool and, if there are signs of constipation, it is better to refuse bread. There should always be grain food in the feeder so that the hamster does not have the feeling of lack of food. Otherwise, he is prone to saving, begins to stockpile and comes to 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 a hamster at home with greens, you need to be sure that it is completely safe. It is better to grow a useful supplement yourself: on suburban area or on the windowsill. Animals are very fond of fragrant parsley, but it should be given in small portions, since the 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 with celery, watch the reactions of the animal, since the concentration of harmful substances from this plant may well be too high for a small organism. Park areas away from busy city roads are suitable for collecting fresh grass. The best option is grass harvested outside the city, away from dusty highways. If it is not possible to collect fresh grass, you can grow wheat or oats at home. Choose the most juicy greens for your pet, be sure to wash and dry slightly 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. Sprigs of apple and pear trees, raspberries, currants and wild roses, lindens and acacias are well suited. First, it must be washed well under running water, poured over with boiling water and allowed to cool, after which you can safely offer 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 extract grains with interest, 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 there is a meager amount of vegetables and fruits in dry food, feed your pet with the following crops:

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

Vegetables are best given without peel and in small portions. Do not feed your hamsters dried fruits, especially those with excess sugar. As an exception, you can treat your pet with raisins or a dried apple slice.

Once or twice a week, rodents can be fed with cottage cheese, a boiled egg, chicken breast, lean beef and rabbit meat, 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 the pet store, remembering to monitor the moderation of portions.

What not to feed hamsters: prohibited foods

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

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

Grapes must be given carefully, choosing a ripe berry of small and medium size, it should not be overripe or fermented. If the hamster decides to hide it in a secluded place, he can get poisoned by spoiled supplies. Make sure the pieces of fruit are fresh and without large pits.

You can not feed hamsters with salty and spicy food, avoid excessively fatty and exotic foods, sweets in the diet. Eliminate 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 turns out to be too fatty for a small organism.

Offer greens and fresh feed to the animal in the morning or lunch hours 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. In case of uncertainty, ask your veterinarian what you can and cannot feed a rodent from "unverified" treats. So you can maintain good health and vitality of the pet.

Hamsters are rodents, a special group of animals. The nutritional needs of which are determined by lifestyle. A feature of keeping a rodent is the need to grind off powerful teeth on roughage. Hamsters are easy to feed. But, not all food suits him. When compiling a pet menu, it is important to be careful.

What foods do pet hamsters need?

How to feed an old or weakened hamster?

A sick or older hamster may be lethargic and have trouble eating solid food. In this case, the grains may be poorly digested. Soft foods will come in handy. Nuts, vegetables and fruits can be ground on a grater or meat grinder, and grains can be germinated. The main grain feed should be present even in a weakened hamster, so as not to cause persistent indigestion.

As a drink for a sick hamster, you can use a weak decoction of chamomile, 2 times a day.

What foods should not be given to hamsters?

Spices: pepper, salt, cinnamon, vinegar - everything that we use as a food additive. That is why it is extremely undesirable to feed a hamster from a human table.

Harmful to a hamster are fatty foods (sausages, fatty meats, cheeses, milk, lard, butter, heavy cream and sour cream), sweet (honey, sugar, jam, sweets), salty (canned vegetables, salted fish, etc.) , flour (bread, especially white, buns, cakes, pastries), spicy (dishes with pepper).

Harmful and may even be toxic - fruit pits: peach, apricot, plum, cherry pits. You can not give hamsters spruce, pine cones, nuts in the shell. With sharp edges, hamsters can damage the cheek pouches, the bones of fruit trees cause poisoning.

It is undesirable to give the hamster spikelets with grains: the sharp edges of the spikelet can also prick the cheek pouches.

Have you got a little adorable hamster or are you just planning to? What are you going to feed? Do you know that choosing the right diet for a fluffy miracle is not so easy? There are a lot of foods that hamsters simply cannot be given. Their diet differs from the human one, as well as what constitutes the basis of the nutrition of their brethren in wild nature.

Today we will talk about the basic rules for feeding these cute animals and analyze the main questions that arise from the owners. The list of what can be given to Djungarian hamsters is by no means small. But the list of prohibited items is quite extensive, and any responsible reasonable owner must be familiar with it.

What is often asked

Hamster owners often ask the same questions, for example: What can and cannot be given to hamsters? Is it allowed to feed furry pets with cheese, milk, bread, bananas, pumpkins, persimmons, apples, grapes? What can be given Is the animal to drink, or does it have enough liquid from food? What can be given to a hamster-jungarik, etc.?

As for cheese, let's say right away - there is no consensus. Somewhere it is said about its negative impact on the health of the animal, other sources do not support this opinion. If you want to exclude the slightest possibility of trouble, it is better not to use cheese.

Can you give your hamster cabbage? It is impossible - neither white, nor red, nor Brussels. But nevertheless, Chinese and colored (pre-boiled) will not bring harm. The sweet fruits listed above (grapes, bananas, apples) are healthy and completely safe for hamsters, and besides, the animals love them very much.

Never offer your pet milk - you can neither give it to the animal to drink, nor boil porridge in milk. This leads to severe digestive disorders. As for bread, black is strictly forbidden, white will not bring harm. Persimmon is shown in small quantities, but it is worth choosing sweet and completely non-astringent fruits.

What can you give hamsters from food

And yet, what is the best way to feed a hamster at home? You must be aware that the animal itself has a poor idea of ​​what it can and cannot do. Therefore, it is unlikely that he will choose food for himself, guided by the principles of a healthy diet - he will “crack” everything he gets to. So the owner develops the diet for the pet, and he is also responsible for the health and well-being of the ward.

The obligatory components of the hamster menu are food (dry and wet), protein supplements, vitamins with minerals and, of course, water, and it is not so easy to achieve the correct ratio due to the presence of a mass of various nuances. For example - what can be given to hamsters different ages(young and old individuals eat completely differently)? What about illnesses?

What should be dry food

Dry food, perhaps, can be called the basis of the hamster diet. It is best if he will be present in the feeder all the time. Food that can be given to hamsters is not suitable for other animals, and vice versa. It is strictly forbidden to buy food intended for other animals - for example, rats or guinea pigs, as well as parrots and other birds.

Why? All specialized feeds contain a certain type of vitamin supplements, the composition of which is carefully selected for the needs of the animal's body. That is, the ingredients different types such nutrition can be very, very significantly different. By feeding a hamster food that is not intended for this species, you can get very disastrous consequences.

On the importance of fiber

In addition to dry food, your rodent must also receive wet food. It consists of fruits, vegetables and herbs. The latter should be added to the feeder on a regular basis. This will bring the necessary variety to the diet.

What can you give a hamster from the "grass"? In addition to dill and parsley, he will gladly eat dandelions, plantain, nettles, lettuce and clover. Those valuable substances that contain greens are difficult to obtain from other products.

As for vegetables, all their diversity should be divided into two lists in the same way - those that can be fed, and those that are strictly forbidden to give. Is it possible to give Djungarian hamsters potatoes? Feed mushrooms? What about onions and garlic? In no case! You can and should offer him carrots, beets, eggplants, zucchini, as well as cucumbers with tomatoes and peas. Hamsters will happily eat wheat or sprouted oat grains.

Everyone loves fruits!

Next, you should clarify what you can give a hamster from fruits. Without any fear, you can feed your pet with plums, currants, gooseberries, blueberries, rose hips and pitted cherries. From time to time, offer the animal something from dried fruits - for example, some raisins or dried apricots.

The hamster will not refuse pears or banana chips. But do not give prunes to avoid problems. Experiments in the matter of feeding should not be allowed, having decided to replenish the diet with a new vegetable or fruit, consult knowledgeable people.

It is not good to abuse fruits because of the excess sugar content in them. Nuts should also be given little by little (as a delicacy). You can treat your hamster with peanuts, walnuts, cashews or sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

We are a little carnivorous...

Animals need protein supplements, and many of them enjoy eating such food. Others categorically refuse, so sometimes it is difficult for the owner to determine what exactly to give to a capricious pet. In general, the list of protein source foods allowed for rodents starts with boiled chicken (just don’t try to salt it or add at least some spices). You can also give a hamster a hard-boiled egg (and you can feed both protein and yolk), low-fat kefir and the same cottage cheese (zero or one percent fat content), as well as bifilin. Sometimes the owners feed their pets with shrimp (peeled, of course).

In a pet store in this capacity, you can buy flour or earthworms, grasshoppers and butterflies. Do not take top dressing of dubious origin and anywhere, since it is not known what additives it contains, and how this will affect the health of the animal. Only in a pet store you will be sold a balanced product adapted specifically for this type of animal.

How often should you feed your hamster protein? It is better to do this once every two or three days or twice a week. It would be nice if you set a certain schedule, and the animal will receive such a diet on specific days. It is not worth giving him proteins for two days in a row.

About healthy supplements

Let's move on to vitamins and minerals. If you constantly feed your hamster exclusively with expensive dry food from a well-known manufacturer, then you don’t have to worry. It already contains everything that is useful and necessary for your pet. If you want to know the details - get acquainted with the composition indicated on the package.

When the food is simpler and cheaper (domestic brands) or even homemade, a couple of times every week the feeder should be replenished with minerals and vitamins. Such supplements should not be bought at a pharmacy - human vitamins are completely unsuitable for a hamster. Don't be fooled by store ads that offer crackers as a vitamin supplement. They are full of chemical impurities that, without exaggeration, can have a detrimental effect on the tiny body of an animal.

For supplements, go to the same pet store. There you will be sold a safe, healthy and balanced delicacy, and they will also give you additional advice.

Perhaps the least of the hassle will give you the purchase of specialized food for hamsters. Having provided the pet with such nutrition, do not hesitate - he will receive all the vitamins and minerals in the right amount.

What to Avoid

Why is it contraindicated for hamsters to feed from a human table? The fact is that the products familiar to us contain a large amount of spices, salt and pepper, vinegar, cinnamon. All of them are extremely undesirable to our small wards.

In addition, human food is often too fatty for a hamster. This applies to bacon, sausage, fatty meat, sour cream and cream. Or it can be too sweet - we are talking about sugar, jam, sweets or honey. And also salty - there is a lot of salt in canned vegetables, dried and smoked fish, etc. Fine flour, which forms the basis of buns, pastries and cakes, is also not at all useful for your pet.

Avoid giving fruits with pits, which can be harmful. Do not give hamsters cones or nuts in shells. Gnawing them, the animal can injure the cheek pouches on sharp edges, and even get poisoned by the bones of a fruit tree. In the same way, you should not throw a spikelet with grains into a cage, it is better to peel off the grains and "serve to the table" separately. The fact is that with its sharp edges, the spikelet can injure the animal in the process of chewing.

Because without water...

Any pet owner must know and understand that water is no less important for the health of a pet than food. Sometimes, seeing unfinished water in the drinker, the owner may decide that he does not drink at all. But this is not so - not a single living creature will last long without water. Therefore, the unfinished remains of it should be regularly removed and poured fresh (not into a bowl standing on the floor of the cage, but into a special hanging drinker with attachment to the bars of the lattice).

Do not try to feed hamsters with distilled or boiled water, it contains practically no useful substances. If you care about the health of your little fluffy, replenish the drinker with well or spring water. You can also take the usual one - the one that flows from the tap, but pass it through the filter.

Features of rodents

As you know, any hamster is a representative of the rodent squad. What does it mean? One of the leading needs of such little animals is to constantly grind their teeth on coarse hard food. It would seem that there are no problems to feed a hamster, but is everything suitable for him?

Merely eating roughage will not cause your hamster to wear down its teeth. Therefore, the cage should always have a supply of material in the form of thin twigs. To harvest them, find a cherry, apple, poplar, birch or willow growing far from the highway, cut, wash well and boil small branches. After drying, you can gradually offer the hamster.

When collecting grass or twigs for your pet, remember the poor environmental conditions of our cities. It is best to go out of town on a day off and stock up on food for your pet.

Hamster of respectable years...

What to do if your pet is sick or no longer young? What can you give a retired hamster? Old and diseased individuals behave sluggishly and have difficulty coping with solid food. Whole grains are difficult for their stomachs to digest. In this case, increase the proportion of soft foods in the diet.

A grater and a meat grinder will help to grind fruits, vegetables and nuts, and grains can be germinated. But even these hamsters require solid food to avoid digestive upsets. Give a sick hamster a weak chamomile tea, changing portions a couple of times a day.

...and a baby hamster

And if you have newborn animals? What can be given to a hamster that is tiny and completely helpless? We'll have to stock up on baby food, meat or vegetable. It contains no additives, soy, salt or sugar. Any dairy-free cereal (also unsalted and soy-free) will do. In addition, you can take the most common cereal and soak in water or boil rice. The latter option is suitable for a hamster of any age in case of indigestion.

Babies-hamsters can easily get sick with diabetes, so it is recommended to limit sweet fruits in their diet. Like people, these animals are real sweet tooth, and they will never refuse a delicacy. And here we repeat once again: you should not rely on the natural instinct of an animal that does not understand what is useful for it and what is not. The owner should take the decision on the issue of healthy nutrition of the animal exclusively into his own hands.

conclusions

Sometimes on the Internet there are photographs in which hamsters with a funny look absorb the most exotic food. After looking at this, the owners begin to give their pets anything, and then bite their elbows. Don't be fooled by these photos! Most of them are exclusively staged shots. For the sake of a beautiful picture, the unfortunate owners feed the little fluffies obviously inappropriate and sometimes harmful food.

There is no unequivocal answer to the question “what do hamsters eat”, since hungry animals grab everything in a row, including foods that are harmful to their health. Before you get a pet, you need to figure out what you can feed it, and what foods are categorically unacceptable for a rodent.

Natural food for rodents

The food of rodents in natural conditions directly depends on the range of the animal. In the wild, hamsters prefer to live in the fields, so cereals are their main food. If people live near the habitat of the animals, then the animals definitely visit the village. There they sniff out places where vegetables and fruits are stored or find food in vegetable gardens and orchards. Do not disdain cucumbers, apples and other fruits grown by people.

In spring and summer, part of the daily diet of wild hamsters is greens. "Fuzzies" eat grass and leaves with appetite. If spiders, worms, caterpillars, beetles are encountered on the way, they do not disdain such food.

Hamsters only seem so kind in appearance, but in order to survive in the wild, they are bloodthirsty. If you come across a wounded helpless animal,.

Hamster home diet

When keeping a hamster at home, the best food for him will be food that is as close as possible to food in the wild. The main part of the daily diet should be cereals (millet, corn, oats). Having peeped which grains your pet prefers, you can choose the necessary mixture for him. Ready mixes (Litle one, Vitakraft) are sold in pet stores and are useful in that they contain a complex of fats, proteins, minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins necessary for animals.

At home, the hamster willingly eats vegetables and fruits. Such food is extremely necessary if there is no drinking bowl with water in his house. Vegetables and fruits are given to animals cut into small pieces or a large piece, so that the rodent has the opportunity to grind its teeth. Be especially careful when approaching a banana, since a pet can choke on such food.

With pleasure, pets eat boiled chicken breast, boiled liver, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, insects, eggs and low-fat cottage cheese. There is no need to feed "fluffies" with meat every day, but such food 1-2 times a week should be present in their feeders. Without fail, protein food must be present in the diet of pregnant and lactating females.

You can feed the hamster with fresh herbs, picking up “salads” from dill, parsley, milk thistle, and dandelion for your pet. In winter, ready-made feed can be added to the diet.

It is important to remember that all perishable foods from the cage must be removed 6-8 hours after feeding, otherwise the hamster can get poisoned, get sick and even die.

Norm of food

Rodents are predominantly nocturnal, and their main meal falls in the evening. The amount of food depends on the size of the animal. It is advisable to feed your hamster at home twice a day. At the same time, the "Syrians" must be given one tablespoon of the mixture in the morning and evening, and the dwarf breeds (Dzhungaria, Campbell) - one teaspoon of the mixture. In the evening, you can put vegetables or fruits in the feeder, and in the morning you can remove uneaten leftovers from the pet's home.

It is important to understand that food for a hamster is not only an element of nutrition, but also an object of strategic stocks. If the food offered to the pet quickly disappears from the feeder, this does not mean at all that the hamster is eating too much. He hides some products for a rainy day. From time to time, it is necessary to make an audit in the home of the "fluffy" and remove excess food, especially that which quickly deteriorates. And so that it would not be so insulting for the pet to part with the “supplies”, you can leave a few grains or seeds in the “pantry”.

How and what do rodents drink

In some manuals for the care of small rodents, you can find information that hamsters can easily do without water, getting the required amount of liquid from vegetables and fruits. Such a belief is fundamentally wrong! Pets need water. Not in such quantity to take baths (the hamster more willingly performs its hygiene procedures in a container with sand), but in order to avoid thirst.

It is desirable that the water in the animal's cage be kept in a special drinker suspended from the bars of the cage. Fluid must be changed daily, even if the hamster has only used a small amount. For drinking, they give chilled boiled water, since the liquid from the water supply contains a lot of chlorine.

Homemade food

According to some breeders, their pets participate in joint family meals, eating the same thing as their owners. It's nice to watch a hamster "look closely" at a large plate, but it is desirable that it contains neither dumplings nor soup. And also detrimental to rodents sweet and fatty foods.

From products home cooking hamsters can be fed with cereals boiled in water: oatmeal, buckwheat, millet, lentils. Without any fear, you can feed your pet with low-fat cottage cheese, and boiled chicken breast.

Sometimes the owners have a desire to pamper the rodent, but so that such food does not harm the health of the pet, you can only use biscuit cookies. And even then, provided that it is unsweetened, unsalted and low-fat. If you really want to see how the hamster will hold the proposed food in its paws, it is better to give it a whole grain dietary bread without aromatic additives.

Vitamin storehouse

Hamsters willingly eat vegetables and fruits. And if in the selection of a vegetable diet it is necessary to exclude potatoes, onions, and garlic, then when choosing fruits to replenish the supply of vitamins in the “fluffy” body, you must follow some rules:

• it is advisable to feed hamsters not with exotic fruits, but with the fruits of local cultivation;
• too sour fruits are dangerous for "fluffies";
• fruits must be chosen ripe, but without rot;
• such food in the pet's diet should be present no more than 1-2 times a week.

In addition, the diet of Djungarian hamsters is somewhat different from how the “Syrians” eat. Dwarf species are more prone to diabetes, so they should prepare a fruit dessert less often than.

The diet of the Jungariks is slightly different from the diet of the Syrians. Dzungarians are prone to diabetes, so they can get fruits much less often than the Syrians.

food for little hamsters

In most cases, the female feeds her babies on her own, and she even delivers additional food for the “crumbs” to the nest personally. In such cases, touching small hamsters is not recommended. But there are also cases when the cubs remain orphans or the mother abandons the offspring immediately after birth.

If you have to deal with such a situation, there is no need to panic. The pet store sells formulas for feeding kittens, which are quite suitable for hamsters. The purchased mixture should be diluted in boiled water to the state of milk, cooled and with a pipette (you can also use a brush for drawing) feed the crumbs every two hours. In order for the stomachs of babies to work well, after each feeding they should gently massage their tummies. You can put plastic water bottles near the nest, but the temperature environment should not rise above 31ºС.

When the babies are two weeks old, they can be fed with baby formula, grated cereals without milk and sugar, chopped fresh home-grown herbs. You can add meat and pumpkin puree from baby food, mashed, grated cottage cheese to the diet.

Three-week-old hamsters can be transferred to "adult" food, after grinding it. At this age, "fluffies" already eat cucumber, pumpkin on their own. But until they are a month old, it is advisable to feed the rodents with mixtures.

List of harmful products

In order for a pet to grow up active and healthy, you can not feed fried, smoked, sweet and salty foods. It is forbidden to give hamsters any canned food, except for mixtures for babies (meat, vegetable and fruit purees), which do not contain salt, sugar and other preservatives.

It is desirable to exclude cabbage leaves, citrus fruits (oranges, s) and other exotic fruits with stones from the diet of hamsters. It is forbidden to give brazil nuts, black and white bread, beans,.

There is an opinion that hamsters really like cheese and that all rodents love to eat this product in plenty. In fact, such food contains a lot of salt, spices and heat, which can adversely affect the health of a pet. If you really want to pamper your hamster with such food, then the portion should be no larger than the size of a seed and be in the rodent's feeder no more than once a week.

The menu of a pet should not contain sausages, sausages, mushrooms. There should be no coniferous branches in the hamster's cage.

Hamsters love to eat earthworms, eating them with great appetite, but it is undesirable to dig them in the garden, since pets can become infected with some kind of infection after eating such food.

Daily diet "fluffy"

Knowing what hamsters eat at home, you can choose a pet menu for every day. To do this, you need to observe the food preferences of the pet for some time. As a rule, the animal likes one product, but cannot resist overdoing it with its quantity. Hamster food should be varied and balanced.

When compiling a menu for a pet, it is desirable to include in it: dry cereal food, nuts, seeds, cereals, vegetables, fruits, berries, branches of fruit trees, boiled liver and chicken breast, quail or chicken egg, lean boiled fish.

You should not pamper your pet with just "sweets", the daily diet should include elements of fats, proteins, fiber, carbohydrates and vitamins.

And if the “fluffy” refuses one of the dishes offered to him, then you should not force him and feed him with an “unappetizing” product. People do not always favor certain products, even those recognized as delicacies.

Each of the livestock breeders decides for himself how to feed a domestic hamster, taking into account his financial capabilities and the pet's food preferences. Not only the activity and vigor of the "fluffy", but its health and life expectancy depend on the quality and quantity of the proposed feed.

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 just to get a pet and pick up a cage for him. Important proper nutrition, caring attitude. Improper care will cause health problems, and the rodent can get sick.

Hamster food in nature

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

Feeding hamsters in nature:

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

cereals allow animals to remain agile and fast;

small insects get into the diet of rodents, not being the main dish.

Feeding at home

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

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

the diet of the rodent consists of seeds that have a large percentage of fat: sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, colza, pea groats. You can’t abuse it - a lot of fat will harm the animal, disrupt digestion, metabolism. Products with lipids make up thirty percent of the feed;

in grain mixtures there are no necessary nutrients, there are few vitamins D, A, the hamster also needs other food;

legumes have enough protein, which facilitates the course of pregnancy and the feeding of young animals with milk. The mineral metabolism of pets takes place with phosphorus, calcium, which are enough contained in beans;

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

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

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

pet stores sell mealworms, gammarus and other products, you need to feed it dried. Live food is replaced with food of animal origin, such as milk;

hamsters love human food, better processed, easy to digest. Animals that prefer solid food sometimes refuse human food, accustoming is gradual;

not all products consumed by humans are useful for the Dzungarian and Syrian hamster. Some contain dyes, harmful additives. When adding to the diet, make sure that the product does not contain harmful substances. Cottage cheese, hard fat-free cheese, rye bread, boiled eggs are well suited for rodent food;

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

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

shrimp without shell, tail, head;

lean, steamed fish;

the full development of a pet needs vitamins, good quality mineral supplements, worth 200-400 rubles, offered by pet stores. Complexes intended for people will cause irreparable harm to rodents and are not allowed in the diet of hamsters. Store-bought "vitamin" drops, crackers - low-quality treats, dangerous, as 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, a hamster at home should have wood for grinding down constantly growing teeth. Animals are happy to gnaw twigs, cones. The branches of birch, hazel, flower trees are considered the best. Teeth benefit from granulated food. Food in the feeder must be present all the time, otherwise the hamster will think that it is running out, and will begin to create reserves. A drinker is required in the animal's cage: the jungarik is quite active, he needs to replenish the body's water balance. You can not give unboiled water - it is harmful, contains harmful impurities of chlorine, metals. You can drink well, spring, filtered tap water, adding vitamin C, changing twice a day, be sure to wash the drinker without using chemical detergents. For weakened elderly hamsters, water is replaced with a decoction of chamomile, changing every 8 hours.

Food from the table of people should not contain sugar, honey. They give a little cottage cheese, milk, boiled chicken, hard-boiled quail eggs. Once a week, a piece of meat is allowed. Seasoned with spices, fried, processed with fats, acids, food is prohibited.

An old hamster is given soft foods, dairy-free baby cereals, vegetable purees without additives, a full teaspoon of food at a time. In winter and autumn, whole grain bread can be given, in summer it should be limited. You can not fermented milk products: yogurt, kefir contain a lot of acids. Young animals can cook unsweetened oatmeal, semolina in milk, water, especially up to one and a half months of age - the stomachs of babies are weak, their teeth do not gnaw solid food.

Butter, smoked meats, sausages, gozinaki, chocolate, pastries, watermelons, coniferous wood, mint are prohibited.

Hamster Feeding Types

There are two main ways to feed rodents:

combined - usually used in summer. For this type, it is necessary to take care of the presence of several feeders in advance: one contains a grain mixture, the other 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 the feeding for the day. You will often have to disinfect the feeders to avoid infection with an intestinal infection;

dry - it is 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. Feeding is ground, mixed with water until sour cream is thick, injected into a sterile syringe without a needle, squeezed out gently, making sure that the pet does not choke.

Feeding mode

Regardless of the amount of nutrients received by a Jungarian or a Syrian pet, he can get sick due to the owners not following the correct feeding regimen.

You need to give food at the same time, which will prevent the production of excess gastric juice. They feed twice a day: at noon and in the evening. 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 Dzungarian within 70 g, and the Syrian - 120 g. Excess requires a diet, the introduction of a larger volume of liquid, restriction of seeds, meat, dairy products, cereals, and the introduction of additional physical activity. Recommended fresh food in the morning, grain - in the evening. You can not change the amount of feed often, this will cause malnutrition or obesity. Usually dzhungars are omnivores, they eat everything offered, but this does not mean feeding the animals with anything. Foreign experts stick to feeding small rodents five times a day, offering small portions of food that are eaten completely.

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