Hamsters need a well-rounded diet to stay healthy and at their best. Your hamster should be fed on a diet mainly consisting of hamster pellets and seeds, bought in pet stores, with fresh foods given in small amounts everyday and treats given on occasion.
Hamsters also require things to gnaw and chew on to help wear down their growing teeth and to keep them entertained, and should be given fresh water everyday.
Let’s take a further look at what makes up the correct diet for your furry friend.
Pellet Hamster Food
Pelleted hamster food found in pet stores makes a great basis for your hamster’s diet. These pellets offer a balanced diet, and eliminate picky eating to ensure your hamster isn’t only eating the unhealthy stuff!
Generally, your hamster should be given a few tablespoons of pellets each day, but always check the back of the packaging to ensure how much you should be feeding them.
While pellet foods are a great choice, they can become a little monotonous for your hamster. This is why many owners choose to supplement their pellet food with seeds and nuts.
Seeds
Seeds and nuts are what your hamster would eat in the wild, so feeding them a mix is often advised. They also help to make their meal more interesting for them, alongside pellets.
However, hamsters can be picky eaters, and will sort through the mix of seeds and grains to find the ones they like the most, and leave others. To prevent this from happening, we recommend you find a mix that combines pellets and loose seeds, or feed them a small amount of seeds alongside their regular pellet mix.
If you notice your hamster is eating the seeds but leaving the pellets, don’t refill their bowl until the pellets are gone. This will prevent your hamster from being so picky and gaining weight.
Fresh Fruit, Vegetables And Herbs
Small amounts of vegetables and herbs can be given to your hamster everyday. About 20% of their diet should consist of these, with a small “salad” of fresh vegetables given everyday.
Great vegetables and herbs for your hamster include:
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Chicory
- Spinach
- Cauliflower
- Zucchini
- Cress
- Sage
- Basil
- Parsley
- Cilantro
- Cucumber
- Bell Peppers
- Kale
- Bok Choy
- Cabbage
- Peas
- Squash
- Cooked Potatoes
Fruits are much higher in sugar than vegetables and so shouldn’t be given in such large quantities or as often, otherwise your hamster can gain weight. You can give them small bites of fruits a few times a week.
Fruits safe for your hamster to eat include:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Melon
- Pear
- Peach
- Berries
Ensure you don’t feed your hamster any citrus fruits.
Healthy Treats
Healthy treats are safe to give to your hamster in moderation. You can give them a treat approximately once a week, so they do not gain weight. Stay away from commercial treats found in pet stores that contain high amounts of sugar.
Healthy treats we recommend include:
- Whole-grain toast (with no added sugar)
- Whole-grain cereals (with no added sugar)
- Cooked pasta
- Unsalted nuts (peanuts, cashews, and walnuts)
- Eggs (scrambled or hard-boiled)
- Mealworms
- Crickets
- Chicken and turkey (plain and cooked)
Things To Chew And Gnaw
Hamsters need plenty of things in their home to gnaw and chew on. Chewing on things helps to wear their ever-growing teeth down, which will prevent dental issues that can occur when the teeth get too long.
Because chewing is a natural instinct for hamsters, they will find anything solid in their cage to chew on, including the cage itself! Therefore, you should provide them with plenty of items that are safe to chew on to satisfy their needs.
Learn more about hamster teeth here.
As well as helping to wear their teeth down, giving your hamster things to chew on helps to keep them entertained and prevents them from getting bored, which is important for their wellbeing.
Items that are great for your hamster to chew on are cardboard, hay cubes, coconut shells, pumice stone, seagrass, banana leaves and any wood that hasn’t been processed or treated.
Untreated softwood is great for hamsters to gnaw and can be easy to find. These include branches from the following trees:
- Apple
- Dogwood
- Elm and red elm
- Grape and grapevine
- Hawthorn
- Hazelnut
- Pear
- Poplar
- Quince
- Willow (goat, weeping, or pussy willow)
- Yucca
Make sure the branches are washed well and bake them on a low heat for an hour to ensure they are safe.
Water
You should give your hamster fresh water every day. Some owners choose to use a water bottle specially designed for small animals, while other owners prefer to use a water bowl. It is up to your personal preference which one you choose.
A water bowl gives your hamster a more natural drinking position. However, a bowl can get easily contaminated, and can also be knocked over easily. A water bottle helps to keep the water fresh and uncontaminated, and causes less mess in your hamster’s home. However, some owners worry that a water bottle causes hamsters to strain their back as they drink from it.
Foods To Avoid
There are some foods you should never feed your hamster. This is because these foods could make your pet very sick.
They include:
- Grapes
- Rhubarb
- Onions
- Garlic
- Citrus Fruit
- Almonds
- Raw Potatoes
- Raw Beans
- Apple Seeds
- Chocolate
- Red Meat
How Much Should I Feed My Hamster?
As a general guide, we recommend your hamster’s diet consist of around 75% pellets and seeds, 20% fresh foods, and only 5% treats.
The amount of pellets you feed should be the amount advised on the back of the food packet. As a guide, most hamsters shouldn’t need more than 2 tablespoons of pelleted food every 24 hours.
About an 1/8-cup of seed mix a day should be plenty for your hamster. When feeding a loose seed mix, make sure your hamster empties the food bowl before adding more, because they will pick out their favorite bits and try to leave the rest!
Vegetables can be given in a small amount everyday — around two to three vegetables a day. Small bites of fruits a few times a week is advised, along with treats once a week.
What Time Of Day Should I Feed My Hamster?
You should feed your hamster twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. You can give them half their pellet food and grains in the morning, and the other half in the evening. Vegetables, fruit and treats can then be spread throughout the day to keep them entertained.
To make feeding time fun, you can scatter your hamster’s food around their home. This will allow them to forage and search for their food like they would in the wild, which will keep them entertained and engaged and prevent boredom.
Scattering food is also a good idea if you have more than one hamster in a cage. This means the dominant hamster will not guard the food bowl, and will give both hamster’s a fair chance at eating!
Hoarding Food
Hoarding food is a completely normal behavior for your hamster. They will take food from their food bowl and hide it in their store, which is instinctive for them as this is what they would do in the wild.
Food can be very scarce in the wild, so when they find some, they like to keep it extra safe and ensure they have enough for later! Even though your pet hamster has a continuous supply of food, they still mimic this behavior because it is engrained in them.
You do not need to worry if your hamster is hoarding food. Just make sure to remove the old food before it becomes stale and moldy, as this could cause health issues for your pet.
Similarly, you may also notice your hamster storing or carrying food in their cheek pouches. This is also being saved for later, or being transported to their store! There is nothing to worry about if you see your hamster holding food in their cheeks, and it is not hurting them. Their cheeks are designed to hold food!
You can find out more about common hamster behavior here.
Things To Remember: Hamster Feeding
Remove Old Food
You should give your hamster fresh food and water every day, and, while doing this, you should remove any old food in their home, particularly any fresh foods.
Removing old food will stop it from going bad and rotting. This will help to prevent your hamster from getting sick and their home from smelling.
Monitor How Much They Eat And Drink
If the amount that your hamster eats and drinks changes (either increases or decreases), this could be a sign that there is something wrong. Monitoring your hamster closely to watch out for this means you can potentially catch any health issues before they become serious.
If the amount they eat or drink does change, take your hamster to the vet ASAP.
Avoid Sudden Food Changes
By avoiding any sudden food changes, you’re much less likely to upset your hamster’s stomach. If you want to give your hamster a new pellet food, introduce this food slowly by mixing it with their old food, so you can be sure they are not allergic to it and it doesn’t have any adverse effects.
