The diet of your beloved animal should always be properly prepared. Normally, the body needs all the essential substances: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals. The diet of a wild hamster includes the following foods: berries, pieces of vegetables, grains, greens, larvae, residual carrion, and smaller animals. A pet needs high-quality food, so its menu includes special food mixtures, fruits, vegetables, berries, as well as fermented milk products (yogurt, cottage cheese) and other goodies.
Protein is an essential element for the body, but plant protein, unlike animal protein, will not fully saturate the body with essential amino acids. Can hamsters eat meat and fish, which are so rich in proteins? Which type of meat do you prefer?
Can hamsters eat meat?
There is a widespread belief among the owners of this animal that if you feed it meat, cannibalism will eventually manifest itself. In general, homas are herbivores. Nevertheless, they will gobble up meat products with joy.
Hamsters can have meat, but it must be fresh, lean and always boiled.
What will be harmful:
- pork;
- beef;
- fatty lamb.
Excess fat in the body negatively affects the liver of rodents, causes excess weight, and is also difficult for the stomach. An excellent alternative to meat would be a hard-boiled egg, rich in nutrients and harmless to the animal’s delicate digestive system.
Possible problems in the diet of dzhungarika
The Djungarian hamster is a tiny animal (the average weight of an adult is about 50 g). This somewhat shortens the list of what you can feed your pet: what is good for other rodents, but death for the dzhungarika. For example, almonds contain hydrocyanic acid, which is harmless for a larger pet, but can easily poison your hamster.
The second important point is that Djungarians are prone to obesity and diabetes. They should not be overfed, given sweets, or fed flour or very sweet fruits. Despite the fact that they love to eat, we put them on a strict diet.
I can handle it, I can handle it without cookies!
Can hamsters eat chicken?
Chicken fillet is even necessary in feeding a hamster, as it contains various microelements (phosphorus, iron, potassium), vitamins of various groups. The healthiest part of chicken is a good diet breast. Chicken meat will only benefit the animal.
Protein is necessary for growth, maintaining the tone of internal organs, affects the regeneration of blood cells and is aimed at the correct functioning of the body as a whole.
Chicken should be given in the morning, as protein is a quickly digestible element. Considering that hamsters are active at night, such light food is perfect for him during daytime sleep.
How to cook it yourself
If you want to pamper your pet, you can prepare the treat yourself. Knowing what you can give your hamster, you can come up with various tasty treats.
- Sandwiches. Low-fat cottage cheese, a piece of black bread, greens. Place a little cottage cheese on a piece of bread and sprinkle with dill. If the hamster does not finish eating, remove it immediately so that the food does not spoil.
- A mixture of bananas and oatmeal. Mix the crushed ingredients together, you can add finely chopped raisins.
- Yogurt with additives. Dissolve 1 tsp. low-fat yogurt in 1 tsp. warm water. You can add vitamins for rodents.
- Grain balls. To prepare a crispy dish, use a mixture of grains, oatmeal, and a drop of honey as a sticky base. Mix all the ingredients, form into balls and place in the oven for baking. Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. The finished treat can be stored in the refrigerator for 14 days.
Can hamsters have sausage and frankfurters?
Sausage is a rather specific product for rodents. Human food is usually harmful to pets, but if you still decide to treat your pet, then consider the following:
- Boiled sausage is the best option for a hamster in terms of treats; it is made from lean meats, but contains a complex of spices.
- It is highly not recommended to give raw smoked sausage, as they contain a large amount of fat, starch and a lot of food additives.
- Although sausages are made from lean meat, they also contain a large amount of spices and various additives, which is completely undesirable for hamsters.
The result is that any sausage and frankfurters are harmful to the body of Djungarian and Syrian hamsters.
What not to give
Many owners like to feed their pets food from the table. This should not be done, since many products contain salt, pepper and various flavor enhancers, and therefore are not intended for pets and can be harmful to health.
Prohibited products:
- expired grain mixture;
- pasta;
- bread;
- sweets - sugar is contraindicated for hamsters, the animal can develop diabetes;
- pickled, spicy, salty foods;
- mushrooms;
- smoked meats;
- fatty and fried foods;
- onions, garlic cloves;
- milk, kefir, fermented baked milk;
- sorrel;
- mint;
- Exotic fruits can trigger allergies.
Feeding a hamster with unsuitable food can not only lead to gastrointestinal upset, but also cause poisoning and provoke the development of diabetes and other serious diseases.
Hamsters love treats, but every owner must be attentive to the diet of the nimble animal. It is necessary to give only those foods that will compensate for the deficiency of vitamins and nutrients and will benefit health. By showing your imagination, you can prepare treats even from the products you have on hand.
Can hamsters fish?
Low-fat boiled fish can be given to little gluttons two to three times a week as a protein component of the diet. If you treated the homa with chicken meat, then you no longer need to give fish, since you need to feed it with one thing containing that amount of protein.
Seafood is rich in vitamins and iodine, and also contains virtually no heavy fats, so fish is a very healthy food. You can also add cod liver and fish oil to your hamster's diet (just one drop from a pipette). And although crab sticks can be classified as seafood, they are not suitable for fat people at all due to the high content of spices and other chemicals.
Benefits of seafood for your pet:
- strengthening the immune system;
- healthy silky fur;
- protection against colds;
- maintaining visual acuity.
How to feed a Djungarian hamster
How many times a day should you feed the animal? Djungarians are nocturnal (like other hamsters), so the main meal should be in the evening. You can feed food only once a day, but it wouldn’t be a mistake to feed it twice (in this case, let’s eat 70% of the daily amount in the evening, and 30% in the morning). This is not done for gorging before bed, but so that during the day, when the animal periodically wakes up, it has something to eat - the dwarf has a very fast metabolism (an eternally hungry hamster).
An adult Djungarian hamster only needs a tablespoon of food per day (with a small heap). Even if the food quickly disappears from the bowl, this is not a reason to feed more: most likely, your pet took everything that it didn’t eat into the pantry in order to “hamster” it later. It is his instinct to stock up.
Add more rash or I’ll bite your nose off!
Don't forget to promptly remove leftover perishable foods, otherwise they will begin to rot in the pantry.
Place the bowl itself in the house as far as possible from the toilet (the hamster will determine where he will have a toilet himself, so it will not be possible to designate places for feeding and relief in advance).
Conclusion
To summarize, meat is a priority product in a hamster's diet. It is important to adhere to a few simple rules.
- Use boiled chicken more often, as this is the safest meat for the animal.
- Do not feed foods that are fatty, salty, peppery, or whose composition takes up more than five lines on the label.
- Boil lean meat and fish in a saucepan, cut into small pieces and put the cooled ones in a feeder.
- Treat your hamster to one type of protein food no more than 2-3 times a week.
Let's sum it up
Finding the right food for a hamster at home is not difficult; you just need to follow the basic rules: natural food should always be fresh and served in reasonable quantities. Products containing protein must be included in the diet daily in small quantities, alternating them with each other: cottage cheese, milk, fish, meat, eggs.
So, can hamsters eat meat? Be sure to feed it to your pet. Moderate consumption of this product will improve the condition of the coat, prevent vitamin deficiency, and have a positive effect on the general condition of the animal’s body.
How to choose food
The choice of food for rodents is extremely wide; it is extremely important to choose the most optimal composition. A good food grain-cereal mixture for Syrian hamsters should definitely include:
- oats, wheat;
- buckwheat, millet (preferably red);
- corn, shelled peas;
- peanuts, cashews;
- sunflower seed, alfalfa;
- flax, sesame;
- pumpkin seeds, etc.
Ready-made store-bought food intended for hamsters (Syrian and others) contains cereals and grains, with the addition of various seeds. It is welcome if they contain a protein component (sublimated granules: fish, chicken, shellfish, shrimp, veal, yeast, etc.). Many manufacturers add dried vegetables and fruits to feed mixtures, and some even further enrich them with minerals (P, Ca) and vitamins (E, A).
Before purchasing, you must carefully study the entire composition of the product. Ideally it should be like this:
- proteins - no less than 14%;
- fiber - 5-8%;
- fats - up to 8%.
The proportion of fat-containing components (nuts and seeds) should not exceed the recommended amount, since consuming large amounts of high-calorie foods by a hamster can lead to obesity.
High-quality food for Syrian hamsters must meet the following requirements:
- do not contain various dyes, flavor enhancers, preservatives and other artificial additives;
- there should not be any exotic fruits, as well as honey, sugar and salty ingredients;
- all grains must be whole and undamaged, free from dust, dirt, mold and other foreign matter;
- the packaging is sealed, with a good shelf life, without signs of opening or damage (preferably transparent so that its contents can be seen).
It is strictly contraindicated to use store-bought dry food intended for other categories of animals (birds, rabbits, etc.) to feed the Syrian hamster. The composition of these mixtures is designed for a specific type of animal; some components are absolutely unsuitable for hamsters and can cause significant harm (problems with the gastrointestinal tract, etc.).
Comments from 12 Monkeys
Online store 12 Monkeys
recommends a safe and balanced diet from the Russian manufacturer Laboratorkorm. The company has been supplying food for laboratory animals to research institutes and vivariums of educational institutions for 18 years and knows all the features of feeding hamsters and rats. A balanced composition is prepared in the form of granules from crushed cereals collected during the budding phase; meadow grasses - clover, alfalfa. The food is enriched with vitamins, antioxidants, and essential amino acids.
We store it correctly
Veterinarians sometimes hear that they fed only ready-made food from a pack, but the rodent has an intestinal disorder. Why? Follow the rules for storing the grain mixture. Damp seeds with signs of mold cause poisoning and painful conditions. And also, you need to carefully monitor the feeder when giving animal supplements - meat, eggs. If you haven't eaten it, you need to put it away so it doesn't disappear. Do not feed grass in bouquets in summer, just a little in the feeder. Hamsters drag greenery into the hole, it rots and gets dirty. A long stalk can get tangled around the paw, pinching the blood vessels until it becomes dead.
Meat – harm or benefit?
Many owners of hamsters think that adding meat to their diet is not worth it, but the little pranksters need animal protein, which fills them with energy and helps them develop.
A little hamster just needs protein. Correctly calculating the diet is quite simple. You need to weigh your pet and give him food in the amount of 80 percent of his weight. Sometimes the diet can be 100 percent of the weight.
You should not give raw product to rodents; it may contain bacteria and parasites. It is pre-boiled in clean water. The ideal option is chicken, but pork and beef are best avoided. Fatty meat negatively affects the liver and causes obesity.
The food must be fresh, otherwise it will negatively affect the pet’s well-being.
Can hamsters eat canned fish?
Many types of fish, such as tuna and sardines, are often stored in cans. While it is convenient and completely safe for us humans to consume in this manner, this is not the case for hamsters. Canned fish is usually preserved in either brine or vegetable oil, neither of which are suitable for your hamster. Brine contains a huge amount of salt, and too much salt in your hamster's diet is a recipe for disaster. Vegetable oils can make your hamster sick and should also be avoided.
Choose fresh cooked fish instead of canned fish.
