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Feeding a hamster at home. Behavioral characteristics and feeding of hamsters. Vitamins for hamsters

Syrian hamsters, Djungarians, Roborovskiy hamsters (named after the Russian naturalist V.I. Roborovskiy) and Campbell hamsters (named after the British Consul Charles W. Campbell) are suitable for home keeping.

The following depends on the conditions of keeping and diet of the hamster:

rodent activity;
frequency of reproduction (for females - the number of cubs born);
pet health;
life expectancy.

Features of the diet of hamsters

A hamster's diet depends on its species. Nutrition Djungarian hamsters includes fruits and vegetables. After all, Djungarians are steppe hamsters. They are used to eating “juicy” food, getting liquid from it.

Syrian hamsters in nature live in meadows (crop fields), forest-steppes and at the foot of the mountains. Therefore, they love to eat wheat, oats, corn, seeds and greens.

Hamsters love to stockpile food. Therefore, if the bowl is empty, this does not mean that the hamster has eaten everything. Perhaps he hid the food in a secluded place.

The serving size should be small. Then the hamsters' reserves will become smaller.

The number of meals for all types of hamsters should be at least twice a day (morning and evening).

Hamsters' nutrition must be correct. In winter, add vitamins to your hamster's diet.

Your hamster's diet should include:

Vegetables– tomato and cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin.
Greenery – fresh leaves beets, oat and wheat sprouts.
Fruits- apple, pear.
Corn – watermelon seeds, oats, millet.

Add dried fruits, peas and beans (dried) to your Djungarian hamster’s diet 1-2 times a month.

The best food for hamsters

When purchasing food, pay attention to the packaging. It must be sealed and without damage. It is important that no moisture gets into the dry mixture, otherwise the food will become moldy.

Study the composition of the food for hamsters: it should not contain a lot of sunflower seeds. They are high in calories and are harmful to your pet's health. Compound good food necessarily contains dried fruits and grains.

Based biochemical analysis composition and customer reviews, a rating of 3 was determined the best feed for hamsters:

"Khomka" – trademark"Zooworld". Contains natural grains, dried fruits and vegetables.
"Animals"- ZOOMIR company. Contains a complete composition for active and healthy life pet.
"Chica"– biofeed for Djungarian hamsters. Contains natural ingredients. The composition of the food is developed taking into account the characteristics of Djungarian hamsters.

The ideal food composition for hamsters includes::

at least 14% proteins;
no more than 8% fat;
5-8% fiber;
vitamins A, E, phosphorus, calcium;
cereals and legumes;
dry vegetables and fruits (pieces or granules).

The food should not contain:

lots of sunflower seeds and nuts (high-calorie foods);
exotic fruits;
vegetables with a high starch content (harmful for the hamster’s digestion);
salty and sweet ingredients.

Select food for your hamster taking into account its individual characteristics. For dwarf hamsters, food should be a “convenient” size so that it can be easily hidden in the cheeks.

Introduce new food into the diet gradually so that the hamster gets used to it. Remove uneaten food so that it does not spoil and cause an upset stomach for your pet.

The serving of food depends on the size of the hamster and ranges from one to four tablespoons.

Approved foods for hamsters

The diet of Syrian hamsters is not much different from the diet of Dzungarian hamsters and other domestic hamsters. The diet should be balanced and include vitamins (fruits, vegetables and herbs). There is one difference - Syrian hamsters feed mainly on grain crops. Therefore, the basis of the diet is grains of wheat, oats,.

You can give your hamster:

bell pepper, tomato and cucumber;
vegetables containing little starch: carrots, beets, zucchini;
grain crops – millet, oats, seeds;
boiled egg;
dried fruits;
greenery;
berries - currants, blueberries, strawberries, cherries and cherries;
fruits - apple and pear.

Instead of water, sometimes give your hamster milk: it is rich in protein. Boil the milk and watch the fat content (up to 1.5% fat content). But you cannot completely replace water with milk: this will cause digestive problems.

Inexperienced owners often wonder how many times a day they should feed their hamster. If everything is relatively clear with cats and dogs, then here we are talking about how to organize the nutrition of a rodent that is prone to making hiding places and supplies.

Healthy digestion is the basis of longevity for these animals, so attention should be paid not only to the composition of the diet, but also to the organization of the feeding regime. Hamsters lead night image life, and during the day they sleep almost all the time. This feature must be taken into account to decide how many times you can feed your hamster.

It's funny to watch the animal eat, but the optimal time is to feed once in the evening when the animal is active. Another acceptable option is feeding in the evening and early morning hours, before nap animal. The evening portion should be significantly larger than the morning portion.

Having decided on a schedule that is convenient for themselves, it is better for the owner to stick to one feeding time. With amazing accuracy, the animal will wait for dinner at the appointed time. This stability is beneficial for the rodent's digestion.

Because of high speed metabolism, the hamster cannot tolerate hunger strike at all. It is difficult to answer unequivocally how many times a day a hamster should eat.

Although the main meal occurs at night, the animals like to wake up during the day to have a snack. Therefore, access to food should be available almost around the clock.

When it comes to how often you should feed your hamster, it is important not to overdo it. You cannot give food more than twice a day: this will disturb the animal’s sleep. Juicy and can spoil if the hamster does not eat it right away. For the same reason, inventories are regularly inspected, removing spoiled products.

Amount of food

How much food a hamster needs per day depends on many factors:

physical activity;
age (young animals eat much more);
physiological state (pregnancy, lactation);
room temperature.

The average rodent eats an amount of food per day equal to 70% of its body weight.

A Syrian hamster weighing 140-150 g should receive about 100 g.

Such accuracy of calculations is not used in practice, and the owner can only approximately say how much a hamster eats per day.

The Djungarian hamster or Campbell is so small that it seems to the owners that they are eating “closely.”

It is a big mistake to overfeed your pet. Hamsters get fat easily.

From the outside it may look cute, but the animal itself faces serious health problems and shortens its life. If a dwarf has already received a tablespoon of dry food, and the feeder is instantly empty, you should not fill it again. The pet simply hid food around the cage.

Conclusion

The owner needs to think about more than just how often to feed the hamster. For your pet’s health, change water and food on time, prevent obesity and follow recommendations regarding. It is better to think over the animal’s diet before purchasing in order to avoid health problems caused by a lack of information about the nutrition of hamsters.

How often should you feed your hamster?

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Nutrition of Djungarian hamsters: what can and cannot be given to Djungarian hamsters What to feed your Syrian hamster
Comparison of popular foods for Djungarian and Syrian hamsters How and what to feed hamsters: diet at home

The hamster is a cute, funny animal that is fun to watch and brings joy and fun to your home. That is why, when purchasing this small animal, we often do not understand that its nutrition should be taken more than seriously. Eating from a person's "master's" table is completely unacceptable for a hamster. Some foods can make the animal very ill. Therefore, in order for your little pet to delight you with its virtuosity for a long time, it is better to know exactly what you should feed it.

In ancient times, hamsters were wild animals. They lived mainly in the steppes, where you don’t have much freedom in choosing food. If the hamster found grain, then, as a thrifty rodent, he would definitely take it into his hole, since he knew that it would be difficult in winter, and he needed to stock up for all the cold weather. Such “thriftiness” of rodents due to the massive destruction of crops is, of course, not welcomed by agronomists. also in wildlife In addition to grain, hamsters eat larvae and caterpillars.

This is interesting! Wild hamsters living in harsh environments can pose a huge danger to animals that are much smaller than them. Except plant food, hamsters will not disdain small animals, carrion and insects.

If you bring home a hamster, be prepared to feed it food that should contain all essential microelements and all vitamin composition: we're talking about about vegetables. In winter, unlike summer period, you should give your hamster more useful substances together with food, which will contain carbohydrates, protein foods, and fats. Among other things, the animal must have fresh water next to its food.

Remember that keeping hamsters is not so difficult, the main thing is that you take a responsible approach to the issue of feeding this intelligent animal. Therefore, we decided to familiarize you in detail with which foods are preferable to give to a hamster, and which are strictly prohibited for him.

What can you feed hamsters and what not?

What diet for a pet hamster is considered balanced and correct? What should he be given daily, what is best to limit, and what should he not be fed?

If you feed your hamster everything that you bought for him at the market or in the supermarket, you are definitely risking his health. After all, you don’t know where the saleswoman got it on the counter. green salad or carrots, you also don’t know how the vegetables were processed before they arrived at the store. And if vegetables and fruits were fertilized with substances that are very harmful in their own way chemical composition, or they were grown next to a dusty, dirty highway.

That's why safest food for your pet only the one that you or your friends have grown in their own garden.

Fact! Every year, 2 adult hamsters die from cucumbers or salads treated with chemicals.

The most vital food for small domestic rodents is, of course, any grains, dry food and cereals. It is better to buy boxes of dry food with additives in stores that specifically sell dry food and food for animals.

Be sure to include in your hamster's daily diet:

Pea, barley, rolled oats, wheat, millet, oatmeal, corn grits and lentils
Protein food consisting of: low-fat dairy products (one percent fat content is allowed in regular yogurt, without additives, kefir and cottage cheese); chicken meat; river fish and shrimp; quail or fresh chicken eggs; insects, gammarus, grasshoppers and dried worms from a zoological store.
Additional food - wheat and oat ears, dried hay. In order for the hamster to have the opportunity to grind down his teeth in the cage, you should place a twig of any fruit tree or a birch twig.
Fresh dill, lettuce leaves, parsley or clover.
Minerals along with vitamins. We advise you not to buy vitamins individually in specialized stores, but rather take a package with mineral supplements. However, before you give your pet vitamins, monitor the animal’s reaction: will he like them? There are hamsters that cannot stand this or that vitamin. If there is an urgent need to support the health of a small pet, it is better to grind the vitamins into powder and add them to the main liquid food, or mix them with fruits and vegetables. Be careful not to overfeed your hamster with vitamins, otherwise he may develop various diseases against the backdrop of the emergence side effects. Please note that recently, each pet store has been selling special wheels for rodents to help the animal grind its teeth.
Fresh water. Drinking is vital for any animal, just as it is for humans. There is no water in cereals and grains, therefore pet hamster, most Anyone who spends his life in a cage definitely needs water.

To feed your hamster if diarrhea or constipation occurs, you can give:

Cereals boiled in water. Before cooking the cereal, it should be soaked in water in advance.
Rice boiled in plain water. It helps the hamster with diarrhea and intestinal disorders.
droplet sunflower oil added to the basic diet for constipation.

What can you give your pet hamster in small doses:

Several vegetables and fruits, except cabbage of any kind, exotic fruits, beets.
Sweet dry, unsalted popcorn.
Any nuts - walnuts, hazelnuts or sesame.

What should you not feed hamsters?

We have already written that pet hamsters are strictly cannot be given any Exotic fruits, spicy, salty, peppery or too sweet, as well as fatty foods, which are small digestive system animal is not designed at all.

This means that honey, any sweets, kozinaki, ice cream, halva and shortbread dough are contraindicated for a hamster: for a pet this is a slow-killing poison. The rodent's diet should not contain any milk, butter, cream, kefir and sour cream. Cabbage, fried, meat, chocolate products, pasta, bread, breadcrumbs, as they contain an ingredient that is dangerous for the hamster. Yes, yes, don’t be surprised, hamsters should absolutely not be given bread, only grain.

Naturally garlic hot peppers, onion, sorrel should not be given to a rodent. Do not forget about melons and watermelons, as well as apricot or cherry pits, which contain acid that is harmful to the hamster.

Every time, make sure that the hamster eats only fresh, unspoiled food and feed, ripe fruits and vegetables, and has the required amount of fresh water. This is the only way your playful pet will delight you and your family for a long time with its cheerfulness, activity and healthy appearance!

Compared to its wild counterpart, a domestic hamster is a true gentleman. After all, in the steppe or in the field, no one offers a rodent “to the table” vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables or even vitamins in medicinal form.

And the little animals have to be content with what God sends. And at their place of natural residence, God sends mainly grains of cereals and the fruits of legumes, sunflowers and corn. Because Their diet is complete only in the warm season when you can enjoy fresh berries.

It is known that hamsters are very thrifty, which is why they do not starve even in unfavorable weather conditions: they subsist on reserves carried underground in their cheek pouches.

Pets, in principle, also enjoy eating the same foods, but due to their pampered bodies and reduced stamina, it is better to feed them not purely “natural” grains and seeds, but balanced nutritious food (which is also fortified) sold in pet stores.

What can you feed hamsters?

This same food should be present in the homa's feeder at all times. The mixture contains carefully selected and properly processed products that will not harm your pet.

Despite the fact that food for parrots and songbirds, as well as for rodents - guinea pigs, rats are basically grain, but hamsters cannot eat it: the composition is completely different.

As for the types of dry food, you can sometimes, literally twice a week, give your fluffy some sunflower or pumpkin seeds as a treat. Why so rare? Because these products are part of the main feed.

But what you should never do is treat your hamster with nuts in the shell or fruit pits, which supposedly should help the rodent wear it down long teeth. However, here you can achieve the opposite effect: you can break your teeth and oral cavity or injure the cheek pouches. And besides, the kernels of stone fruits contain hydrocyanic acid - a strong poison.

To abrade the teeth, a special “gnawing” stick is placed in the cage - a boiled and dried twig of some country (environmentally friendly!) tree, be it birch, hazel or apple tree.

Vegetable set

Knowing that hamsters “sweep up” everything that gets into their paws, you need to carefully ensure that nothing harmful, such as sweets, gets into them - they have no idea about their harm!

And although many people, out of ignorance, believe that these rodents are omnivores, there is one immutable rule: they should not be given “human” food with all its range of fats, sugar, salt and even spices. What food can you give hamsters?

Juicy and green food must certainly be included in the hamster’s menu, and the food must be fresh and thoroughly washed.

The most preferable vegetables are:

carrot,
beet,
zucchini,
pumpkin,
green leaf salad.

In addition to lettuce, you can add parsley and dill, dandelion leaves and yellow clover to the list of necessary greens. Naturally, they should not be collected on the roadside, but away from the road and the city outskirts.

Green grass for hamster food can be grown in a pot on the windowsill, sowing grains into the ground that the hamster did not eat.

Watermelons,
cabbage,
potatoes.

Fruit treat

Starting from two months of age, the hamster can receive a little apple. He is also allowed currants. “Laxative” pears and apricots (as we remember, without the pit) should be used in small quantities, and given very rarely - as a treat.

Dried fruits are also beneficial for the little animal - apples, raisins, dried apricots. The exception is prunes.

It is forbidden

Almost all fruits of exotic origin are forbidden:

avocado,
kiwi,
persimmon,

And protein is necessary

Any living organism needs constant replenishment of protein. Hamsters, of course, are no exception. For this they need to get a protein supplement every day. It may consist of the following products:

boiled egg,
with reduced fat content,
boiled (without salt and spices) chicken breast,
lean boiled fish,
sprouts of oats or mung bean.

The pet should receive all this alternately once or twice a week.

What you should not feed is whole milk, cheese and bread.

These products are poorly digestible and can create problems with the rodent’s stomach and intestines, causing indigestion, prolonged constipation and even the death of the fluffy.

Shall we have a drink, homa? Where's the water?

If it seems to you that your hamster doesn’t need water because he “hardly drinks it,” then this is a deep misconception.

He drinks, of course, but not in the same quantities as his owners, and his drinking bowl may remain half empty. The water in it must be changed daily, and it should not be boiled or distilled, i.e. devoid of all “living” nutrients, but ordinary drinking water. You can filter it.

Menu for Djungarians

When talking about the diet of hamsters, we must take into account what species they belong to. What do Djungarians eat at home? These hamsters are indeed omnivores, but this does not mean that this “everything” can be given to them. Their home menu ideally, it should not differ much from what Mother Nature presents to him in the wild. The ideal option is ready-made dry mixes, but since they differ both in composition and quality, you need to carefully monitor whether your pet likes this or that set. Dzungarik is able to ignore what he doesn’t like.

You can prepare a similar mixture at home if you mix the following products in equal quantities:

legumes, in particular beans, peas, beans, lentils,
buckwheat,
oats or rolled oats,
wheat,
barley.

A good addition would be sunflower or pumpkin seeds . Every day the Djungarians should get something from nuts:

peanut,
walnut,
cashew nuts,
sesame seeds,
hazelnut.

As for parsley, it is worth remembering: having a laxative effect, it is contraindicated for pregnant hamsters.

Certainly, the diet of Djungarians should include fresh fruits with berries, but in limited quantities, since this type of rodent is prone to diabetes.

Dried fruits, including banana chips, should be given little by little.

In general, zoologists believe that vegetables, the list of which is quite wide, are much healthier. In addition to the already mentioned root vegetables and pumpkins, these are:

eggplant,
- broccoli, Beijing, cauliflower,
fresh corn,
cucumber (preferably grown in a garden bed - without pesticides),
tomato (with the same caveat!),
green beans.

Experts have differing opinions regarding the use of radishes and radishes.. You can experiment, but is it worth the risk: after all, even without them, your pet will not remain hungry!

And hamsters’ favorite treats are bamboo shoots, sprouted grains of wheat, oats, and alfalfa. And it is quite appropriate to invite rodents to gnaw on cherry, maple, birch or apple twigs - any other deciduous or fruit tree. This is not only beneficial for the hamster’s teeth, but also for his entire body.

What can't a dzhungarik eat?

Citrus fruits are harmful to babies, as is dessert made from sour berries such as barberry or sea buckthorn. Difficult to digest by the stomachs of dwarf rodents White cabbage, sometimes this even leads to the death of babies.

Under no circumstances should you give food from the owners' table: fatty, fried, flour dishes are disastrous for pets.

And the following extensive list is short name- it is forbidden!

What should we feed the Syrian?

There are no major differences in the diet of these two types of hamsters. May be, main feature- greater commitment to grain feed.

When compiling a menu for a Syrian hamster, it is necessary to take into account both the age and state of its health, as well as the pet’s taste preferences.

Balanced grain mixtures have already been discussed above. It is recommended to give this food in the mornings and evenings in the amount of one tablespoon.

Grains and legumes, protein supplements, herbs, fresh vegetables and fruits - the set is almost the same.

It is useful for females expecting an addition to the family to receive grain porridge.

And also hamsters, especially Syrians, choose live food as a treat: ants, flies, worms. However, it is better to buy this “game” at a pet store than to catch it in person.

What is good for the baby?

Baby hamsters, like human babies, need to be fed little but often. In the first three months of life, the hamster's diet should be special.

The bowl with dry food should always be in the cage small rodent, and what to eat and what to leave is at his discretion. But the owner will soon be able to determine his tastes and preferences.

You can offer your baby only one type of wet food per day, otherwise the delicate stomach will react with upset.

A leaf of fresh garden lettuce, sprouted peas, wheat, and beans can act as green food. In addition to the fact that they are vitamin “dishes”, they are also tasty, nutritious and beneficial for growing hamster organisms.

But you shouldn’t treat your kids with such delicacies as watermelon or strawberries.

Feeding rules

For all types of hamsters, two meals a day are recommended - breakfast and dinner.

Experts believe that fresh food is more appropriate in the morning, and dry food in the evenings, then, traditionally hidden, it will not spoil.

Serving sizes depend on the size of the rodent - it can be one or four tablespoons. However, the volume of a single serving should not be made large. Thrifty hamsters, if you put more food in the feeder than they can eat, can simply hide it somewhere in their bins, and then it will go bad. Don't let the homushka get poisoned!

New types of food are introduced into the menu gradually, with very small pieces - as the animal gets used to it.

For dwarf species For hamsters, select food that is “convenient” in size - so that it can easily be hidden in the cheek pouches.

If you notice that not all of the food has been eaten, immediately remove the excess.. Spoiled, it will lead to stomach upset at the pet's.

Keep an eye on the expiration date of what you buy ready-made feed, even if he looks pretty decent. Often even one of the components can make the food toxic.

Useful video

The diet of all mammals, which includes hamsters, requires completeness and balance. Every owner knows the age individual characteristics your pet, his habits, really evaluates him physical activity, and, focusing on all these indicators, taking into account the time of year, should be able to select necessary for the pet products. If you organize your nutrition correctly, your hamster will live in contentment and health until the hamster's very old age.

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Selection proper diet for a pet - the key to its health and Have a good mood. In this article, we’ll look at what to feed a Syrian hamster at home, and make a list of useful and harmful products. The list will help inexperienced owners quickly navigate and create the ideal menu for the baby.

Let's also look at what we can give Syrian hamster, and what to feed him is absolutely forbidden.

The diet of the Syrian hamster in the wild consists of 3 main components:

succulent food (greens, vegetables, fruits, berries);
protein foods (small insects, worms).

At home, provide your pet with balanced diet not difficult.

Seeds and nuts

Since the animal’s homeland is forest-steppe and meadows, the basis of its diet should be grains. The easiest way is to provide your pet with the necessary seeds in full by purchasing them at pet stores. They include:

All these components can and should be included in the Syrian hamster’s diet.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is that the percentage of fat-containing seeds (sunflower, peanuts) is minimal.

This food is best used as a treat to prevent your pet from gaining excess weight.

You can prepare the mixture for your baby yourself to be absolutely sure that all the ingredients are suitable for your pet. In addition to the above components, it is good to include seeds:

pumpkins;
watermelon;
melons

These components will diversify the baby’s diet and saturate the body with useful substances.

Greenery and tree branches

It should also form a significant part of the rodent’s daily menu. Here is a list of useful plants:

knotweed;
clover;
wheatgrass;
whine;
plantain;
burdock;
nettle (only processed with boiling water);
leaf salad;
parsley;
dill;
sprouts of wheat, oats, millet and other permitted seeds.

There are plants that can be included in the Syrian hamster's diet, but this must be done with caution. This:

tarragon;
sagebrush;
dandelion.

Grass for feeding your pet should be collected away from busy roads (the most the best option– own garden plot), rinse well with running water and then dry.

In order for the rodent to be able to grind down its constantly growing teeth, it is recommended to offer it deciduous trees:

Branches should be cut in an environmentally friendly place. Before putting them in the cage, you should wash the branches and remove all twigs.

Vegetables

The Syrian hamster's daily diet should include some juicy, vitamin-rich hamsters. The most useful vegetables for small rodents are:

Hamsters especially love and, but kids are always happy to eat other vegetables. You need to choose fruit for complementary feeding very carefully. The pet’s small body cannot easily tolerate any “chemical” substances, so the vegetable must be grown without the use of pesticides and nitrates.

Even small dose chemicals when entering digestive tract the animal will be poisoned.

Vegetables must be fresh, without rotten areas. All root vegetables should be washed well before serving them to your pet. It is better to peel the vegetables and cut them into small cubes so that it is convenient for your baby to eat.

Fruits

(if the apple is sweet and sour, you can give it more often);
bananas;
(try giving a small piece first to observe the intestinal reaction);
peaches;
apricots.

Before treating your baby to fruit, remove the seeds and seeds from them, cut them into small pieces and give them to the rodent one at a time.

Berries

Berries are on the list of what Syrian hamsters eat in their natural environment. In a small amount it will be useful for them to enjoy:

strawberries;
raspberries;
(seedless).

Berries should be selected that are ripe, but not overripe, and washed well.

Protein products

Let's look at what you can feed your Syrian hamster to provide the rodent with protein. Here are the most useful and accessible sources of this dietary component necessary for animals:

(chicken or quail);
boiled chicken breast or lean fish;
fresh green peas;
chickpeas (must be soaked in water before feeding);
insects or worms intended to feed rodents and sold in pet stores.

For these foods to be beneficial, they should be given in limited quantities.

It is better to give your pet “protein days” twice or thrice a week. Products need to be alternated.

What to feed the animal

After the question of what a Syrian hamster can eat is resolved, you need to figure out what kind of liquid should be given to the animal. Contrary to popular belief, succulent food is not enough to provide the animal’s body with moisture.