Proper nutrition is critical to your hamster’s proper growth and overall health. Failure to provide your dwarf hamster with the correct diet could result in stunted growth and lead to some serious dental illnesses. Accordingly, it is critical to know what you can and cannot feed your dwarf hamster.
You can feed your dwarf hamster various seeds, grasses, whole grains, corn, insects, worms, meats and fish, assorted low-fat poultry products, vegetables, and fruits. You should supplement these foods with commercial pet food to ensure that your dwarf hamster meets its nutritional requirements.
In this article, I will take you through the foods you can feed your dwarf hamster and provide some nutritional tips to keep in mind. I will also discuss some foods to avoid and why you should avoid them for your dwarf hamster. Read on for more.
What Foods Do Dwarf Hamsters Eat?
Dwarf hamsters are omnivores. Although they predominantly feed on seeds, grasses, and grains while in their natural habitats, they still need to consume protein from eggs, dried crickets, cheese, and mealworms.
The good news is that dwarf hamsters, like other gerbils, do not require much variety in their diet, and as such, you can meet your hamster’s dietary needs with a simple meal plan.
In the next section, I will discuss some of the foods you can feed your hamster and some commercial pet food combinations that you can throw in the mix to ensure that your hamster gets the required vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
Read How Much Does a Dwarf Hamster Cost?
Foods for Your Dwarf Hamster
According to PDSA, you should try within reason to replicate what the hamsters will naturally eat in the wild, and this means ensuring that your hamster has a steady supply of insects and a mix of plants and vegetables.
However, if you are unsure about what to feed your pet hamster, I recommend the following food options.
1. Commercial Hamster Foods
Commercial food blends are an excellent way to ensure that your hamster gets the necessary minerals and vitamins. While commercial hamster foods are high in nutritional value, they should not be the only feed you give to your hamster.
In general, these supplemental feeds should take approximately 10% of your hamster’s diet.
These commercial foods include hamster pellets that you can easily buy at the store. There are numerous commercial high-grade hamster foods available in the USA. If you are not aware of the available commercial hamster foods in the market, I have you covered.
Below are four examples of commercial hamster foods for your dwarf hamster (available on Amazon.com) to get you started:
- Oxbow Essentials Hamster Food and Gerbil Food
- Kaytee Fiesta Hamster And Gerbil Food
- Supreme Tiny Friends Farm Hazel Hamster Tasty Mix
- Kaytee Pro Health Hamster and Gerbil Food
These foods will typically contain grains, pellets, seeds, and grains in different amounts.
Read What To Do When You First Get a Hamster