How often should you feed hamsters

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Hamsters love to hoard their food. They pack extra food into special cheek pouches and then store it around their cage for later. They leave the parts that are high in fibre and eat the bits that are high in sugar. This can cause painful problems with their teeth and can also mean they put on weight. Donate to our emergency appeal now to provide vital vet care to pets in need and keep families together during this crisis. Hamsters in the wild spend a lot of time searching for food. Making them work for their meal is a great way to keep them occupied and stop them getting bored.

How often should you feed hamsters

Pet Keen is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more. Hamsters are small animals, and it can be difficult to gauge exactly how much to feed them, especially if you are a new hamster owner. The amount that you feed your hamster largely depends on their weight and age, but in general, a hamster will eat around 2 tablespoons of food mix per day. Smaller hamsters, such as Dwarf varieties, will only need around 1 tablespoon per day. If you notice that your hamster is not finishing their food or that they are rapidly gaining weight, you are probably feeding them too much. If they finish their food rapidly, you may need to increase their portions slightly. Hamsters can hold a large amount of food inside their cheeks. Some people estimate that they can hold as much as the equivalent of their own bodyweight in cheek storage! Stashing food away is perfectly normal behavior for hamsters, but if you notice them storing large amounts of their food away, you are probably giving them too much. In this article, we go in-depth on how much to feed your hamster, how often, and what foods are best and what foods to avoid. Hamsters are omnivores, meaning they mainly eat food sourced from plants, but in the wild, they are known to snack on insects and small frogs and lizards. In general, the best food to give your hamster in order to provide them with all the essential vitamins and minerals that they need are commercial hamster pellets. Commercial pellets will give your hamster a healthy, balanced diet with every bite and prevent them from picking and choosing what they prefer.

A large variety of vegetables are also great treats for your hamster, including:. Porridge and ground limseeds daily. But, to keep a hamster of your own, you will have to give some thought to feeding it properly.

Last Updated: March 4, Approved. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years. This article has been viewed , times. Hamsters can be cute, small, cuddly, and playful. But, to keep a hamster of your own, you will have to give some thought to feeding it properly. This can be complicated.

People are fond of regular meals and we often tend to put our pets on a similar system of two or three meals a day. At a minimum, most pets are fed at least daily. Every hamster likes to keep a store of food in a safe place. Usually close to his or her nest. This helps wild hamsters survive during times when there are food shortages. Those cheek pouches are of course a brilliant way for such a small animal to carry much more food home when he finds it, than he could manage by carrying it in his mouth. Pretty soon the store will be quite big.

How often should you feed hamsters

Hamsters are cute, small, relatively easy to care for, and if socialized and handled gently, they can be quite affectionate for a rodent, as well. That makes them a very popular "pocket pet. You want to provide hamster food that nourishes your pet through all life stages.

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She graduated from the University of Glasgow in with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. Moderator and Admin. Contents What Do Hamsters Eat? She has a strong love for all animals of all shapes and sizes and particularly loves a good interspecies friendship and wants to share her animal knowledge and other experts' know ledge with pet lovers across the globe. Hamsters, like humans, can have genuine food dislikes and I think it's unkind to force them to choose between eating a food they really hate and hunger. Also, any seed mixes given to your hamster should be in their raw forms and specially formulated for hamsters, as human-formulated mixes often contain salt, sugar, and other additives. Have you looked through this thread? I feed him a big spoon every other day. Try to give your hamster a small portion of fruit, vegetable, or protein either every day or every other day. Rated this article:. Feb 27, Leftovers can rot, contaminating the cage. Do Hamsters Recognize Their Name?

Hamsters are often promoted as low-maintenance animals. However, low maintenance does not mean no-maintenance. To stay healthy, hamsters need a constant supply of fresh food.

About a teaspoon a day is generally enough for a Russian ham. To feed your hamster, give it 1 tablespoon of hamster food, which you can buy from a pet store, once a day either in the morning or the evening. Remember to change food and water on a daily basis to ensure you have a happy, healthy hamster. But, hamsters horde food, so it is probable that they actually have food, but have hidden it. They then snack in bed from their hoards as and when they feel like it. It is hard to find good mixes since Brexit but it might be worth considering a different mix as a lot of the nutrition especially micronutrients like vitamins will probably be in the biscuit part. Note where that spot is and then place the bowl as far from it as possible. Search Advanced search…. Jazmyn H. Donate today. When they had their hoard cleaned out regularly and the owner was frugal with the bowl in the food then went away for a few days. Feb 27, If there are no other symptoms and they seem well but are still not eating, they may simply be bored of their food! Hamsters love to store food, so be sure to check their stash before upping their daily food intake to avoid obesity.