What Do Hamsters Eat?
Hamsters are omnivorous, which means that they eat both plant and animals foods. In their natural habitat, hamsters will eat seasonally available seeds, including barley, wheat, soybeans, as well as plant shoots, leaves and some root vegetables, including carrots. Small invertebrates such as spiders are also eaten.
Just as people eat salads and fresh fruit every day to keep healthy, hamsters also like to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
Give your hamster fruit and vegetables from the kitchen but be sure to wash all fresh food before feeding it to your hamster.
If possible, offer your hamster half a handful of fresh food every day. If it consumes it all, then offer a little more the following day but be conscious of overfeeding and be sparing when introducing new foods in case they cause a problem. Every morning, discard any fresh food that has not been consumed, and when you clean out your cage be sure to remove any fresh food the hamster may have hoarded.
Cut up the fresh food in quite large pieces and do not remove any peel from fruit or vegetables as your hamster will enjoy biting and stripping them. However, remove the pips and kernels from fruits as they can sometimes be poisonous.
Here are some fresh foods that can be offered to hamsters: turnips, peas, celery, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, peach, blackberry, grapes, apples, strawberries, kiwis, bananas, melons
In addition to a varied supply of fresh foods to give your hamster the right balance of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, proteins and vitamins, it is also extremely important to ensure your hamster receives sufficient fresh water each day. Water should always be made available should the hamsters require it, but the amount they will take will typically depends on the amount of water available in their food. It is likely that if you give your hamster fresh fruits and vegetable daily then it will drink less water.