hamster diet

Awhile ago I acquired a hamster. Her name is Tina. She has finally stopped threatening my life but she still doesn't like to be touched. Which is fine. She lives in Hamstertopia and has much to do by way of recreational redecorating with nightly runs on the purple hamster wheel of glee.

I've been feeding her petstore hamster food with some of my dogs' high quality kibble thrown in and fresh fruit and veggies as I have them. I know when I had rats, petstore food was not a great option. Is it the same for hammies? And if so, what should I be feeding her?

Tina:

He is a great master list on different brands and what is best for all kinds of hamsters
http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/71864-master-food-list/

Hazel hamster & harry hamster are generally regarded as the best commercial hamster food
I used to feed that to Granger plus fruits & veggies

You can get it @ petsmart: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754944

I researched making my own mix a while back but couldn't find a surefire way to get the %s right and the whole process ended up more expensive than just buying a good base food and adding!

Hope it helps, Tina is a SERIOUSLY cute hamster!

I always gave my hamsters some cooked meat and eggs for a treat, along with the kibbles. Also, lots of fresh fruits/veggies daily.

Thanks!

She is cute. I get a kick out of her even though she doesn't like me

Yeah this. Hazel Hamster and Oxbow are regarded as the best as far as commercial diets go. I mix my own for my rats but I have no clue if it is similar for hamsters.

Tina is cute and that's a fabulous name lol.

She's adorable!

With hamster food you want to avoid anything with Ethoxyquin, BHT or BHA. These were shown to increase the cancer risk in lab rats. You also want to aim for about 17% protein for most hamsters.

Like most have mentioned Harry/Hazel Hamster and Oxbow are good commercial foods. The Hazel Hamster that is sold in the US and Canada does contain soybean oil that is preserved with BHT, but it is a very small amount. If you choose the Oxbow, the old formula used to contain 17% protein but the new formula has lowered the protein content to 15% so you have to supplement the protein a little.

The list Fran posted is great, it breaks everything down nicely and highlights the good and bad ingredients.

This. From the commercial side of things, Oxbow and Supreme (Hazel Hamster) are the two best commercial foods out there - one is a mix, one is pelleted, so you could easily do a mixture of both. And of course, a variety of fresh foods.

She's so cute! I do really like hamsters, especially how they love to redecorate their cages.