Chin food safe for hamsters?

[schweppes]

I switched over to oxbow since I got them junk food before joining the forums and now I'm wondering if the junk food would be safe for my hamsters to eat.

 

[Jenn]

I feed my hamster mazuri hamster pellets...I think junk food is junk food. Your hamsters will probably eat it but is it good for them?

 

[SunshineChins]

Our Spiney mice and gerbil hate the Mazuri pellets that I tried them on. Right now I do a half and half so I only feel sort of guilty for giving them food thats almost all sunflower seeds. I am doing a slow weaning over hoping it will work.

 

[TillyChinchilla]

It is still isn't good nutritionally and has the preservatives that Kaytee and other junk brands have in them. Oxbow makes a hamster/gerbil food too.

 

[CerLynn]

We too use a half/half mix of the Mazuri hamster/gerbil pellets and a Nutriphase feed. I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that at least some seeds/corn could be beneficial for hamsters, or at the very least are much more tolerated than in chins, as I thought I remembered reading that their natural diet does include seeds and nuts. As far as using chin pellets for hamsters, I don't know that it would necessarily make them sick, but the nutrient distribution is likely different, so a diet of only chin pellets could leave them lacking certain nutrients.

 

[schweppes]

The pet store near us sells Oxbow for every small pet out there, so I'll return the junky chinchilla food, finish off the junky hamster food, and get the hamsters some Oxbow.

The hamsters were a rescue from a friend who got them then after a month decided they didn't care about them and shoved them in a closet only seeing them to feed them every day. They were in an open fish tank with 3 dogs running around. I was afraid that one of the dogs would realize they could reach in and eat them. Because I got them so suddenly I've only started to look into the best ways to care for them.

 

[Jenn]

In addition to the pellets, I also feed my hamster an assortment of cut of veggies and a small amount of one type of fruit. They tolerate veggies better than fruit, and can only have a very small amount of fruit. I also feed some seeds. My hamster loves his veggies so much that he wakes up and comes down to eat as soon as I put the food in his cage. Otherwise, he jams a bunch into his cheeks and takes it back to bed with him!

 

[3CsMommy]

Iirc, hammies need at least *some* seeds and fresh veggies too. They're a little like mice, though, in that too many high fat seeds (like sunflower) can pork them up.