In recent years, hamsters became very popular as pets. They are certainly present in homes all over the world the same number as cats and dogs, only they could never live together with these animals.
Otherwise, this little and cute mouse could become dessert after a bowl of warm milk. Hamsters are gentle and not particularly demanding as pets, so you don’t have to worry about its domestication. They learn fast and don’t make mess around the house, if you nurture them in a proper manner.
Hamster and guinea pig food
Hamsters are omnivores. They prefer to eat a lot of different seeds and vegetable roots. There are also mixtures for hamsters you can buy in pet shop, but you can also make a good homemade selection of seeds and grains by yourself. Hamsters are also fans of apples and bananas.
You can also give it some of the remains of your own food, even if it contains sugar. And if you wonder about quantities of food you feed it, just about 20 gr a time would suffice. It is to say one tablespoon of food.
If it didn’t eat everything you gave it one day, just remove the food and feed it fresh viands the following day. Hamster should always have the access to fresh and clean water.
It is also very important to insert a scrap of wood in its terrarium, in order to keep its teeth in good shape. In addition, it is a good way for hamsters to play and to take essential minerals in their organism.
Unlike hamsters, guinea pigs are exclusively herbivores and they cannot eat any food of other origin. The best advice is to keep to commercial food, with several servings of fresh fruit and vegetable a week. You can also let it eat grass, but only if it is away from traffic and dangerous toxins.
Their menu includes a large amount of vegetables and the list is quite lengthy. It includes lettuce, chard, peppers, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, green beans and other. Some vegetables should be given cautiously, because of calcium content. That applies to parsley and spinach. Carrots should be also given in small amount, because of their sugar level.
Hamster on a guinea pig diet?
There are divided opinions on this matter. Since hamsters are omnivores, they probably could eat the same vegetables and fruits like guinea pigs. When it comes to commercial mixtures, the best advice is to avoid it. It probably wouldn’t harm them, but it just does not provide essential nutrients hamsters need.
So, keep to food mixtures made exclusively for hamsters. You can give them some guinea food once in a while, but never include it on a regular menu. You can also include peanuts every once in a while.
