Advice on feeding my Syrian hamster!

[Lovelly22]

Hi I’m new on here, I have a 1 and a half year old female syrian hamster called Ivy (see attached photo) I adopted from the RSPCA when she was a baby. She lives in the Bucastate 100 cage. I’ve previously had a male Syrian hamster (Honey) who lived till he was 2 and a half years old, so only have experience with Syrians!

Basically I feed Ivy the Harry Hamster food mix, I used to just fill her bowl and top up when empty but now I’ve changed to giving her 1 heaped tablespoon per day as I’ve heard that’s a better amount. I think I will also try scatter feeding some as I know that’s good for them, but I’ve been nervous to because I worry I that I then can’t monitor her food intake very well.
I also hear a lot online on social media that Harry Hamster food mix is bad because it’s way too high in sugar and they tend not eat the good bits - Ivy actually eats all of it and tends to leave the pea flakes! I’ve read on here that’s it’s a good mix though so I think I’ll carry on with it as it’s easily bought in the Uk. I do make my gerbils their own homemade food mix as they didn’t eat much of the Gerri Gerbil mix but thought I didn’t need to make Ivy her own mix as she eats all the Harry Hamster mix.

I also put sprays into her cage (I recently bought the ‘Rosewood Naturals Pick-n-Fly’ for her which is currently in the freezer as I heard it was good. I used to buy sprays off Etsy but they’re very expensive and this pack I got off Amazon for £3!). However, she tends to eat the sprays very quickly (in like 2-3 days) so I'm not sure how often to give her them - should it be once a week or everytime she finishes them? And should I go back to buying sprays off Etsy or is rosewood ok?

I also want to try giving her some veggies - I normally just give her some carrot/broccoli/cucumber/kale/lettuce every now and then (not very often at all) but I want to get into a routine with it. I am unsure of the right amounts of veg to feed and which veggies would be best and how often. I have carrot, broccoli, cucumber, pepper, kale, spring greens and romaine lettuce I can feed her (as I have all that veg for my Guinea pigs) so ideally I’d want to use any of those veggies.

I’d really appreciate any advice on feeding veg and sprays to a Syrian hamster and whether the Harry Hamster food mix is ok!
Sorry for the long message and thank you!!

 

[elusive]

Hello & welcome to the forum.
Ivy looks lovely!

Harry Hamster is fine, if she eats all of it except the pea flakes then I would just carry on giving her that.
You can give veg every day, just a tiny piece & it sound as though you’re giving her a good variety too which is great.
I don’t find hamsters overdo it with veg but if you stick to something like a thumbnail size piece that should be fine.
There’s a post about veg here that might help.

Safe and Unsafe Fruit and Veg

Safe and unsafe fruit and vegetables for Hamsters (note - this post is also combined with the safe and unsafe treats post as part of the home page article on safe and unsafe foods) Providing Hamsters have a good hamster mix, with the correct nutrients and protein levels, they do not need any...

www.thehamsterforum.com

I’m not sure how many sprays or how often for a Syrian (not a species I keep) so I’ll leave that to someone else.

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome She's a gorgeous hammy. It sounds like you're doing all the right things. There is nothing wrong with Harry Hamster It contains the right amount of protein and is sugar free actually. Unless it's the new "fruity" version. Then it would have fruit sugars and preservatives. The original version is fine. It may not have such a big variety of ingredients as some of the German style mixes, but it provides the nutrition needed. So I wouldn't worry about that. You can give variety by means of extra treats and sprays etc.

Yes some hamsters do tend to demolish sprays quickly! So maybe just now and then. She's a lucky girl as she has a lovely home and a caring owner.

With veg, they only need a tiny bit daily - no bigger than their ear. Or, for a Syrian, 1cm cubed size (which is about the same). They eat very little daily and with a small amount like that they will eat it rather than hoard it. All the veg you've mentioned is ok although personally I wouldn't give lettuce and kale and I stick to things like broccoli, carrot and cucumber or baby corn. There are varying views on whether cabbage and lettuce are ok or not. But they don't give a lot of nutrition as they are mainly water and can cause digestive gas I believe. But it sounds like you have plenty of variety with the rest.

There's a food article on the home page if that helps

Edit - posted at the same time as Elusive

 

[Lovelly22]

Hello & welcome to the forum.
Ivy looks lovely!

Harry Hamster is fine, if she eats all of it except the pea flakes then I would just carry on giving her that.
You can give veg every day, just a tiny piece & it sound as though you’re giving her a good variety too which is great.
I don’t find hamsters overdo it with veg but if you stick to something like a thumbnail size piece that should be fine.
There’s a post about veg here that might help.

Safe and Unsafe Fruit and Veg

Safe and unsafe fruit and vegetables for Hamsters (note - this post is also combined with the safe and unsafe treats post as part of the home page article on safe and unsafe foods) Providing Hamsters have a good hamster mix, with the correct nutrients and protein levels, they do not need any...

www.thehamsterforum.com

I’m not sure how many sprays or how often for a Syrian (not a species I keep) so I’ll leave that to someone else.

Thanks for the advice! She is a sweet hamsterThat all sounds great, I just hear so many different opinions on feeding etc that I don’t know what’s right. But now I can relax about her food mix and try her on some veg a little more regularly just less Thanks again! X

 

[Lovelly22]

Hello and welcome She's a gorgeous hammy. It sounds like you're doing all the right things. There is nothing wrong with Harry Hamster It contains the right amount of protein and is sugar free actually. Unless it's the new "fruity" version. Then it would have fruit sugars and preservatives. The original version is fine. It may not have such a big variety of ingredients as some of the German style mixes, but it provides the nutrition needed. So I wouldn't worry about that. You can give variety by means of extra treats and sprays etc.

Yes some hamsters do tend to demolish sprays quickly! So maybe just now and then. She's a lucky girl as she has a lovely home and a caring owner.

With veg, they only need a tiny bit daily - no bigger than their ear. Or, for a Syrian, 1cm cubed size (which is about the same). They eat very little daily and with a small amount like that they will eat it rather than hoard it. All the veg you've mentioned is ok although personally I wouldn't give lettuce and kale and I stick to things like broccoli, carrot and cucumber or baby corn. There are varying views on whether cabbage and lettuce are ok or not. But they don't give a lot of nutrition as they are mainly water and can cause digestive gas I believe. But it sounds like you have plenty of variety with the rest.

There's a food article on the home page if that helps

Edit - posted at the same time as Elusive

Thanks for all the great info and your kind words, Ivy is such a sweet hamster and I love learning more about her and proper care for all small animals

I do give her the normal version of Harry Hamster - I haven’t seen the fruity version yet, I get mine from Pets at Home so I’ll keep an eye out in case they start selling it and I don’t notice!

She is crazy about sprays so yes I’ll stick to maybe a couple times a month - she’ll spend 2 days just running round destroying them all and pocketing them, ignoring her food mix

Perfect re veg I’ll stick to those types and start giving her a little everyday - do i need to start her slowly on it as it’s the first time she’s having it everyday or not as she has had veg before just not very often? I saw on the article it said to start slow I think.

Thanks again and I’ll definitely be back if I need any more advice with Ivy!