E
elusive
Sprouts are enjoyed by nearly all hamsters & are a great way to give them a fresh, nutritious treat.
There are various ways of sprouting seeds for hamsters & Iāve tried most (& wrote about them elsewhere so can give more info if wanted) but in the end I settled on three main ways of growing sprouts for the hams.
Sprout jar
Micro greens
Small terracotta pots
The sprout jar has the advantage of being fairly quick, easy to do & doesnāt require anything other than a basic jar with no need for light.
Iāve found this jar to be the easiest to use & clean.
Vogel BioSnacky Small Germinator Jar
(It may be cheaper elsewhere if you google it)
The jar is ideal for sprouting grains & pseudo grains, buckwheat, oats, wheat, barley, millet, amaranth for example. (Amaranth & quinoa are a bit on the small side for the jar so not so easy as grains, I sprout these in a very fine tea strainer!)
Always check the grains are whole & not roasted, unhusked grains are less likely to be damaged so will grow better & avoid any chance of rotting or mould.
Itās as simple as soaking & then rinsing twice a day for a few days, the early stages of growth are the most nutritious.
I keep mine by the kitchen sink (out of any direct sunlight) so I donāt forget them.
This is a US site so not one to buy from but has lots of info for individual seeds & grains with the soaking & growing times if you want more info for individual grains.
Sprout people
Avoid sprouting alfalfa, I have never found out why but itās not recommended for hamsters so I prefer to err on the side of caution with this & avoid it.
Micro-greens
Vegetable sprouts are packed full of nutrition & loved by most hams but a little does go a long way so I grow these as micro-greens & just snip a little of to give at any one time.
Veg Iāve used this way include kale, pink kale, lettuce, red cabbage, beetroot & carrots but there are others you can try too, pea shoots arenāt recommended, again I never found out why but I prefer to avoid them.
Always be sure to buy seeds sold for sprouting, unless organic most veg seeds sold for growing in the garden will have been treated with pesticides & fungicides so avoid those.
Little equipment is needed, you can use a flower pot, a plastic tray like those you get food in from supermarkets, you can buy special sprouting trays but they really arenāt necessary.
You can use compost (I use seed compost as micro=-greens are harvested before they need nutrients from the soil) coir is also fine.
Simple water your growing medium until really damp, spread a good amount of seeds over the surface, I give the seeds a good spray to make sure theyāre damp & in contact with the growing medium, (some small seeds blow away when you do this so be careful!) then cover your pot or tray to exclude light until germination begins.
Micro-greens will need a good light source to grow well so a sunny windowsill (unless itās really hot) is ideal or somewhere close to a well lit window, as it rains most of the time here I use grow lights as I have them for my other plants.
That is the one disadvantage of this method, without light your seeds will be lanky & weedy, probably just fall over & may not be as nutritious.
Little pots o fun!
I think this is probably the favourite with the hams.
I use tiny terracotta pots with a hole in the base about 5cm across, you can buy these on amazon, ebay, craft shops & various other places.
I use Kaytee clean & cosy as a growing medium & I have also used fitch, as these will be going in the cage & get totally destroyed by the hams I wouldnāt recommend using compost but coir should be ok but may well be a bit messy to clean up after they finish.
I have tried tissues, kitchen paper towels & toilet tissue but itās just not substantial enough, although I have grown them on kitchen paper on a terracotta saucer which did work (a bit like growing cress) but it is hard to keep the moisture level right.
Fill the pots with the paper substrate, pack it in fairly well & then stand in a saucer or suitable dish, water well & leave some water in the dish until after the seeds begin to germinate.
You can use veg seeds for this also grains but Iāve found the shelled warrior hamster mix to be the best thing & really well liked by the hams.
Shelled warrior hamster mix
Once youāve soaked the substrate spread a fairly generous layer of seeds on the surface as evenly as possible, the surface will be a bit lumpy & bumpy so you may get a few bare patches but donāt worry itās fine.
Cover to exclude light until the seeds start to sprout then put in a well lit spot until theyāre a couple of inches tall, there is vetch in the mix which grows way taller than the other seeds, Meri loved trying to catch these! But let the rest of the seeds grow to a reasonable height, after germination donāt stand in water but keep just damp.
Here are some pots just beginning to germinate & again after a few days (may take a little longer in coler weather).
Thatās the basics, hope you enjoy growing & your hams enjoy munching
There are various ways of sprouting seeds for hamsters & Iāve tried most (& wrote about them elsewhere so can give more info if wanted) but in the end I settled on three main ways of growing sprouts for the hams.
Sprout jar
Micro greens
Small terracotta pots
The sprout jar has the advantage of being fairly quick, easy to do & doesnāt require anything other than a basic jar with no need for light.
Iāve found this jar to be the easiest to use & clean.
Vogel BioSnacky Small Germinator Jar
(It may be cheaper elsewhere if you google it)
The jar is ideal for sprouting grains & pseudo grains, buckwheat, oats, wheat, barley, millet, amaranth for example. (Amaranth & quinoa are a bit on the small side for the jar so not so easy as grains, I sprout these in a very fine tea strainer!)
Always check the grains are whole & not roasted, unhusked grains are less likely to be damaged so will grow better & avoid any chance of rotting or mould.
Itās as simple as soaking & then rinsing twice a day for a few days, the early stages of growth are the most nutritious.
I keep mine by the kitchen sink (out of any direct sunlight) so I donāt forget them.
This is a US site so not one to buy from but has lots of info for individual seeds & grains with the soaking & growing times if you want more info for individual grains.
Sprout people
Avoid sprouting alfalfa, I have never found out why but itās not recommended for hamsters so I prefer to err on the side of caution with this & avoid it.
Micro-greens
Vegetable sprouts are packed full of nutrition & loved by most hams but a little does go a long way so I grow these as micro-greens & just snip a little of to give at any one time.
Veg Iāve used this way include kale, pink kale, lettuce, red cabbage, beetroot & carrots but there are others you can try too, pea shoots arenāt recommended, again I never found out why but I prefer to avoid them.
Always be sure to buy seeds sold for sprouting, unless organic most veg seeds sold for growing in the garden will have been treated with pesticides & fungicides so avoid those.
Little equipment is needed, you can use a flower pot, a plastic tray like those you get food in from supermarkets, you can buy special sprouting trays but they really arenāt necessary.
You can use compost (I use seed compost as micro=-greens are harvested before they need nutrients from the soil) coir is also fine.
Simple water your growing medium until really damp, spread a good amount of seeds over the surface, I give the seeds a good spray to make sure theyāre damp & in contact with the growing medium, (some small seeds blow away when you do this so be careful!) then cover your pot or tray to exclude light until germination begins.
Micro-greens will need a good light source to grow well so a sunny windowsill (unless itās really hot) is ideal or somewhere close to a well lit window, as it rains most of the time here I use grow lights as I have them for my other plants.
That is the one disadvantage of this method, without light your seeds will be lanky & weedy, probably just fall over & may not be as nutritious.
Little pots o fun!
I think this is probably the favourite with the hams.
I use tiny terracotta pots with a hole in the base about 5cm across, you can buy these on amazon, ebay, craft shops & various other places.
I use Kaytee clean & cosy as a growing medium & I have also used fitch, as these will be going in the cage & get totally destroyed by the hams I wouldnāt recommend using compost but coir should be ok but may well be a bit messy to clean up after they finish.
I have tried tissues, kitchen paper towels & toilet tissue but itās just not substantial enough, although I have grown them on kitchen paper on a terracotta saucer which did work (a bit like growing cress) but it is hard to keep the moisture level right.
Fill the pots with the paper substrate, pack it in fairly well & then stand in a saucer or suitable dish, water well & leave some water in the dish until after the seeds begin to germinate.
You can use veg seeds for this also grains but Iāve found the shelled warrior hamster mix to be the best thing & really well liked by the hams.
Shelled warrior hamster mix
Once youāve soaked the substrate spread a fairly generous layer of seeds on the surface as evenly as possible, the surface will be a bit lumpy & bumpy so you may get a few bare patches but donāt worry itās fine.
Cover to exclude light until the seeds start to sprout then put in a well lit spot until theyāre a couple of inches tall, there is vetch in the mix which grows way taller than the other seeds, Meri loved trying to catch these! But let the rest of the seeds grow to a reasonable height, after germination donāt stand in water but keep just damp.
Here are some pots just beginning to germinate & again after a few days (may take a little longer in coler weather).
Thatās the basics, hope you enjoy growing & your hams enjoy munching