Dear Dog:
What do Teddy Bear Hamsters eat?
Great question - - - When learning to care for a new pet getting to understand its diet is an important step. Like other rodents, Teddy Bear Hamsters are opportunistic omnivores. This means they will eat just about anything a human will, and a few things not even a teenager would touch. Because of this, it is easy to go wrong if you try to develop your own staple food mix for your hamster. In the wild hamsters scurry about, picking up a seed here, some dried grass there, and maybe a bug or two for extra protein. Domestic hamsters do not have the freedom to range about and scrounge up the kind of variety they need in their diets. Commercially prepared mixes consider this and blend together all the macro & micro nutrients your little furry friend needs.
That said, you do not need to go running out at midnight because you ran out of hamster chow. Your buddy will not suffer if you substitute bird seed, plain unseasoned popcorn or unsalted nuts for a regular feeding, or even two. You can occasionally give tiny nibble size treats to your hamster as well. Good choices are small pieces of carrot, 1/2 a raisin, or a piece of raw spinach leaf no bigger than a quarter. Remember, hamsters are little critters, so eating the tiniest of baby carrots is like a human sitting down and finishing off a mound of carrots the size of a whole turkey all by themselves. Overfeeding fresh greens like lettuce can result in 'wet tail,' which is potentially fatal. Dried alfalfa is a much healthier choice as greens for your hamster. Go slow when introducing new foods and the two of you should stay good friends for a long time.
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