While hamsters enjoy a wide range of food, specially formulated hamster pellets provide complete and comprehensive nutrition, and should form the basis of your hamster’s diet.
“Rodent blocks and pelleted diets should make up the majority of the diet,” Steven Zary, DVM, medical director at VCA West Suburban Veterinary Hospital in Illinois, told The Spruce Pets. “Greens and vegetables such as carrots, squash, broccoli, spinach, and collard greens can be fed in small amounts.”
Hamsters love foraging and variety, but too much variety can lead them to pick out their favorite foods and leave out other items. Uniform pellets ensure that hamsters aren’t getting too much or too little of any essential nutrient. But a little timothy hay or other treats can be a good change of pace, too.
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Pellets are the easiest way to feed your hamster, giving them a nutritious foundation that can serve as their primary diet, with room for supplementation with fruits and vegetables. Oxbow pellets include timothy grass meal, barley, and oat groats to provide a range of grains for smooth energy absorption. Each pellet also includes all required fiber, vitamins, and minerals, in addition to antioxidants and prebiotics for gut health.
Oxbow Essentials Hamster & Gerbil Food is nutrient-dense, without extraneous fillers or preservatives. An eighth of a cup if they are small (dwarf hamsters or juveniles) or one-third cup for adult hamsters is typically sufficient to keep your hamster healthy throughout their lifespan. Oxbow Essentials Hamster & Gerbil Food is available in 1-pound and 15-pound bags.
Ingredients: Timothy meal, pearled barley (rolled), oat groats, canola meal, millet, canola oil | Nutrition: 15% crude protein (minimum), 4.5% crude fat (minimum), 10% crude fiber (minimum) | Serving Size: ⅛ cup for dwarf and juvenile hamsters, ⅓ cup for adult and full-size hamsters
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What We Like
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Diverse selection of snacks
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Trusted, 150-year-old brand
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No added sugar
What We Don’t Like
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Hamsters are likely to pick out their favorites
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High in fat, so you shouldn’t serve more than a teaspoon per day
This blend contains a multitude of different seeds and nuts and is packed to the brim with protein and crude fat. Pumpkin seeds, dehydrated carrots, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and dried rose petals offer a wide range of foraging options. Stuffed barley and puffed wheat also provide carbohydrate energy sources.
This snack mix is particularly useful in combination with a pellet diet, and can provide that last 20% of your hamster’s daily nutrition. However, it’s easy to go overboard with this snack, since the mix is high in fat content—hamsters shouldn’t be fed more than a teaspoon daily.
Kaytee Food from The Wild Natural Snack is available in 2-ounce bags. There’s also a more nutritionally complete version that incorporates pellets into the blend.
Ingredients: Dehydrated carrot, pumpkin seed, peanuts, dried rose petal, sunflower seed, puffed barley, puffed wheat | Nutrition: 16% crude protein (minimum), 18% crude fat (minimum) | Serving Size: 1 teaspoon
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Mazuri has created a unique blend of wheat, soybean, and corn transformed into a pellet that encourages chewing for great dental health. Packed with high fiber and probiotics, it’s designed to help your hamster digest the nutrients packed within. There are no added colors or artificial flavors; everything inside is entirely natural. There’s even omega-3 and vitamin E, sources of antioxidants for added health. If you are willing to spend just a bit extra and need a pellet, then this is a great option. We especially like that the pellets come in a range of shapes to stimulate your hamster’s foraging instincts.
Ingredients: Wheat middlings, ground timothy hay, dehulled soybean meal, ground soybean hulls, ground corn | Nutrition: 17% crude protein (minimum), 4% crude fat (minimum), 10% crude fiber (minimum) | Serving Size: 20 to 25 grams per day
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Vitakraft Drops Treats are sugary morsels available in multiple flavors like milk and honey, banana and strawberry, and yogurt. These treats include real fruit, but are primarily sugar-based and high in fat, so you have to be very careful about serving sizes. Adult hamsters should only be given one to three drops per day.
There’s also a smaller version available for dwarf hamsters. Keep in mind that these treats can melt in high heat.
Ingredients: Sugar, vegetable oil, dried whey, dried skimmed milk, dried strawberries | Nutrition: 3.7% crude protein (minimum), 19% crude fat (minimum), 3% crude fiber (maximum) | Serving Size: One to three drops per day
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What We Like
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Great source of fiber
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Easy to give
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Helps digestive growth
Alongside pellets and grains, hay is a great food source for your hamster. Oxbow has a delicious timothy hay that is packed full of fiber that will help your hamster’s digestive health. The hay is not only great for chewing, but it also helps mask some of the smells that your hamster will produce. Cultivated without artificial flavors or preservatives, putting a handful of hay in their enclosure every day, mixed in with their regular food, will make your hamster the happiest pet it can be.
Ingredients: Timothy grass hay | Nutrition: 7% crude protein (min), 1.5% crude fat (min), 32% crude fiber (max) | Serving Size: Unlimited
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What We Like
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Developed by animal nutritional expert
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Includes prebiotics and probiotics
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Crunchy pieces support dental health
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Flaxseed and other superfoods included
You’ll recognize a lot of the ingredients in this formula: corn, wheat, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and peas, with crunchy pellets that encourage your hamsters to eat right. It’s aimed at keeping hamsters healthy, with superfoods and antioxidants, along with prebiotics and probiotics to support good gut bacteria and nutrient absorption. This formula is naturally preserved, but you can refrigerate or freeze it to extend the product life.
Ingredients: Corn, wheat, milo, millet, sunflower seed, dehulled soybean meal, oats, sun-cured timothy grass hay, flax seed | Nutrition: 12% crude protein (minimum), 6% crude fat (minimum), 12% crude fiber (maximum) | Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
What to Look For in Hamster Foods
Ingredients
Hamster pellets are mainly made with grains like wheat, oats, and barley, which have the necessary nutrients to keep them active and safe. According to Dr. Zary, a hamster’s diet should consist mostly of pellets, with a minimal amount of fruits and vegetables on the side. If you give them only nuts and seeds, they’ll gorge themselves on the tastier options and may become malnourished.
Serving Size
Hamsters should eat 9 to 12 grams of food per day, according to Dr. Zary. You’ll feel the need to give them more since they’ll shove as much as they can in their cheeks to eat later. But it’s important to keep in mind that they’ll hoard everything they can, so you’ll want to monitor their weight to make sure they aren’t getting obese.
FAQ
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What foods should hamsters not eat?
“You should avoid feeding nut and seed mixes as these are high in fat and can cause obesity,” Dr. Zary told The Spruce Pets. “Hamsters will preferentially eat the nuts and seeds over pellets, so if offered at the same time, they may selectively pick out these food items instead of the more well-balanced pellets.”
There are many types of human food that are bad or even toxic for hamsters, as well. Hamsters should never be fed alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, or very fatty foods.
Why Trust The Spruce Pets
This article was written by Steven Asarch, a writer and product expert for The Spruce Pets. A devout cat dad of two, he has also owned dozens of hamsters. Steven has researched the best litter box furniture, cat litter disposal systems, and catnip toys.
To get the best understanding of what makes a great hamster food, we spoke with Steven Zary, DVM, medical director at VCA West Suburban Veterinary Hospital in Illinois.
