Hm....

[conuly]

Lizziey, this site says it's okay for hamsters to have occasional hard boiled eggs, eating yeast, and the all important fish liver oil. Oh, and some doggy biscuits now and again, which sounds like a good idea, and cheap, if I could trust pet food companies....

Both that site and this one mention meal worms. This one also mentions alfalfa. But that's their product, so I'm not surprised.

This site says you should have blocks of wood, branches, etc. for climbing, and mentions dried fruit (maybe raisins) as food....

I don't know enough about hamsters. Clearly. And Lizziey's hamster could do with more variety in the diet (apparently) and more interesting surroundings. Branches I can get, though, that'll be easy. Right?

Okay, I know you people, some of you know about rodents in general and/or hamsters in specific. Hey, you can all spell the word, and that's really good enough for me. HELP!

Edit: Wikipedia suggests, among other things, a sand bath. It also recommends having hay at all times, for both food and nesting, and says hamsters should not have very many sweet fruits, and emphasises the importance of a salt stone. Wikipedia puts a lot of thought into the care of the common hamster. IF wikipedia is correct, I have a shopping list to make out.

Comments

[spitefairy.livejournal.com]

Do not feed them chocolate. They will die.

[conuly]

Yes, I know that. The same thing applies to cats and dogs and small children (well, they'll die if they take MY chocolate, so....)

[toastedtuna.livejournal.com]

Dogs can have chocolate. If they eat like a pound of it then they'll get sick & throw up & get the runs & stuff, but it won't kill them unless they eat a lot of it.

Many people say rodents shouldn't have chocolate, but it won't kill them, either.

In fact, mice that invade your house LOVE chocolate, and will get into your chocolate chips whenever possible. They love them.

As far as rats go, giving them semi-sweet chocolate daily is actually GOOD for them because it functions as a natural bronchiodilator, and opens their lungs when they are having difficulty breathing.

Naturally, there are other TREATS a person could give a hamster which are healthier, like millet sprays, and carrots, grapes, broccoli, etc., so they don't NEED chocolate, but if yours should happen to get into some, if it's not a huge amount, you won't need to panic and worry that it will die.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, though, chocolate is a great bronchilator (sp?) with mice and rats. Whenever my girls are a bit congested they get a chip each and they're breathing well in less than an hour.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Oops, should've read toastedtuna's post more carefully.

*cough* Bronchiodilator, I knew that...