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

[toastedtuna.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend joining a forum called Hamster House. When we had our dwarf devils, I had a membership there & learned a great deal.

The chinchilla sand for occasional sand bathing is a good idea. It will help keep the coat from becoming oily. Just give them a little dish of it once a week, then remove the dish when they are finished so they aren't using the dish as a toilet.

We never used a salt lick for ours. I think too many people put too much emphasis on salt licks for rodents simply because rabbits and guinea pigs use them. We never used them for our hamsters and have never needed them for rats. They know when to drink water, and they get minerals from the healthy foods you provide.

They don't really need hay. You can provide it if you WANT to, but they don't NEED it. For bedding in the cage, as long as you stay away from pine & cedar, you're good. Carefresh is a really great bedding, but the hamsters will move it from place to place. Cell-Sorb is also great. It's compressed newspaper pellets & works wonderfully with hamsters. Aspen is my bedding of choice, and use it almost exclusively for the rats, but had good results with it with the hamsters, too.

For chew sticks you'll want to stay away from pine. You can give them fruit flavored Nylabones as a safe alternative. Rat people swear by them, and so I bought some. Naturally, the rats love them, and it was fun to watch the hamsters maneuver them & chomp on them, as well.

Pet peeve...

[thelonetiel.livejournal.com]

Guinea pigs and rabbits DO NOT need salt licks. Over consumption of salt can lead to various things, including bladder problems and dehydration. It is a myth that rabbits and GPs need salt licks. Mineral licks as well are bad. They get more than enough salt from pellets. Pet stores are full of crap and will tell you anything to get you to buy from them. (Not attacking you, correcting you. Dont want anyone seeing that and rushing out to get their pets salt licks)

Ahem.

I dont know anything about hamsters. Just had to get that cleared up... I might venture a guess that hamsters dont need salt licks either, but I dont know for sure.

You should have read more carefully

[toastedtuna.livejournal.com]

There was no need to try and "correct" me at all. What I said was--there is a USE of salt licks with those animals. I never once said rabbits et al NEEDED them. Never ONCE. The reason I didn't say they NEEDED them was because I don't think they do need them.

So, please, next time you'd like to "correct" someone, pay attention to the wording of the post.

Not attacking you, just correcting you.

No need to be excessivly rude...

[thelonetiel.livejournal.com]

I see this kind of thing all the time. I wanted to be sure no one got their guinea pig a salt lick because of your comment that they "Use them". It is unlikely someone would do so. Very unlikely. But still possible. I believe I even mentioned this in my comment, that I just wanted to get it cleared up. Seeing as you didnt sound like you knew all about guinea pigs and rabbits, I thought you might want to learn something new or at least make a mental note of what I said, taking it with a grain of salt (No pun intended).

I never said you said guinea pigs and rabbits needed salt licks. I did say I was correcting you, my error, which could be seen as implying you were wrong. By the same token, you could be seen as implying that because guinea pigs and rabbits need salt licks, it is assumed other rodents need them as well. True, you didnt say they needed them, but you said they used them, and that could be taken as "need" or "enjoy" or "crave" or "like" or "want" or any number of words.

I'm sorry you take "correcting" so personally. You implied something that was untrue, even if it was completly unintentional and opposite of what you wanted to say, I was informing you that that was not true. I know I like my errors to be pointed out, as they are often unintentional and misleading. If it is something I never knew before, all the better.

I was not intentionally rude in my first post. I didnt take that route in this one.

To submit or not to submit... Eh screw it. I'll take the arrogant route.