Homemade Hamster Food

Sources of good fats: walnuts, blanched sweet almonds, roasted peanuts, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, roasted soynuts, millet

Protein: sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, roasted peanuts, walnuts, blanched sweet almonds, freeze dried turkey, mealworms, roasted soynuts, flax seed, millet, quinoa, chia seeds, hard red wheat berries, nutritional yeast flakes, barley, spelt flakes, freeze dried chicken liver, freeze dried crickets, freeze dried chicken, freeze dried river shrimp

Macrominerals and Trace mineral-

Calcium: basil, sesame seeds, spirulina, chia seeds

Phosphorous: sesame seeds, spirulina, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds

Iodine: spirulina, oat, wheat berries

Selenium: chia seeds, wheat berries, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, blanched almonds

Iron: chia seeds, basil, spirulina, sesame seeds

Molybdenum: blanched almonds, peanuts, walnuts, barley, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast flakes

Vitamins-

Vitamin A: carrot, spirulina, freeze dried chicken liver, bell peppers, basil, parsley

Vitamin D: freeze dried chicken liver

Vitamin E: sunflower seeds, blanched almonds, peanuts, basil, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, parsley, bell peppers, cranberries, carrots

Vitamin K: basil, carrot, spirulina, parsley, dried berries, carrots, bell peppers

Thiamin: spirulina, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, barley, oats, peanuts, carrots, bell peppers, parsley

Riboflavin: spirulina, blanched almonds, basil, freeze dried chicken liver, bell peppers, freeze dried turkey, carrots, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds

Niacin: peanuts, carrots, basil, freeze dried turkey, freeze dried chicken liver, bell peppers, sunflower seeds, barley, carrots, parsley

Pantothenic Acid: Sunflower seeds, bell peppers, freeze dried chicken, freeze dried turkey, wheat berries, carrots, spirulina

Pyridoxine: basil, millet, sesame seeds, freeze dried turkey, freeze dried chicken, sunflower seeds, bell peppers, carrots, spirulina

Biotin: blanched almonds, oats, peanuts, carrots, walnuts, nutritional yeast, wheat berries, roasted soynuts, berries, cranberries, sunflower seeds, freeze dried chicken liver

Folic Acid: basil, carrots, sunflower seeds, peanuts, flax seeds, blanched almonds, parsley, bell peppers, quinoa

Vitamin B12: freeze dried chicken liver, freeze dried chicken, freeze dried turkey

So this isn't a complete ingredient list, but this is very close. I now have 32 regular ingredients. I don't weigh my ingredients by grams anymore, I have realized it's pretty much useless anymore, I know how much each of my hamsters generally need and eat in each department of fat/protein/carbs. Each of my hamsters (though I have different species many of them are the same since I have six) need extreme differences in their diet for what is recommended individually. I just use volume measurements even when doing my base food mix, and then alter it from there when I feed each hamster. This is why I don't include measurements, I also don't sell my food at all... because hamsters are hugely different for each individual, and generally each person who would feed their hamster it needs to know what a healthy hamster looks like. In general all my hamster lost an extreme amount of weight for the first week or two, then they gained it back in lean muscles. They lost a lot of what I call excess fat. 

Most of my hamsters are rescue hams, so they come to me in some sort of bad shape or being fed crap food. I have two I want to discuss in detail, one is my severely aggressive dwarf ham and my other is a syrian who has some physical problems with his hips and and muscle atrophied side. My dwarf hamster, Icarus, actually had a bad bacterial infection that started to heal itself when I switched him to the homemade mix that the vet said was a really good choice and his aggression and anxiety in general has reduced. My syrian, Badger, I have adjusted his food to have more lean proteins and omega-3 fats, his hips are moving better and his atrophied side has actually gained muscle which it never has before. I am very happy with how it has helped not just them but also everyone else. If any of my readers have any questions about my food, I will gladly answer them.

Me and How I Came Here

I suppose I should start by introducing myself and how I came to be a person that I truly view as an animal advocate. I have been through a lot of things in my life. I struggle with mental illness everyday, there were times in my life where I honestly wouldn't be here in this world if I hadn't of have had my animals. The weird thing is, is I don't honestly expect anything from my animals in return. Half my animals aren't able to show love in the way a dog or cat might. Most of my animals are reptiles or some type of insect. Yet I have such an undying love for my wards that taking care of them is all I need, it's all the thanks I need to see them thriving, to see them enjoy a special treat, or be enjoying a bath or shower. Every single one of my animals is an amazing creature brought into my life to be loved and cared for, many of them because they weren't cared for at all in their older homes. Some of them end up going to new homes once rehabilitated and healed correctly, however some of my rescues have made such an impression on my heart that I can not let them go. The fact that my animals have been neglected or maybe even abused in some way a lot of the time it takes months (talking about possibly six months) to even a year, to get them healthy let alone even close to trusting me. I can't worry about gaining the trust of a sick animal, because it usually never happens. Usually with a sick animal you are doing things with medication and such to make them better that they don't necessarily like and so they don't like you because of it. This definitely doesn't mean gaining their trust down the road won't happen however it will take a while, and as their human caretaker you must be as consistent as possible to provide them with security and safety, and therefore make them feel like it is safe to trust you. I have dealt with distrustful animals in everything such as hamsters, dogs, cats, horses, birds, and reptiles. It is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous when that hamster you have been working with for 6 months every day, finally decides not to bite you that day and instead takes that treat from fingers.... then that first step of trust is built from there and everything is so much easier after that one simple building block.

Now I don't just rescue by myself, working with a couple animals everyday would not be near enough to make a difference in this world. I am on several different forums of all types, quite a few of which you can find in links at the bottom of my page. On these forums I not only learn but try to pass on the wisdom that I have learned about each animal I have taken care of. I research each new species I take care of, and not only from one source, but many sources, a few of which are scientific and a few of which are not. I combine these together, and try different things that work for me, I also change things to what work for me and what works for each individual animal. I have learned over the time I have kept rescues and animals in general, that you can't make a difference by saving these animals by yourself, you have to try and spread the word of correct care and what you and other people have learned in their experiences.

I strongly recommend not taking my word as fact, this blog is about what works for me and the animals I have cared for. I recommend taking what I say and then researching about 5 different ways of care. Then taking what you like, whether it is from one type of care or multiple things from different types of care, and doing whats best for you. Though I don't enjoy saying this, animal care is as much of an art as it is a science. If you are new to an animal species you sadly need to experiment, with what works for you and the animal. But you also need to realize each animal is an individual, what may work for one animal may cause another animal extreme stress. You need to learn each animal's personality and try the basics if that doesn't work, think outside the box. Even if everyone, every single "expert" tells you that isn't the way to do it, if you know the basic signs of stress in your animals and your individual animal, honestly don't listen to them. There is no true one way to do everything, there is no one way to take care of every single animal. Every creature is an individual and it may just be you got that one rat who can't deal with other rats or social contact at all. You may have that chameleon who, while chameleons are labeled anti social with humans, your chameleon might like to be held and taken out.

I have dealt with all sorts of animals, probably some type of animal from every class. Yet what I have realized, even just through their dietary needs is that animals from the same species, can be extremely different.

This blog will not only include my current experiences with animals. But my dietary choices I have decided over the years I have been taking care of them. My cage choices. My supplementing choices, and in general the new information that is coming out all of the time. I will of course strongly outline the difference in each animal I have helped and owned, in both the forums and in my rescue/own care.

~Amber