Reading Labels

Your hamster has no choice about its diet. It eats what you put in the cage, so it's important for you to know what's in the food you're providing. No matter which diet you decide to offer your pet, read the rabel before you buyo Some diets, both the pellet and the seed mixes, have added a sweetener to the food. I was surprised to find that I was feeding my hamsters can e molasses with every scoop of seed mix I put into the cages, although molasses is used in many horse feeds.

Freshness

While you're reading labels, check to see if the food should be refrigerated once it's been opened; some brands will advise this. Even if the food doesn't have to be chilled, buy in quantities that you'lI use up within three months or so. You want to feed your hamster food you know is fairly fresh, and if you've ever opened a container of bird seed that's been on your shelf for some time and found that tiny moths have emerged from the mix, you'lI know that "fresh" includes the concept "bug-free." There is some thought that the higher oil content of some diets could cause them to go rancid if not refrigerated. Although I've never had any hamster food go rancid because it was too old, ('ve never had any on hand for more than three months. (One particularly short-lived bag of hamster food delighted my dogs when they nosed the cover of the container off and were industriously lapping the seed mix when I found them. They seemed to enjoy the food, and 1'11 bet the molasses enhancement was a factor.)

Nutrition

Labels will tel! you what's in a food, but they don't tell you much about what a hamster's nutritional needs are. Provide your hamster with a diet that's 12-15 percent protein and 3-6 percent fat. These are quite adequate for nonbreeding animals.

A pregnant or nursing female is going to need a diet that's higher in protein and fat, and an unending supply of water. The same sort of needs apply to the young, once they begin nibbling on solid foods. The young have just over a month to complete body development and become sexually mature. (Y ou have the same amount of time either to find homes for the young or to find extra caging, to separate the sexes.)

Experiments have proven that young hamsters show the most rapid weight gain when provided with a diet that's 18 percent protein, although I would hesitate to use "the heavier the betler" as the only criteria when evaluating the development of young animals. We're not yet at the point where we can measure body fat versus mass on hamsters, as we can with people.