Hamster Food Pyrimid

Question
Dear Jededia,
I am considering buying a syrian hamster and i was wondering
what you thought i should feed it, how often, and if i should put
some food variations in his diet or if it should be all the same.  It
woud be great if you could get back to me ASAP.  Thanks!
Signed,
Brendan

Answer
Dear Brendan,
thank you for your question.
Syrian hamsters should be fed every evening. One teaspoon of hamster food, either commercial food or food you mix yourself. I use a mixture that includes 1 cup of a good commercial food without too many sunflower seeds and no peanuts (too fatty), 2 cups of six grain-mixtures (can be bought at health food shops) and 1 cup of bird seeds.
Apart from that, the hamster needs fesh food: carrots, dandelion, salad (not iceberg, has no nutritional value), pansies (untreated), daisies, zucchini, pumpkin, chard/mangold, bell pepper, chickweed ect. I avoid feeding fruits, because I try to keep the food as natural as possible, but since Syrian hamsters are not as suspectible to diabetes as dwarfs, they can be given fruit: apple, pear, banana, strawberries, rapsberries, plums (without the stone). Avoid citrus fruits or give those only in small amounts. You might need to experiment a bit with the fresh food to find out how much the hamster will eat.

Hamsters need animal protein in form of mealworms or crickets. Let the insects feed on vegetables for a week to make them more nutritious, the crickets are best fed to the hamster dead (either freeze them or throw them in boiling water, that's quicker). Curd cheese or high quality dry dog/cat food is another option, but insects are better.

Treats can be sunflower or pumpkin seeds, hazel or walnut, raisins or homemade hamster cookies: mix hamster food with flour and water, then add grated veggies/leafy greens/mashed fruit and bake for 10-30 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Most storebought treats contain way too much sugar and should be avoided.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer