10 Best Hamster Foods in 2023 – Reviews & Top Picks

One of the most important things you’ll need to do when caring for a hamster is to select the right hamster food.

Despite being rodents, hamsters need to follow a very strict diet and nutrition schedule. Failure to do so can lead to illnesses such as GI infections, diabetes, or worse — death.

Hamsters are omnivores and require a delicate balance of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and protein. The real challenge is ensuring you get the proportions right for their little bodies. Too much of any one element can lead to a bevy of complications.

Fortunately, you won’t have to handcraft your hamster’s diet. There are plenty of suitable hamster foods available for purchase that have taken these rodents’ dietary needs into careful account.

But with so many options to choose from, how can you know which is the best food for your hamster? It can be a pretty tough choice among so many different options. However, we’ve done the hard work for you and put together a list of reviews for the best hamster foods. You’re sure to find the best choice for you and your hamster here.

A Quick Glance at our Favorites in 2023

	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Blend Hamster Food	Hamster-specific food mix No artificial flavors, coloring, or preservatives Made with real all-natural ingredients	Check Price
Best Value		Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Hamster Food	Cheap and bulk buy options are available Provides omega-3 fatty acids Hamster-specific food	Check Price
Premium Choice		Oxbow Garden Select Hamster Food	Non-GMO Complete and balanced mix Has yellow peas, carrots, banana, and spinach	Check Price
		Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster Food	Assorted hays and grains help to maintain hamster digestive health Fortified with extra essential vitamins	Check Price
		Kaytee Fiesta Gourmet Variety Diet Hamster Food	Full of variety Rich in omega-3 fatty acids	Check Price

The 10 Best Hamster Foods

It tops our list for a few reasons. First, it’s an all-plant-based food blend full of assorted flaked fruits and veggies, seeds, hay, and pre-cooked legumes. This provides healthy DHA omega-3 fatty acids that your hamster needs to maintain tip-top health.

Second, there are no artificial preservatives or flavors. That way you can feel confident giving this food to your hamster daily. Also, there’s a good textural mix between pellets and seed mixture to ensure that your hamster stays engaged. Hamsters can be extremely picky eaters, and this mix seems to target and eliminate that issue.

And lastly, this mix is affordable. It comes in a 2.5-pound bag that will last a single hamster a very long time.

All in all, we think this is the best overall hamster food available this year.

This hamster food also provides great nutrition for your little furballs. The food is fortified with healthy omega-3 fatty acids to promote good brain, heart, and eye health. Each component within the bag has an easy-to-eat texture for all hamsters as well.

It’s specially formulated hamster food that gives your little guys a complete, balanced meal. Each flavor is picked in order to simulate a natural foraging environment. It’s non-GMO certified and fully developed in the United States.

However, there are a couple of reasons this food is only for special occasions.

First, it’s expensive. A 1.5-pound bag costs more than our top pick which comes in a 2.5-pound bag. And secondly, its number one ingredient is Timothy hay. Timothy hay is more of a filler ingredient. And for the price point, we believe that there should be less filler.

4. Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster Food

It’s also been fortified with vitamins C, A, and B-12 to boost your hamster’s immune system.

While this mix is pretty good, we found it to be just a bit lacking. It’s primarily made up of Timothy hay like the other Oxbow on this list. However, the Healthy Handfuls blend doesn’t incorporate the extra premium ingredients along with it.

• You might also like: 9 Best Dwarf Hamster Foods – Reviews & Top Picks

This particular blend contains sunflowers seeds, peanuts, bananas, corn, and much more. It’s all naturally preserved and is rich in omega-3 fatty acids hamsters need for healthy heart and brain function.

However, this exciting blend isn’t necessarily hamster-specific. This is more of a good general mix for all rodents.

It’s also good for diabetic hamsters as there’s no added sugar. Obese hamsters can also take advantage of this.

However, this particular blend needs a little help in the nutrition department. You’ll need to supplement this food with protein blocks in order to ensure your hamster gets everything they need.

7. Brown’s Tropical Carnival Food & Treat Hamster Food

This blend has some added beneficial bacteria to help support proper digestion along with vitamins and nutrients to make this healthier than other treats. However, you may be turned off by the use of artificial coloring agents and dyes used in this mix.

Instead, the mix contains ZOO-Vital biscuits that have been crafted with natural antioxidants and nutrients. And it doesn’t contain any artificial dyes or flavors.

However, there is a huge amount of sunflower seeds in this blend. Sunflower seeds are high in fat and can be attributed to hamster obesity.

The real issue with this hamster food is a large lack of protein. You must supplement this food with lab blocks in order for your hamster to receive the proper nutrition.

That’s why it’s so disappointing to see that it’s mostly dusty pellets. There’s very little variety in shape, color, or ingredient in this mix.

Also, in an attempt to keep things “all-natural”, there’s too little protein and too much fiber. But on the other hand, there are no added sugars, which could make this a suitable food for diabetic hamsters.

Buyer’s Guide: Finding the Best Hamster Food

Hamsters can be super tricky creatures to buy food for. You’d think that being rodents, they would eat just about anything. However, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

They can be extremely picky eaters. If something isn’t shaped just right or tastes a bit off, your hamster will outright ignore their food. And some will do this to the point of starvation. Other hamsters will throw their food around if they don’t like it.

So, how do you know which food they’ll really enjoy? It’s tough to pinpoint exactly the right sustenance for your hamster, as each and every one is different. But let’s take a look at some of the different types available and what makes up a good hamster food.

Different Types of Hamster Food

There are two primary types of hamster food you should be aware of when shopping around.

Hamster Pellets

Pellets are a pretty standard option when it comes to feeding your hamsters. They’re pre-formed to fit comfortably in your hamster’s hands and textured to entice eating. However, they lack the variety that many hamsters crave. This could turn hamsters off from eating them. But pellets can be your best bet for ensuring your hamster gets all of their daily nutrition. Because they are a single pellet, there is no chance for hamsters to pick and choose certain food mix components. And that means they’re guaranteed to get the intake they need.

Seed Mix

These can be great options for more selective eaters. They often provide a wide variety of seeds, nuts, hays, and other nibbles for your hamster to enjoy. There’s bound to be at least one component of seed mix your little fella will take to.

But that’s the problem with seed mixes. When eaten in its entirety, seed mixes can provide great nutrients to your hamster. However, if your hamster only picks through and eats certain components, they will not receive the proper intake. As a matter of fact, they may eat too much or too little of particular dietary requirements. For example, your hamster may overload on fats, but not fulfill their protein intake requirements.

What To Look For In A Hamster Food?

What makes good hamster food great? Well, there are several factors that you should be on the lookout for when shopping for your next hamster food.

Protein

This is the primary factor you need to look out for when selecting food for your hamster. And it’s also the most likely determinant in whether your hamster will actually eat. Hamsters need at least 16-17% protein in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle. But there’s a problem — hamsters are more likely to reject higher protein food, so you have to find a way to sneak it into their diet.

Fat

Hamsters also need a little bit of fat in their diets. If proteins are the hardest to get your hamster to eat, these will generally be the easiest. Fat can be found within nuts and seeds that your hamster is more likely to gravitate towards. Try to make sure that their intake is limited. Obesity in hamsters can lead to health problems.

Fiber

In order to help keep your hamster’s gut health in check, they’re going to need a healthy amount of fiber. This is particularly important for older hamsters. Fiber is commonly eaten in the form of hay, alfalfa, or oats.

Salt

You may think that hamsters need to minimize their salt intake. However, it’s absolutely crucial that they have a daily salt intake. Salt actually helps your hamster retain water, so you should find a food that has salt in it. If you opt for salt-free food, you need to equip your hamster’s cage with a salt lick to help them stay healthy.

• Related Read: Can Hamsters Eat Popcorn? What You Need to Know!

Sugar

Hamsters are actually prone to diabetes, with some breeds being more susceptible than others. That’s why you need to be careful in regulating their sugar intake. The biggest culprit of sugar is fruit. Fruit is generally regarded as healthy, but you need to make sure that it’s only given to your hamster in moderation.

Variety

In the wild, hamsters thrive on many different types of food. They’re omnivores, which means they’ll eat both plants and meat. Most hamsters enjoy having a large variety when they eat. It’s reminiscent of how they forage in nature. Choosing a hamster food with good variety may encourage your hamster to eat more than blends with little to no variation.

Conclusion

Hopefully, we’ve been able to give you a little insight into what type of food is best for your furry friend. Our top overall pick, Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Blend Hamster Food, stands to give the most to your hamster, while the Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Hamster Food is the best value for your money.

But there’s no guarantee that your hamster will like either of them. That’s part of the joy of owning a hamster. They each have their very own temperaments and personalities. The tricky part comes when you’re trying to balance their proper nutrition with their individual tastes.

Use these reviews and buyer’s guide as a starting point for locating that perfect match. Finding the right food for your hamster can be a lot of trial and error. But by understanding your hamster’s personality, you may be able to make quick work of locating the best hamster food for your little munchkin.

Featured image credit: justus_joseph, Pixabay