Hamster snacks: small rewards for a night-time animal

For a hamster, a snack is a little extra. The main food remains a good seed and pellet mix, and the snack is added to it in small amounts. Still, snacks are valuable. You use them to get your hamster used to your hand, to let it forage and to bring variety into the enclosure. A hamster that comes to take a bite from your fingers in the evening learns that you are safe.

In this category you will find the snacks from Zooply, our own premium brand, with dried insects, natural enrichment bunches, millet spray and a nibble mix. You will also find chew snacks from JR Farm, Zolux, Trixie, Flamingo and Esve. We use Zooply every day for the hamsters in our shop and at our breeding facility. For each product group, we deliberately choose only the option we stand behind ourselves.

In short

• ✓ A snack is a small extra alongside the main food, never a replacement.
• ✓ Dwarf hamsters are sensitive to sugar: don't give them fruit or sweet snacks, but Zooply insects, for example.
• ✓ Give snacks in the evening, when your hamster is awake and active of its own accord.
• ✓ Hamsters carry snacks off to their stash; so keep the amount small.
• ✓ Use snacks for taming and to let your hamster forage in the bedding.

What will you find in the Snacks category?

Zooply Crickets, Grasshoppers and Silkworms

Hamsters are naturally omnivores and also eat insects in the wild. The dried insects from Zooply tie in with that. You can choose from Zooply Crickets (70 grams), Zooply Grasshoppers (50 grams) and Zooply Silkworms (150 grams). According to the product information, they are 100% dried without additives, sugar-free and packed in a resealable bag. Because they contain no sugar, they are a suitable reward for dwarf hamsters too. The smell makes them attractive: many hamsters quickly come to your hand for them. Give a few at a time, a few times a week. For a dwarf hamster, half an insect or one small one is already a generous reward.

Zooply enrichment bunches: Hare Field, Flower Field and more

The Zooply Fields are 85-gram bunches of green oats to eat and pull apart, topped up with pieces of millet spray. Each field has its own natural eye-catcher: a dried bunny tail grass in Hare Field, a daisy in Flower Field, sea lavender in Heath Field, strawflowers in Meadow Field, amaranth in Reed Field and statice in Dune Field. Push a bunch into the bedding or place it by a house or tunnel. Your hamster nibbles off the seeds, pulls the stalks apart and often uses the leftovers for its nest. That makes it eating, playing and furnishing all in one.

Zooply Millet Spray Pieces

Millet spray pieces are short stalks with seeds attached, in a 125-gram bag. Your hamster holds the stick and peels the seeds off itself. That takes effort and time, and that is exactly the point. Put a piece loose in the enclosure or push it halfway into the bedding.

Zooply Nibble Mix

Zooply Nibble Mix is a varied mix of seeds, grains and dried vegetables, among other things. Scatter a small amount through the bedding or mix it through the food for variety. There is a 200-gram bag, enough for one hamster, and a 2.5 kg bulk pack for those who have several animals.

Zooply Walnuts

Zooply Walnuts (150 grams, resealable) are a rich, nutritious nut. For a hamster, a small piece of walnut is already a real treat. Give it rarely and in very small pieces, especially if your hamster gains weight easily.

Chew sticks, chew rolls and crackers

The Zolux chew sticks come with oats, vegetables, carrot, beetroot, Jerusalem artichoke, peanut, plum and orange, among others. JR Farm has chew rolls, chew bars, a chew carrot and the chew marbles. From Trixie you will find Crackers with dandelion, carrot or beetroot, and from Flamingo the vegetable biscuits with carrot, pumpkin and parsley. You hang or place a chew stick or cracker in the enclosure, so your hamster can gnaw on it for a longer time. For a Syrian hamster, that is easily manageable. For a small dwarf hamster, many sticks are very large; it is better to give a small piece instead.

Grain-free snacks from JR Farm

JR Farm has an extensive grain-free range, including chew rolls with nettle and carrot, with dandelion and sunflower or with marigold and banana, the grain-free chew drops, mini hearts, lucky carrots, bonbons, chew sticks and the lucky quartet. Grain-free does not automatically mean sugar-free. So with a dwarf hamster, always check the ingredients and skip variants with fruit.

Hay and natural snacks

The JR Farm hay block with mealworms combines mountain meadow hay with mealworms. The JR Farm hay house with carrot is an edible house, and the Flamingo Tubez chew tunnels are edible tunnels made of mountain meadow hay. You will also find the Esve Pet Bouquets, bunches of grains, grasses and herbs, and the Esve Timothy hay rolls. Those last two are mainly made for rabbits and guinea pigs; they are large for a hamster, but a hamster is happy to use the hay as nesting material.

Enrichment snacks and fruity snacks

The JR Farm sniffing bush and the play wheel with snacks are designed for foraging and gnawing. The JR Farm corn cobs, the Trixie corn cob pieces and the Trixie grass growing kit also belong in this group. This category also contains snacks with fruit, such as the JR Farm fruit tree, fruit cake, fruit bites and chew bar with strawberry, the Trixie forest fruit drops and the Flamingo fruit bowl. These are only suitable for a Syrian hamster, and then only very occasionally. Never give them to a dwarf hamster.

Snacks for dwarf hamsters: choose sugar-free

Dwarf hamsters, especially the Campbell's and the Russian dwarf hamster, are sensitive to sugar. Fruit, dried fruit, sweet drops and snacks with honey or syrup therefore don't belong on their menu. Fortunately, there is plenty that is fine. Zooply Crickets, Grasshoppers and Silkworms are sugar-free. Millet spray and a Zooply Field also give your dwarf hamster a challenge without sugar. If you want to give herbs, choose herbs and flowers without fruit. Always give a dwarf hamster very small pieces. What is a bite for a Syrian hamster is a meal for a dwarf hamster.

How do you use snacks to tame your hamster?

In the evening, when your hamster is active of its own accord, sit quietly by the enclosure. Place your hand flat in the enclosure with a small piece of snack on your fingers. Let your hamster come to you. During the first few days, it may just grab the piece and run off. That is fine. After a while, it will step onto your hand to fetch it. During this period, don't keep picking your hamster up and never wake it for a reward. A dried insect often works well here, because the smell is strong.

Snacks as enrichment in the enclosure

In the wild, a hamster walks long distances every night in search of food. In an enclosure, most of that foraging disappears. With snacks, you bring it back. Hide an insect or a few seeds in the bedding, under a piece of cork or in a tunnel. Push a Zooply Field upright into the bedding, so your hamster has to climb to reach it. Or put millet spray in a different spot from the food bowl. Change the spot and the type regularly. That keeps it interesting for your hamster.

How many snacks can a hamster have?

Keep it small. A few insects or a small piece of chew stick at a time is enough, and not every snack every day. Hamsters love to carry snacks off to their stash. That doesn't mean they are hungry. If you give too much, a large stash builds up of mostly tasty things, and your hamster eats less of its regular food. If your hamster gets heavier or leaves its main food, stop giving snacks for a while. When cleaning, also check that there are no damp or mouldy snack leftovers in the stash.

Useful combinations

Snacks work best when the basics are right. These categories go with them:

• Hamster food: Zooply Syrian Hamster Food or Dwarf Hamster Food as the daily foundation.
• Dried herbs: Zooply herbs and flowers to mix through the food or hide.
• Gnawing wood: to gnaw on without it having to be food.
• Bedding: a thick layer to hide snacks in.
• Hamster scaping: cork, branches and hideaways to hide snacks between.

Frequently asked questions about hamster snacks

Which snack is most suitable for a dwarf hamster?

A sugar-free snack, such as Zooply Crickets, Grasshoppers or Silkworms. Millet spray and a Zooply Field are also suitable. Give very small pieces and leave out fruit, dried fruit and sweet drops altogether. If in doubt, read the ingredients: if they include fruit, honey or sugar, it is not for your dwarf hamster.

My hamster hides all its snacks. Is that a problem?

No, that is normal hamster behaviour. Your hamster builds up a stash for later. Do give smaller amounts, so the stash doesn't get too big. When cleaning, check that there is nothing damp or mouldy in it, and leave the rest of the stash in place.

How often can I give dried insects?

A few at a time, a few times a week, is plenty. Insects are rich in protein and a good supplement to the main food, but they are still a snack. If you feed Zooply Rodent Food with mealworms, your hamster already gets animal protein and you can be a bit more sparing.

Can a hamster have chew sticks with fruit or honey?

A Syrian hamster can have a small piece of a fruity snack very occasionally. A dwarf hamster can't, because dwarf hamsters are sensitive to sugar. For both, it is better to choose snacks with vegetables, herbs, seeds or insects. They give just as much enjoyment without the sugar.

My hamster no longer eats its food, only snacks. What now?

Stop all snacks for a week and give only the main food, in a measured portion. Only top up when the bowl is empty. After that you can give small rewards again. If your hamster doesn't eat its regular food either, or is lethargic and losing weight, contact a vet with rodent expertise.

Can I give snacks at any time of day?

Ideally give them in the evening, when your hamster is awake. During the day a hamster sleeps, and waking it for a snack causes stress. In the evening your hamster is curious and active, and that is also when a reward works best for taming.

Buying hamster snacks at Knaagplaza

At Knaagplaza, the webshop of 't Knaagplein, you will find snacks for Syrian hamsters and dwarf hamsters, with Zooply leading the way. Zooply is our own premium brand, and we use the insects, Fields and millet spray every day for our own hamsters. Give small amounts, give them in the evening and let your hamster forage. Then a snack becomes a real highlight of the night.