On this page, we introduce the amount of food for the Golden(Syrian) hamster, complete with pictures.
We have compiled information that may be useful in determining the appropriate amount of food for those who ‘don’t have a measuring device at hand’, ‘are new to hamster ownership and unsure about the right amount of food’, or ‘have noticed their hamster gaining weight’ recently.
Please refer to the following article for information on the amount of food for Djungarian hamsters.
How to determine the amount of food
The amount of food is determined based on the weight of the hamster.
It is said that the appropriate amount of food to give per day is 5-10% of the hamster’s weight.
The average weight of a typical Golden Hamster is around 85g to 130g for males, and 95g to 150g for females.
Excluding baby hamsters, the average weight ranges from 120g to 140g (approximately 130g), so the appropriate amount of feed would be around ‘6.5g to 13g‘ according to these calculations.
（130g×5%=6.5g、130g×10%=13g）
The Reference images of the amount of food for a Golden hamster
In the following, I will provide an image that serves as a guideline for the amount of food for a typical Golden hamster.
In case of only providing pellets
First, I measured the daily amount of feed when only pellets are given.
One grain of this size weighs approximately 1g.
The range of the amount of feed given in a day, 6.5 to 13g, is roughly this much.”
In case of providing mixed foods
I think there are many people who primarily feed their hamsters a ‘mixed food’ consisting of seeds, dried vegetables, and pellets, so I measured it.
In case of providing mixing pellets with treats
Here are the reference images for when you’re mixing pellets and other foods (treats).
It’s recommended to keep the proportion of non-pellet food around 10%.
Summary
We have presented, with images, how much the typical amount of food, ‘6.5~13g’, given to a Golden hamster in a day looks like.
Overfeeding hamsters can lead to obesity and illness, so let’s manage their diet properly!
