10 Best Dwarf Hamster Foods — 2024 Reviews & Top Picks

Dwarf hamsters are among the smallest pets that you can keep, but their diet is just as important to get right as it is for larger animals. Deciding between pellets and seed mixes or a blend of the two is one of the most important choices that you’ll make.

Your dwarf hamster’s food needs to contain all the nutrients that their body needs, while being high quality and balanced to keep them healthy. These reviews include the pros and cons of the 10 best dwarf hamster foods to help you find the right one.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

The 10 Best Dwarf Hamster Foods

1. Sunseed Vita Prima Vitamin-Fortified With Essential Nutrients Dwarf Hamster Dry Food — Best Overall

Filled with seeds, dried fruit, and veggies, Sunseed Vita Prima Vitamin-Fortified With Essential Nutrients Dwarf Hamster Dry Food is nutritional and mimics a natural foraging diet. It contains vitamins A, D3, E, and B12 to support immune health and probiotics to promote gut health. The dry formula also provides a crunchy texture to help your dwarf hamster wear down their teeth.

Since the Sunseed Vita Prima is only available in 2-lb. bags, it is expensive compared to some other choices. If you’re looking for a diet specifically formulated for dwarf hamsters, though, this is our choice for the best overall dwarf hamster food, as it provides all the nutrients that they need.

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2. Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Gerbil & Hamster Food — Best Value

The best dwarf hamster food for the money is the Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Gerbil & Hamster Food. Formulated with probiotics, DHA, and omega-3, Kaytee Forti-Diet supports your hamster’s brain, heart, eyes, digestive system, skin, and coat.

This dry food contains a variety of seeds, grains, and wheat to provide a varied and balanced diet for your dwarf hamster. The selection also encourages your pet to forage as they eat, to help keep them mentally active.

Although the Kaytee Forti-Diet doesn’t contain artificial flavors, it does use artificial colors for a few of the more brightly colored foods in the mix. Some pet owners have found that the coloring turns their hamster’s poop green.

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3. White Mill PURE Hamster Food — Premium Choice

If you can stretch your budget, the White Mill PURE Hamster Food is one of our favorites. It’s not the cheapest option available, but it’s full of ingredients chosen specifically to benefit hamsters and support their health.

White Mill PURE relies on natural ingredients to ensure that your hamster gets a healthy, balanced diet that provides protein, vitamins, and prebiotics. The formula is a mixture of seeds, wheat, corn, and vegetables without artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. It also contains yucca to naturally fight bad odors. Dried worms are included in the recipe to provide a protein-rich food source that suits a hamster’s nutritional needs.

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4. Field+Forest by Kaytee Hamster & Gerbil Food

Made with natural ingredients, the Field+Forest by Kaytee Hamster & Gerbil Food is a healthy option to give to your dwarf hamster. The formula contains real grains, vegetables, herbs, and plant-based protein without any artificial preservatives or fillers.

Field+Forest caters to fussy hamsters by using pellets rather than a seed mix option. This ensures that your pet can’t dig through their food and only eat their favorite bits, helping them get all the nutrition that they need.

The pellets are on the large side, though, and some dwarf hamsters might find them too big to manage easily. Several hamsters have also hated the flavor of Field+Forest food and refused to eat it.

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5. Brown’s Tropical Carnival Gerbil & Hamster Food

Seed mixes like Brown’s Tropical Carnival Gerbil & Hamster Food are ideal for enriching your dwarf hamster’s diet by encouraging them to forage for their food. This mixture includes seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetables to provide balanced nutrition and offer plenty of variety for your hamster to enjoy. Fortified with vitamins, minerals, and beneficial bacteria, the formula supports your dwarf hamster’s nutritional needs and digestive health.

Brown’s Tropical Carnival is expensive but is still a good option if you can afford to stretch your budget. Although the formula is mostly based on seeds and dried food, the ZOO-vital biscuits do contain artificial colors, which some pet owners prefer to avoid.

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6. Wild Harvest Advanced Nutrition Complete & Balanced Diet Hamster & Gerbil Food

A great way to encourage your dwarf hamster to forage for their food and to make their diet more interesting is with Wild Harvest Advanced Nutrition Complete & Balanced Diet Hamster & Gerbil Food. It’s made with a blend of seeds, grains, and dried fruits and vegetables to give your dwarf hamster plenty of goodies to explore while they eat. The blend contains fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 to promote gut, immune, skin, and coat health.

Fussy dwarf hamsters have been known to only eat the sunflower seeds or their favorite bits from the mixture, so you’ll need to monitor them to make sure they get all the nutrition that they can from the food. Some dwarf hamster owners have also had issues with live bugs and moth larvae in the food, so remember to store it in a sealed container to retain freshness.

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7. Vitakraft Vita Smart Complete Nutrition Premium Fortified Blend With Added Vitamins Hamster Food

The Vitakraft Vita Smart Complete Nutrition Premium Fortified Blend With Added Vitamins Hamster Food is a blend of pellets, seeds, and dry food to provide a balanced diet. It’s full of nutrient-rich grains, antioxidants, omega-3, and vitamins A, E, and D to support immune, skin, and coat health.

Vitakraft is expensive and only available in small bags, though these can be resealed to retain freshness and ensure that the food lasts as long as possible.

Alfalfa is the first ingredient, which some hamsters might not enjoy eating as much as some other foods. Fussy hamsters have also been known to pick out their favorite seeds and leave the rest, making it difficult for you to properly manage their nutritional needs.

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8. Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Blend Gerbil & Hamster Food

Formulated with a range of seeds, grains, nuts, and dried fruit, the Higgins Sunburst Gourmet Blend Gerbil & Hamster Food is a great way to enrich your dwarf hamster’s meals. It encourages foraging and contains plenty of nutrients for your dwarf hamster’s health.

The DHA and omega oils support brain, eye, skin, and coat health, while the added probiotics support your hamster’s digestive system. Higgins Sunburst focuses on natural ingredients and flavors to provide a balanced diet without artificial additives.

With so many ingredients, some dwarf hamsters have been known to pick and choose what they eat, especially if they’re prone to being fussy about their food. Several pet owners have also noted that many of the seeds are small and difficult for their hamsters to hold as they eat.

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9. Tiny Friends Farm Hazel Hamster Food

If you’re looking for high-quality ingredients with no extra sugar to reduce the risk of obesity, the Tiny Friends Farm Hazel Hamster Food is a great option. It’s a food mix filled with a blend of seeds, dried fruit and veg, grains, and nuts to encourage foraging.

Although most of the ingredients are natural, artificial colors are added to give vibrancy to the biscuits contained in the recipe. But if you prefer an all-natural diet, Tiny Friends Farm isn’t the best choice. Also, some hamsters will dig through to find their favorite bits and leave the rest or refuse to eat it at all.

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10. Science Selective Complete Hamster Food

Rich in omega oils and fortified with vitamins and minerals, Science Selective Complete Hamster Food is a great way to keep your dwarf hamster healthy. This option contains natural ingredients and plenty of protein to support your hamster’s health, both inside and out. The pellets are formulated to be easy to digest and gentle on sensitive digestive systems.

While Science Selective is a great option, it has a few downsides. Some hamsters, particularly if they’re picky about what they eat, dislike the pellets and will refuse to eat them. The delivery can also cause the bags to arrive damaged or torn open, and the formula might be spoiled or unusable. Remember to reseal the bag or store it properly once it’s open to retain freshness.

Buyer’s Guide: Selecting the Best Dwarf Hamster Foods

All hamsters are individuals, so rather than trying every food on this list, you should pick and choose just a few based on what you know of your hamster’s preferences. If you’re a new hamster owner, keep in mind their nutritional needs and what makes a balanced diet.

This section will cover what you need to remember when buying food for your dwarf hamster.

What’s the Best Food for Dwarf Hamsters?

Every brand of hamster food is different, and not all of them will match the tastes of your hamster or be filled with high-quality ingredients. Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a new food brand to try.

Nutrients

The most essential part of any food is ensuring that it meets the nutritional needs of the one eating it. Dwarf hamsters have particular needs, and their natural pickiness about the foods that they eat can make ensuring that they get a balanced diet a struggle. You need to pay attention to their eating habits and ensure that their main diet consists of nutritionally balanced food.

High-quality hamster food available in pet stores will contain all the nutrients that your pet needs, and you just need to find the one that your hamster enjoys the most. You should also supplement their main diet with treats to give them an extra boost. That said, don’t let fruits and vegetables become the only things that your dwarf hamster eats.

Protein Content

While dwarf hamsters can’t live off protein alone, they do need plenty of it in their diet to keep them healthy. The best hamster foods will have a high protein content, usually between 15% and 25%. Commercial pellet diets are ideal for ensuring that your dwarf hamster gets plenty of protein. You can also give them occasional protein-rich treats, such as mealworms and small pieces of boiled or scrambled eggs.

Fruits and Veggies

Pellet diets contain all the nutrients that your dwarf hamster needs, but this doesn’t mean you can’t give them extra treats now and then. Small pieces of fresh fruits and veggies can be hidden in your hamster’s cage to encourage foraging—just remember to remove the uneaten pieces after an hour or so—and these can add vitamins and minerals to your pet’s diet. Seed mixes often contain dried fruit and vegetables and can liven up your hamster’s diet.

Healthy fruits and vegetables that you can give your dwarf hamster include:

Texture

A dwarf hamster’s teeth keep growing throughout their lifetime, so they need suitable opportunities to naturally wear down their teeth. Wooden chew toys and cardboard boxes are great options, but their food can help too. The crunchy, dry food in commercial pellets and seed mixes are ideal for helping your hamster manage their oral health, along with fresh, crunchy fruits and vegetables.

Should You Choose Pellets or a Seed Mix?

Pellets and seed mixes are the two main types of commercial food that are available for dwarf hamsters. Both have their pros and cons. A commercial pellet diet is the most recommended option, with seed mixes being used as a supplement. Sometimes, though, a balanced mix of the two is the best choice, so you should check with your vet.

A pellet diet is not that interesting, it’s the best choice if you want to make sure your hamster eats a nutritionally balanced meal and the proper hydration. A seed mix might encourage your hamster to forage for their food, but it also has the downside of letting the hamster pick and choose what they eat out of the mix. While some dwarf hamsters will eat the remaining seed mix after they’ve devoured their favorite pieces, others won’t touch the rest at all and won’t get enough nutrients.

Rather than choosing one food over the other, you can give your dwarf hamster a mix of pellets and seeds as part of a balanced diet. You’ll need to adjust the portions accordingly, but pellets can be supplemented with seed mixes, fresh fruit and vegetables, and protein treats like mealworms. This will ensure that your dwarf hamster gets all the nutrition that they needs and that their diet is interesting enough to keep their attention.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to dwarf hamster food, not all brands are created equal. That said, there are plenty that will meet all the nutritional needs of your dwarf hamster, and these reviews contain a few favorites to get you started.

Overall, the Sunseed Vita Prima is formulated solely for dwarf hamsters and is a great way to encourage foraging. Kaytee Forti-Diet is an affordable alternative that’s packed with vitamins and minerals, or you can spend a bit more for White Mill PURE with its blend of natural ingredients.

• See also: Homemade Hamster Treats (With Recipes)

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Featured Photo Credit: HASPhotos, Shutterstock