Foraging for forage!

[travellingbookworm]

Good evening,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience foraging or growing and drying their own herbs and flowers for their hamster?

We have lemon balm, camomile, bamboo and rosemary growing in our garden and live close to a woodland where we used to forage for our Guinea pigs (willow, hazel, cornflowers, dandelions, plantain etc).

It seems like most people opt to purchase sprays, herbs, dried flowers etc and I was wondering why just in case there’s a safety aspect with creating your own.

Tia for any advice.

 

[Maz]

It sounds a great idea. I sometimes used to use fresh parsley I'd grown - just a small leaf a week as a veg substitute. I think some herbs might be a bit aromatic for hamsters. @Daisy and @elusive (our food gurus) will have more information on what's safe

 

[Daisy]

I haven't ever foraged for things myself, mostly because I live in the city where there isn't much unpolluted greenery that I would feel comfortable feeding. If you can sure it's a safe plant and hasn't been sprayed with anything it should be fairly safe to feed after washing.

Some herbs/plants are quite strong. As long as it's not something that will actually burn (e.g chillis), it should be safe to feed in small quantities, though they might not like it.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Yes, they spray for oak processionary moth around here so I'm not keen to try foraging in London.

 

[Socks' Mum]

But I do envy people who can go out and gather fresh forage, they are lucky!

 

[elusive]

It does sound great, if you do have access to safe plants that you’re sure haven’t been sprayed then it should be fine to use those.
Lemon balm & chamomile are both fine & enjoyed by some hamsters but I wouldn’t give rosemary or anything else that is too strongly aromatic.

 

[SupremeOverlord]

I have started sowing wild dandelions seeds of my own from ones that I find outside to ensure that they grow without pesticides. I plan to use the flowers and leaves for my hamsters to devour, and perhaps even the roots for them to gnaw on! Dandelion grows quickly and I think it is an easy and rather accessible plant to grow, not to mention I can find use for them myself. It would be great to start a garden full of various plants that both my hamsters and I can enjoy!

I have heard of people boiling dandelion roots before giving them to their hamster to eliminate any chemicals or other dangerous substances... Do any of you know if this affects how much they will like them?

 

[Maz]

I have started sowing wild dandelions seeds of my own from ones that I find outside to ensure that they grow without pesticides. I plan to use the flowers and leaves for my hamsters to devour, and perhaps even the roots for them to gnaw on! Dandelion grows quickly and I think it is an easy and rather accessible plant to grow, not to mention I can find use for them myself. It would be great to start a garden full of various plants that both my hamsters and I can enjoy!

I have heard of people boiling dandelion roots before giving them to their hamster to eliminate any chemicals or other dangerous substances... Do any of you know if this affects how much they will like them?

Hi. That sounds a nice idea We get white clover growing in our front lawn and the hamsters love a bit of that. A word of caution though, depending where you live. Even if grown in your own garden without chemicals, petrol fumes can affect plants as well. So then they're not really that organic. Where we are is quite rural and that isn't an issue.

I assume the dandelion roots would need to be thoroughly dried after cleaning, and I'd have thought baking would be the best way to sterilise them. 100 degrees centigrade for 30 to 40 minutes is what most people do. It's enough to sterilise and anything longer than 45 minutes and they'd start to spoil.

I've only bought dandelion roots so am unsure how those have been sterilised but hamsters enjoy them anyway. Some people used to be cautious about the hamster having too much as it's a diuretic, but I've never had any issues, and it's good for their teeth.