Currently available Hamster mixes

[elusive]

Not so sure about that dwarf mix, I don’t give mine dried pulses, I know the bunny one had mung beans in but they never ate that & lentils aren’t usually included in mixes for dwarf hams so not so sure.
Also don’t really like the idea of having freeze dried chicken in the mix, some can go off & could get a bit nasty if hoarded. I do give dried chicken but aft past experience only brands I trust & I give it separately & usually see them eat it rather than hoard it, maybe that’s just me though.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Not so sure about that dwarf mix, I don’t give mine dried pulses, I know the bunny one had mung beans in but they never ate that & lentils aren’t usually included in mixes for dwarf hams so not so sure.
Also don’t really like the idea of having freeze dried chicken in the mix, some can go off & could get a bit nasty if hoarded. I do give dried chicken but aft past experience only brands I trust & I give it separately & usually see them eat it rather than hoard it, maybe that’s just me though.

I do the same. Orko has freeze dried chicken. I did find one piece he hoarded but it actually looked fine.

 

[Member ID2]

I don't buy food from etsy. I know i'm old fashioned but i don't trust etsy or ebay. Anybody can sell anything.

 

[Member ID2]

Isn't Pedigree dog food? That's the distributor of the dwarf hamster mix i bought today.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Isn't Pedigree dog food? That's the distributor of the dwarf hamster mix i bought today.

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It is but most pet foods are sold by one brand. Mars seems to sell tons of pet food from what I can see too.

Just checked and that company sell cat, dog, small animal food.

 

[elusive]

Pedigree is dog food but with these huge companies it’s hard to know who owns what.
I feel pretty much the same about ebay & etsy.

 

[Maz]

Not so sure about that dwarf mix, I don’t give mine dried pulses, I know the bunny one had mung beans in but they never ate that & lentils aren’t usually included in mixes for dwarf hams so not so sure.
Also don’t really like the idea of having freeze dried chicken in the mix, some can go off & could get a bit nasty if hoarded. I do give dried chicken but aft past experience only brands I trust & I give it separately & usually see them eat it rather than hoard it, maybe that’s just me though.

I wondered about that. Presumably the bag would have a shelf life as I have also found freeze dried chicken can smell off after a while when the bag is opened. I stopped bothering with it partly for that reason.

I like the sound of the organic Syrian one though (not the Bear's Hamsters one) and will try it. But will add some science selective pellets. The Bear's Hamsters Syrian one says he/she decided to make their own mix after the hamster got Cushings and shows before and after photos.

Seems mixerama are an advertising place for Etsy sellers now then. I wonder if they approve the mixes before linking them on their site.

 

[Maz]

I don't buy food from etsy. I know i'm old fashioned but i don't trust etsy or ebay. Anybody can sell anything.

It looks like Pedigree are just the distributor for the German production company - I can't see there would be two hamster products with the same name and same packaging. ie Pedigree import it and distribute it.

I also agree that it's best to stick with valid manufacturer products. I've gone with my instincts on this organic one and will see what it's like. I certainly wouldn't buy home made hamster mix from ebay!

It occurred to me that these independent mixes may be using mixerama ingredients to build their own mix - hence the link.

 

[elusive]

I had so many problems with dried chicken way back I’ve been using Lily’s kitchen puppy treats for a long time now & no problems at all so stuck with it.

You could be right about Miixerama linking to hamster mixes that use their products, it does seem a bit odd otherwise.

 

[Riven]

Thought on the lentils, while high in protein they contain a lot of fibre and can cause bloating and tummy upset if eaten too much.

Also the difference between Timothy and alfalfa is Timothy is a grass hay and alfalfa is a legume (related to beans and peas etc). It's much higher in protein and calcium than grass hay.

 

[elusive]

I think about the environment dwarf hams live in in the wild & the foods naturally available to them, seeds, grains, shoots & roots & find it hard to imagine anything that would be close to legumes like lentils so doubt they would have evolved with a digestive system able to cope with them easily,.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I had so many problems with dried chicken way back I’ve been using Lily’s kitchen puppy treats for a long time now & no problems at all so stuck with it.

You could be right about Miixerama linking to hamster mixes that use their products, it does seem a bit odd otherwise.

Are these the treats you use? The ingredients look safe for hamsters to me but I wanted to make sure.

Chicken & Turkey Nibbles Puppy Treats

Let the training begin! Packed full of lip-lickingly delicious, proper meat, your pup will be doing all their tricks in no time thanks to these nibbles!

www.lilyskitchen.co.uk

 

[elusive]

Yes, those are the ones.

 

[Maz]

I think about the environment dwarf hams live in in the wild & the foods naturally available to them, seeds, grains, shoots & roots & find it hard to imagine anything that would be close to legumes like lentils so doubt they would have evolved with a digestive system able to cope with them easily,.

That is a good point. Grains may be normal for Syrians but dwarf hamsters natural diet is supposed to be more seeds and insects isn’t it? Of course they will sometimes eat anything! Especially if it’s sugar related! Sugar must be addictive. Doesn’t mean it’s good for them.

 

[Maz]

I would think raw lentils are very hard on teeth to bite. Harder than raw pasta. Hamsters tend to leave things if they can’t eat them though. But good point about the protein - I think vegetarians use them as a meat substitute.

 

[elusive]

Yes they do tend to leave things & probably have good instincts on what to eat or not eat (on the whole!) if good food is available.
I know when I used to use the Bunny dream one that had mung beans in no one ate them.
This vegetarian eats lots of lentils though!

 

[Maz]

Is it that dwarf mix that has the lentils in? I guess the danger of them being left might mean the hamster doesn’t get the correct level of protein if they’re in there as a protein source so I would think with any non commercial mix, something like science selective pellets should be included as well - that contain the vitamins and protein levels needed.

 

[elusive]

Mine would never eat any kind of pellets.
I think there’s often a certain amount of trying to balance things if there are things they won’t eat, that was one of the things I liked about making my own mix, it was easy to change things if something didn’t work for them.

 

[Maz]

Maybe that’s where Syrians are different. I’ve never known a Syrian not like science selective - I think it smells of gravy Haven’t tried it with robos yet. Or it could just be individual I guess.

If any new or inexperienced members are reading this - it takes a lot of experience to make your own mix and it’s safer to get a commercial mix if you don’t have that experience - to avoid illness from nutritional imbalance.

In a way these “home made” for sale mixes are more a foraging mix for scattering to supplement a commercial mix.

 

[Member ID2]

I also bought a bag of the Syrian mix for a bit of variety to feed with the Harry Hamster.