Food

[Jain]

Has anyone here bought Pets at home brand small animal food muesli it says suitable for all hamster species or Tiny friends farm Harry Hamster tasty mix muesli both of these products are readily available. I'm currently buying Versele Laga but it's not sold locally and I don't want to order online so hoping the either of 2 above mentioned would be a good alternative.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Harry Hamster is better then the Pets at Home one. I would choose that.

 

[elusive]

Personally I don’t think the P@H is a good quality food, it doesn’t contain the seeds & grains that should make up most of their diet, the protein level isn’t too bad so in that sense it provides the major nutrients but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Harry Hamster is more suited to Syrians, some people do feed it to Russian hamsters but again personally I wouldn’t.
Can you get the Little ones food locally? It does seem to be available in some pet shops, it’s probably the best of the more readily available mixes.
It is difficult to get a good food mix without ordering online really.

 

[Daisy]

I'd agree that the PaH muesli is really very low quality and doesn't look very appetising. Dwarf hamsters do much better with a seed-based mix such as Little One, Bunny, Getzoo or Rodipet (the latter three only available online though).

I don't think Pets at Home stock Little One food but independent pet shops often do nowadays so it's worth checking. Even if they don't have any on the shelves, maybe they can order it in for you, especially if they stock other products in the Little One range.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I would not choose either of those mixes for a dwarf hamster either but just answered which I would choose out of the two listed. Sorry, I was not clear.

 

[Maz]

Agree with all the above. However if you can only get Harry Hamster, then you could supplement it with various seeds as treats - eg a pinch of them on a separate dish. You can get many of them at the shops - eg linseeds, hemp seeds. Holland and barrett sell both of those . The PAH mix is not very good really.

 

[Maz]

If you can get the Little One Mix locally you'll then need to supplement the protein as it's on the low side in that mix. Eg a bit of hard boiled egg a couple of times a week and something like freeze dried chicken. So you might find it simpler to use the Harry Hamster (which has the correct protein) and supplement seeds as treats instead.

 

[elusive]

Also if you are going to change to another mix do it gradually, introducing the new food slowly along with the current food for a week or so to allow Pete to adjust to the new diet.

 

[Frida]

Albert didn't like Harry Hamster very much.
He loves Little One mix for dwarfs. I buy it from a local independent shop.

 

[elusive]

Just in case you’re not familiar with the little one food or what to look for this is it.

Mealberry

Mealberry is a dynamic, fast growing producer that develops and manufactures high quality pet products in Germany

www.mealberry.com

 

[Maz]

It's actually really quite low in protein isn't it? 13.7%.

 

[elusive]

Yes it is but easy enough to supplement really.
It’s a good mix overall compared to many so I think it’s worth using.

 

[Maz]

If you do want to supplement with seeds I get these. They are an online purchase but it's not a regular purchase. Pip used to love them. It's a good mix of healthy seeds and you could scatter them for foraging. Just a few each time. The pot lasts for ages.

In case you can't get the Little One mix.

Rodipet – Innovation leben. Zukunft gestalten. Tiere verstehen.

 

[Jain]

Thank you for your input on this I think I will try to source Little One although I do give supplements already dried Meal worms, poppy seeds, linseed, pine nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds he also occasionally has egg white, chicken, beef, cheese and walnut in very tiny amounts so if the mix doesn't have much protein in it I could give him a few extras of these I struggle to know how much is too much because he loves them and he doesn't like a lot of things in the Versele mix hence another reason to consider change

 

[Jain]

Just in case you’re not familiar with the little one food or what to look for this is it.

Mealberry

Mealberry is a dynamic, fast growing producer that develops and manufactures high quality pet products in Germany

www.mealberry.com

Thank you

 

[elusive]

That sounds as though he’s getting quite a bit of protein with his extras so the little one should be fine with those.

 

[RainbowBrite]

It may be easier to order a complete mix online so you would not have to worry about supplementing it at all. I understand you may not wish to buy online though.

 

[Maz]

If you do decide to get one online, I used the Bunny Dream one from Vetsend

Bunny Nature Dwarf Hamster Dream Expert | Shop Now

Bunny Nature Dwarf Hamster Dream Expert is formulated specifically to correspond to the nutritional needs of dwarf hamsters. Shop online here!

www.vetsend.co.uk

 

[elusive]

Most mixes tend to be low in protein & need supplementing so it probably wouldn’t make a huge difference either way.

 

[Maz]

Good point. The Bunny Dream one has 15.5% protein.