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I thought I’d just say a bit about some of the extras & supplements I use or have used with the hams.
Evening primrose oil.
This is something that’s really good for coat & skin condition mainly, it can be given to hams of all ages & is compatible with pretty much all hamsters mixes.
It’s something I give to all my hams as a maintenance supplement but if you choose not to do that it can be especially beneficial with any conditions like itchy skin or hair loss or just loss of coat condition that may occur sometimes.
The ideal dose for a Russian or Chinese is half a drop a day, I would think a drop a day would be fine for Syrians.
Giving half a drop can be a bit difficult unless you’re using soft foods you can mix it with but the vet I originally discussed this with years ago said that giving a drop a day or every other day would also be fine.
When I’m not giving any soft foods I used to mix some up with some porridge oat flakes & keep it in the fridge giving them a few flakes a day.
With soft foods I just make enough porridge or whatever I’m using for two days & add one drop.
You can use the capsules & pierce them but it’s messy & wastes a lot so I buy one for dogs that comes in a dropper bottle, it is a bit expensive but lasts a long time & keeps well.
Flax seeds (linseed)
I expect most of you are already familiar with this one, giving a tiny pinch a day or using the sprays has lots of health benefits.
For skin & coat issues or maintenance flax is most beneficial given alongside EPO, they work together really well rather than just using one or the other.
Another supplementary food that I have always used is buckwheat, it has lots of macro & micro nutrients that can really boost health & I’ve found all but one of my hams has loved it.
I use it unshelled, it often looks like they haven’t eaten it until they realise they’ve left you lots of empty shells to tidy up! I also sprout it & give a few sprouts daily with veg.
I think this is compatible with all diets if you only give small amounts, unless of course your ham mix already contains, often the German mixes do.
Probiotics.
Probiotics can be very helpful in maintaining general health & immunity as well as being particularly beneficial if you have a ham on antibiotics or other meds.
Also useful at times of stress which could be anything from adjusting to a new home, vets visits or anything else that my cause an individual ham stress which can impact the immune system & probiotics can help to counteract that.
It’s really down to personal choice & which probiotic you use whether you give this for maintenance or just with meds or health problems.
The most widely available is ProC.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend giving this regularly as with the extra vitamin C it is aimed more at guinea pigs & rabbits rather than hamsters & it does also contain sugar (glucose or dextrose I think).
I know some people use Bene bac, I don’t have any personal experience with this one so can’t comment but do remember from looking at it that working out the dose can be a bit of a pain.
My personal choice is the Doctor Squiggles potent brew.
Potent brew
The dose is easy to work out, for a Russian hamsters it’s usually one or two drops but you can adjust it depending on the weight of your ham.
Maintenance is once a week but it can be given more frequently, I have even used it daily when on antibiotics or other meds.
Vitamins & minerals.
If you’re using one of the more natural (German type) mixes or even making your own I would recommend some additional vitamins but if you use a mix that has some vitamins added then be cautious or avoid them or only use if your ham is sick & this is something you could discuss with your vet.
Water soluble vitamins are normally easily excreted if there’s a bit too much in the diet but fat soluble vitamins tend to get stored & can be harmful.
I can really give any definitive times other than illness when you might want to add extra vitamins but I think many of us know when our hams just aren’t quite right or may need a bit of a boost & supplements can be useful then.
This is only my personal choice & not something I’m saying all hams should have.
For younger hams I use Doctor Squiggles Tiny Animal essentials.
easy to use, just the tiniest of pinches on dry or wet food.
Tiny animal essentials
For older hams which really depends on the individual but anything from 18 months to 2 years may be considered older I use Senior.
Senior
My routine for healthy hams is a teeny pinch of either of these five days a week, potent brew one day a week & I also use calcivet powder once a week too. This used to be available only as a liquid & the dose for a tiny ham was impossible to figure out & totally impractical but now it’s available in a powder form it’s easy to. use, as with the vitamins just a teeny pinch.
Calcivet
Dr S products are also available from Ratrations & probably other places too.
It’s hard to judge how beneficial or not some of these things are so I can only say that I’ve used most of these for years now with no ill effects & a general improvement in health so maybe something worth thinking about.
I’m a bit rusty these days & am pretty sure there are other natural foods & supplements I’ve recommended but can’t think off hand, probably come to me if someone asks a question a health issue arises but that’s all I can think of for now!
Hope that’s useful anyway.
Evening primrose oil.
This is something that’s really good for coat & skin condition mainly, it can be given to hams of all ages & is compatible with pretty much all hamsters mixes.
It’s something I give to all my hams as a maintenance supplement but if you choose not to do that it can be especially beneficial with any conditions like itchy skin or hair loss or just loss of coat condition that may occur sometimes.
The ideal dose for a Russian or Chinese is half a drop a day, I would think a drop a day would be fine for Syrians.
Giving half a drop can be a bit difficult unless you’re using soft foods you can mix it with but the vet I originally discussed this with years ago said that giving a drop a day or every other day would also be fine.
When I’m not giving any soft foods I used to mix some up with some porridge oat flakes & keep it in the fridge giving them a few flakes a day.
With soft foods I just make enough porridge or whatever I’m using for two days & add one drop.
You can use the capsules & pierce them but it’s messy & wastes a lot so I buy one for dogs that comes in a dropper bottle, it is a bit expensive but lasts a long time & keeps well.
Flax seeds (linseed)
I expect most of you are already familiar with this one, giving a tiny pinch a day or using the sprays has lots of health benefits.
For skin & coat issues or maintenance flax is most beneficial given alongside EPO, they work together really well rather than just using one or the other.
Another supplementary food that I have always used is buckwheat, it has lots of macro & micro nutrients that can really boost health & I’ve found all but one of my hams has loved it.
I use it unshelled, it often looks like they haven’t eaten it until they realise they’ve left you lots of empty shells to tidy up! I also sprout it & give a few sprouts daily with veg.
I think this is compatible with all diets if you only give small amounts, unless of course your ham mix already contains, often the German mixes do.
Probiotics.
Probiotics can be very helpful in maintaining general health & immunity as well as being particularly beneficial if you have a ham on antibiotics or other meds.
Also useful at times of stress which could be anything from adjusting to a new home, vets visits or anything else that my cause an individual ham stress which can impact the immune system & probiotics can help to counteract that.
It’s really down to personal choice & which probiotic you use whether you give this for maintenance or just with meds or health problems.
The most widely available is ProC.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend giving this regularly as with the extra vitamin C it is aimed more at guinea pigs & rabbits rather than hamsters & it does also contain sugar (glucose or dextrose I think).
I know some people use Bene bac, I don’t have any personal experience with this one so can’t comment but do remember from looking at it that working out the dose can be a bit of a pain.
My personal choice is the Doctor Squiggles potent brew.
Potent brew
The dose is easy to work out, for a Russian hamsters it’s usually one or two drops but you can adjust it depending on the weight of your ham.
Maintenance is once a week but it can be given more frequently, I have even used it daily when on antibiotics or other meds.
Vitamins & minerals.
If you’re using one of the more natural (German type) mixes or even making your own I would recommend some additional vitamins but if you use a mix that has some vitamins added then be cautious or avoid them or only use if your ham is sick & this is something you could discuss with your vet.
Water soluble vitamins are normally easily excreted if there’s a bit too much in the diet but fat soluble vitamins tend to get stored & can be harmful.
I can really give any definitive times other than illness when you might want to add extra vitamins but I think many of us know when our hams just aren’t quite right or may need a bit of a boost & supplements can be useful then.
This is only my personal choice & not something I’m saying all hams should have.
For younger hams I use Doctor Squiggles Tiny Animal essentials.
easy to use, just the tiniest of pinches on dry or wet food.
Tiny animal essentials
For older hams which really depends on the individual but anything from 18 months to 2 years may be considered older I use Senior.
Senior
My routine for healthy hams is a teeny pinch of either of these five days a week, potent brew one day a week & I also use calcivet powder once a week too. This used to be available only as a liquid & the dose for a tiny ham was impossible to figure out & totally impractical but now it’s available in a powder form it’s easy to. use, as with the vitamins just a teeny pinch.
Calcivet
Dr S products are also available from Ratrations & probably other places too.
It’s hard to judge how beneficial or not some of these things are so I can only say that I’ve used most of these for years now with no ill effects & a general improvement in health so maybe something worth thinking about.
I’m a bit rusty these days & am pretty sure there are other natural foods & supplements I’ve recommended but can’t think off hand, probably come to me if someone asks a question a health issue arises but that’s all I can think of for now!
Hope that’s useful anyway.
......................It has added vitamins.
. I used to call one of my hamsters a "little monkey". And someone else commented he would say "I'm not a monkey!"