Porridge?

[annc]

Is it OK to give a little porridge to my Syrians? I wouldn't want to block their pouches.

[Holly]

Porridge is fine for hamsters and very much loved by most of them. Many show breeders give it 2-3 times a weeks to growing young hamsters and it's great for older hamsters as well. All mine get it once or twice a week, they seem to like it made with full fat milk though and some turn their noses up at even semi-skimmed!

[I_am_plankton]

Porridge is fine for hamsters and very much loved by most of them. Many show breeders give it 2-3 times a weeks to growing young hamsters and it's great for older hamsters as well. All mine get it once or twice a week, they seem to like it made with full fat milk though and some turn their noses up at even semi-skimmed!

That is what Chris Logsdail finds - she sometimes adds some cream in also and she says they hate it with anything less! I don't bother with Lactol, the boiling of the milk when I make the porridge I think dramatically reduces the lactose which is what many breeders also agree with.

[Holly]

Yes! It was Chris who told me that on Saturday at Bradford - and it wasn't until Saturday night when I gave mine their porridge made with green-top (as that was all we had) and over half of them left it that I realised mine are the same. I've got a carton of full fat in thre fridge now specially for the hams :wink:

[Spuds Mum]

I do use lactol, basically because we only drink skimmed milk, and I just put the porridge oats into a bowl, add a spoon of lactol, then add warm (not boiling) water. I think I would use the full fat milk if we could make use of the remains.

Ours love it, and it is one way that i can guarantee that my hams will actually come out at a reasonable time, by waving the porridge in front of their nest! :D

[Hanlou]

Ours love it, and it is one way that i can guarantee that my hams will actually come out at a reasonable time, by waving the porridge in front of their nest! :D

Herbert's just the same! He absolutely loves his lactol-porridge, bless him. I don't use boiling water to make it either, just warm (pre-boiled) water. :)

He fairly jumped out of John's arms into the cage the other day because he could smell his lactol! :lol:

[souffle]

We use the lactol too and I add a teaspoon of wheatgerm. I do use boiling water and let it cool or cool with cold water to a paste.

[Holly]

I did start giving it made with Lactol (and I use it for my babies) but after chatting to the breeders at Gatcombe last year and hearing that they make it with ordinary milk (apparently boiling the milk boils off the lactose content) I started using normal milk and mine seem to prefer it (maybe they got fed up of lactol rice pudding, lactol with breakfast cereal, lactol porridge, lactol and scrambled egg etc etc!).

[Basia]

I've always used ordinary milk for my adults and the babies. Jenny told me to when I got Chunky and Berry. She gives all of her hamsters bowls of milk to drink and they certainly looked well on it.
I still give my adults baby food as a treat as well as porridge, readybrek, rice pudding, cooked & raw vegetables, chicken, egg. Come to think of it, they eat better than us.

[annc]

I am getting less and less porridge - some for Milly and Poppy (adult ratties), some for Peanut and Snowy, now a little for Ratina - new baby rat!

[rolleyparnell]

talking about milk Lactol or whatever... I have 2 daughter allergic to milk, and we use Soya milk on everything.. You think soya milk be ok on hamsters??

why Lactol?? are they allergic to milk or lactose????

[Holly]

There is some debate about that to be honest - if you read some of the other forums there are a few (sometimes rather hysterical) posts about hamsters being lactose intolerant. However, many experienced breeders give them milk to drink with no problems and I tend to think the experienced breeders (like those who wrote Hamsterlopaedia) tend to know more than people I don't know writing on the internet (who may just be repeating stuff they've read on the internet!).

If it worries you you could boil the milk first as this, apparently, boils of the lactose content.

As for soya milk I've no idea - hopefully someone else can help!

[souffle]

Soya milk is fine for hamsters though they may prefer the taste of dairy milk. You can also give goats milk or ewes milk. We have used normal cows milk in the past with no problems but use lactol so we can use the tin before it goes out of date. :) I believe cows milk can cause tummy problems like bloating and diarrhoea if the hammy does not agree with it. Not sure about the boiling thing though as Lactose is a milk sugar and I cannot imagine it would actually go anywhere if boiled. I suppose it may break down or something but then why would lactose intolerant people just not boil their milk instead of a special diet if it did disappear when boiled? Lactol powder does not contain the cows milk lactose so is suitable for puppies kittens etc who cannot digest lactose.

[Holly]

I remember looking this up when Jean from Tristar told me about it - what I found was no conclusive evidence but there were several sites that stated there is some evidence that boiling or heating milk helps to break down the lactose sugars and helps digestion of them. Apparently there are a lot of people who are intolerant to the lactose in fresh milk but who can eat/drink it if cooked or heated - in mashed potato or quiche for example.

[rolleyparnell]

Mmmm.. I will use soya milk on hamsters 9not on them i meant on food!!) to see if they like it..

My children.. we dont "boiled" the cow milk, but however, they can eat in small amount - cheese sauce.. only tablespoon.. because it bee "heat treated".. the lactose is Milk sugar - hospital describe to me.. imagine COW milk lactose is 50p size.. when use in cooking.. it turn into 20p size..
lot of milk intolerance people can eat goat milk in small amount because lactose is 20p size. (Milk allergic cannot eat goat milk) does that help understand?? :shock:

[souffle]

Thanks for that so it would seem the heating does break down the lactose then. Interesting. I still have a large tin of lactol to use before September though :lol: :lol: :lol:

[rolleyparnell]

yes but not a lot!
it does not "remove" lactose just break it down to smaller bits

[souffle]

I think the answer must be for everyone to decide if they want to risk trying their hams on full milk. If the get the runs then they must stop using it immediatly. I imagine it is like starch and glucose, all carbohydrates but glucose has the short chain and is easily absorbed and digested but starch is complex. If a hamster is intolerant then he is likely to be so boiled or not!

[annc]

I use OatSoSimple, made with water. They sometimes have a little soya milk.