What is everyone's preferred hamster mix?

[sarah]

Hi I was just wondering what hamster food people prefer to buy from the petshop (not treats) and why.



I started using Supa Hamster (in the yellow bag) as I liked the variety it contained including banana chips. Now that my first bag has ran out I'm trying Harry hamster (green bag) as I hear it contains stuff that aids and promotes healthy digestion. It doesn't seem as varied though. What does everybody else think?

[SnuggleHam]

I certainly dont buy anymore Hartz products! This should be a helpfull threat for me though! I like to mix my hamsters diet up a bit, I feed lab blocks, but I also like to feed some seed to mix things up a bit and provide a bit of cage enrichment....



So Im going to have to find another good hamster feed mix, one thats recomended,



But for part of the record.. and to answer the question here, The main feed I give is Kaytee Forti- Diet Mouse rat and hamster food (lab blocks) Come to think of it.. Kaytee has been a pretty good brand! I by Kaytee Aspen shavings all the time. As well as kaytee bird feeds for Houdini my lovebird, I have no complaints about them!

[babyboos]

Sorry Candace but please check your Kaytee bags carefully. Do you remember this thread?

Please be aware of ethoxyquin and BHA (http://www.hamstercentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=154)

I recommend and use Harry Hamster (Hazel Hamster in USA). The banana chips can be purchased seperately and are a treat not an everyday nutritional necessity, in fact I would say they are too sugary for everyday. Hamsters are grain and protein (meat), not fruit eaters in the wild. I used to use Burgess Pellet Free (Purple Bag) but they stopped doing it, and the Yellow Bag just had too many pellets in it, and was too sweet for Russian Dwarf Hamsters who are susceptible to diabetes.

The prebiotics in Harry Hamster are really important to hamsters health. I have never had a case of Wet Tail whilst using it, in hamsters I have bred or brought into the hamstery. Of course I also use AviPro Plus and wheatgerm with my babies which I am positive does help.

[pophammy]

We always use Harry hamster. The hams love to shell the peanuts and the pumpkin seed are popular too. And there are not many of those black stick things either! None of our hams ever eat them! Does anyone else find this? We also like the fact that it contains probiotics.

[PJ]

I've just had to switch my lot from Harry to Burgess Supa Hamster I had Campbells going on starvation diets refusing to touch the Harry. Since the switch they have started eating all the food again. I do like Harry Hamster and the prebiotics but for some reason they would rather have Burgess. I mixed in the Harry with the Supa Hamster and they are leaving the bits of Harry Hamster and eating the Burgess .. I don't understand it but at least they are eating now.

[SnuggleHam]

Sorry Candace but please check your Kaytee bags carefully. Do you remember this thread?

Please be aware of ethoxyquin and BHA (http://www.hamstercentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=154)



I just checked the bag and it does list ethoxyquin, in brackets says (a preservative) It a lab block mix.. it doesn’t say anything like bananas in it.. Meh.. I just bought a new bag of this stuff too!



So..Hazel Hamster is a US brand name huh? I'll have to look it up.. and it doesn't contain any preservatives at all? I’m not sure I have ever seen this brand in the pet stores I shop in? So Ill go and look it up now.



Damn hamster feeds, Everyone says this or that is bad in a hamster mix, how are you to know who's right and who's wrong and what is a good brand and what isn't!



Well I suppose if my hubby wont let me eat many things with preservatives then he wont expect my hamsters to either.

[SnuggleHam]

~~~~~~~~~~

Supreme Pet Foods Harry Hamster Food



This superior blend of premium ingredients like alfalfa, flaked corn and beans, soybean meal, sunflower seeds, peanuts, and (poultry by-product meal) delivers a complete and balanced diet that's fortified with essential vitamins and minerals. Encourages your hamster's natural foraging behavior while keeping him fit and healthy.

~~~~~~~~~~~



Poultry by-product meal?? Is that healthy for the hamsters? They don’t eat chickens in the wild. I understand they are Omnivorous, eating bugs and what not. But how do hamster owners feel about feeing their hamsters the by-products of chickens?



And what sorts of medication and feed were they feeding to the chickens that are now in the hamster food? They sell this food on both the Petco and PetsMart website so I'm sure it's in the store.. So it is available to me.

[babyboos]

I doubt they eat over 75% of the things we feed them in the wild to be honest. In their natural habitat hamsters eat a range of grasses, wind-blown seeds and grain. Hamsters are often mistaken as herbivores, but they are omnivores and do need protein in their diet to keep them healthy. Left alone in the wild, they will find grubs and insects to supplement their diet. The bulk of their diet is cereals and other hard foods which are chewed and digested slowly.

Poultry is white meat and I would rather they have this than red meat. Hamsters naturally harbour samonella (in their gut - and E.Coli too :twisted: ) just like chickens which is a reason we should always wash our hands thoroughly before and after touching them. It is a good source of protein. I always aim for well over 16% daily in total, including treats.

You could make up our own if you are really concerned? I believe Emma was working on a make-your-own recipe? It would be interesting to see how she got on.

For me the conveneince of having it all in one bag is the over-riding factor. Once upon a time I used to buy made-up mix from a small local petshop at 88p per kilo, but they stopped making it and now use Amos Hamster Food which is very like Burgess (banana chips and all). I do find hamsters tend to prefer Burgess over Harry but I think that may be due to the fact it is sweeter. Like humans they love their simple carbohydrates even if they aren't that healthy for them. There does seem to be a lot of pellets in Burgess which was why I always got the no pellet version when it was produced. If they brought it back I may consider a half-and-half mix to keep up the probiotic side, as adding it seperatly through AviPro Plus can get very expensive on a daily basis.

I spoke with Burgess many times and they have no intention to bring it back which seems daft you ask anyone and any hamster I will bet 9/10 will say no pellets please :oops: :wink:

Burgess Supa Hamster is a complete, nutritionally balanced mix for hamsters and is also ideal for gerbils. Because it has a wide variety of ingredients including banana flakes, Supa Hamster provides essential vitamins, proteins, fats, minerals and carbohydrates. Extruded pieces healp prevent tooth malocclusion.



Supa Hamster contains no whole oats, this is to protect the sensitive cheek pouches and prevent puncturing.



Ingredients - Flaked peas, grass pellets, extruded biscuits, flaked maize, flaked wheat, whole wheat, sunflower seeds, peanuts, oil and banana flakes.



Nutritional Analysis - Protein 14.0%, Oil 6.5%, Ash 5.5%, Fibre 10.0%, Vitamins A, D3, E and Copper.



Supa Hamster is available in 1kg bags and 15kg sacks.



http://www.burgesssupafeeds.co.uk/Images/supahamcomp.gif



http://www.burgesssupafeeds.co.uk/Images/supahampellet.gif



Burgess Supa Hamster Pellet Free is a complete, nutritionally balanced mix for hamsters and is also ideal for gerbils. Because it has a wide variety of ingredients including real banana flakes, Supa Hamster Pellet Free provides essential vitamins, proteins, fats, minerals and carbohydrates but without the pellets that many hamsters leave behind. Extruded pieces help prevent tooth malocclusion.



Supa Hamster Pellet Free contains no whole oats, this is to protect the sensitive cheek pouches and prevent puncturing.



Ingredients - Flaked maize, flaked peas, extruded biscuits, beetpulp shreds, soya flakes, sunflower seeds, whole wheat, wheat flakes, flaked beans, peanuts, oil and banana flakes.



Nutritional Analysis - Protein 14.5%, Oil 9.0%, Ash 5.0%, Fibre 8.0%, Vitamins A, D3, E and Copper.

..............................

It was even higher in protein though still a little on the light side for hamsters I would say.



Harry Hamster is rich in protein (17%) and oil (6.5%) to suit a hamster's high metabolic rate. Oh and it is the only hamster food approved by the National Hamster Council. I am NOT on commission incidently :wink:

[SnuggleHam]

This is what they have listed on the PetsMart website..

Supreme Diet Mix for Hamsters



http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/large/October04/lg_55735_3ea09.jpg





Petco has..



Supreme Pet Foods Harry Hamster Food

http://www.petco.com/Assets/product_images/3%5C3058210009B.jpg





Im not sure if both these are made by the same food company?

[babyboos]

Yes the packaging is changing at the moment again I believe. Always check the back and the manufacturer should say Supreme. Harry Hamster is a trademark name so hopefully you wont find any imposters :evil: If anyone is interested they can phone Burgess and complain about taking the No Pellet version off sale 0800413969 and call Supreme to ask for Harry Hamster to be made in a mono-diet formula to stop any possible selective feeding 02392369000. They have introduced mono-diet guinea pig and rabbit food so far, so fingers crossed...

[littlemissdwarfhamster]

My staple diet is Burgess Supa Hamster (yellow bag). They seem to love it. They get other bits mixed in but this is the main hamster food. They will not eat Harry Hamster. And I add my own probiotics anyway.

[Emma]

My staple diet is Harry Hamster at the moment - I used to use Burgess, but now choose Harry for the prebiotic compnonent. They have banana chips as treats a few times a week, which was the main plus point of the Burgess!



I would LOVE a pellet-free mix. None of them eat the pellets, and even if they did they would provide no nutrition - they're ideal for herbivorous animals but hamsters are omnivorous and don't require the high fibre that guinea-pigs etc do!



I make up my own rat mix based on the Shunamite diet (see http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/diet.html) using a pellet-free rabbit mix, pasta, cereals and dog kibble. I did consider making a similar mix for the hammies, but decided against it as they're happy on the HH and it does have the bonus of the prebiotic, hams being the sensitive souls that they are.

[sarah]

I've decided to switch to the harry hamster- i like the fact it contains the probiotics andTinker seems to like most of its ingredients.

[SnuggleHam]

Well.. I made my way out to PetSmart today and bought a new bag of Aspen bedding and two bags of Supreme Diet Mix for Hamsters by Hazel Hamster! Wow $5.29 each for a two pound bag! It seems like a bit! But I guess you gotta pay some extra cash for the good stuff!



I put some in Gerald’s food bowl and he came right over and literally hopped inside the small bowl and filled his pouches! I’m so glad I found something that’s healthy and natural. Makes me feel better as a hamster owner heh



I have yet to see the Robo nibble on some, but I’m sure he will love it too!



http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/standard/October04/55735_3ea93.jpg



Babyboos, a question.. you said "The probiotics in Harry Hamster are really important to hamsters health" what in the hamster food is thought to be probiotic? My product doesnt day Harry hamster, but I belive you told me it the same product just new packaging?

[Emma]

It's prebiotic, not probiotic that HH contains.



Probiotic = friendly bacteria, like AviPro, Protexin, BeneBac



Prebiotic = food for the friendly bacteria already in the gut.



I don't have a packet to hand (I empty mine into a plastic container) but it will probably be something like inulin or another fructo-oligosaccharide - basically substances which the good bacteria can eat thus keeping the gut happy.

[SnuggleHam]

Thanks Emma, I did find inulin on the back of the bag :)

[babyboos]

Has anyone tried Amos Hamster Mix? It seems to be very like Burgess Supa Hamster (Yellow Bag) with banana chips and peanuts but these are both in their shells, plus loose, and has locust beans too.

I doubt they eat over 75% of the things we feed them in the wild to be honest.

"doubt" is the basis to everything we know about this subject.

[Skwee]

I bought one bag of Burgess Hamster Food (yellow bag) and ended up binning it before using it! Ok so all the hamster foods have loads of colourings in but when the food has so much colouring that it is practically glowing it made be doubt how healthy it was, besides that the mix was mainly made up of banana chips, peanuts and sunflower seeds!



Right now after using so many different brands for my hams, i make my own kind of :roll: i mix up a huge bucketfull and sell some of it to a few people in my village with hamsters... i use:



-1 bag of harry hamster

-1 bag P@H Hamster Musli (is mainly flakes! tiny ammount of corn and pellets, very few fatty seeds etc)



then i add whatever needs to be added to make the mix better. not all at once but some things i add (for the organic shop too!!) are:



-red or green lentils

-plain rice puffs

-split peas

-various seeds if the bags i got lacked in them...



stuff like that, i just judge by the look of it, not how much i add to it mainly.



Oh yes, not to mention 'rat nuggets' from P@H. their food is actually very impressive and it surprised me because i have always had a grudge against them... but their own brands seem a lot better than most!



i also add individual food to each personal hamster mix depending on the hammy who gets it, like there is one ham in the village that always looks scrawny so he gets a few extra peanuts and the odd cat biscuit.

[souffle]

The problem with the P@H hamster food is the added sugar which is not good for hamsters. Saying that you seem to dilute it so much with other goodies it sounds good.

[Emma]

I was about to say P@H food has added sugar - makes no sense to me why they would do that.



If you're going to make up your own mix, I would reccomend that you read up on hamster nutritional requirements (texts are available on the internet relating to findings from laboratory animals), and then formulate your diet from there. It is easy enough to look up the nutritional content of each food you include in the diet, and work out the proportions. It just takes time!!! I think it's very important that animals get the right nutrition, and if you're just mixing things togther ad hoc there is a danger that the diet could be deficient in some areas.



I would also strongly advise against feeding any kind of uncooked pea or bean, as they can contain substances known as 'anti-nutritional factors' - things which at there best reduce the nutritional value of a food, and at worse can be very toxic.



I do think an understanding of nutrition is required to formulate a homemade diet.

[nooboo]

i do bbasically the same thing make up a huge big bin of food, i use a mixture of jollys rasberry hamster mix and a all inclusive hamster kibble as a base, and add different seads, oats, extra flat peas and sweetcorn, fruit ved, u name it to it



even some puppy biscuits at times!

[Skwee]

check back here tomorrow lol :lol: but i have the name of a fantastic book that has recipes for all kinds of rodent mixes for all different stages of life etc. Its an amazing book! most of our mixes are based on that! Was given to us by a breeder for our rats but the hamster mixes are not very different and are good too.

[nooboo]

ohhh sounds like a good read i await all interested.



i have to admit that my mixes are more on approx amounts and when it looks right and i know i am rather protein high, need to put a few more carbs and fibers in really

[Skwee]

yea, i generally change what i put in the mixes depending on who's getting it, we have 4 syrian hamster mixes + plus my one for Moo.



-baby hammy mix

-pregnant hammy mix (higher in protein etc)

-diet hammy mix (not much usefull in it)

-normal hammy mix





not to mention the same again for rats, dwarf hammies, sugar free diets for lemmings, degus and chinchillas. different foods for different birds we have etc...



Hence why it's easier to buy great big sacks of all the different feeds and make our own mixes!! :wink:

[Pendragon]

I bought one bag of Burgess Hamster Food (yellow bag) and ended up binning it before using it!

---snip---

-1 bag of harry hamster

-1 bag P@H Hamster Musli (is mainly flakes! tiny ammount of corn and pellets, very few fatty seeds etc)



I guess you aren't aware that Burgess make all the P@H foods then??!!



Recently I've been using Wilkinson's cheapo hamster food and to be honest, it's pretty good. It has more of the things hamsters actually like eating... oats, barley flakes, maize flakes etc, and fewer peanuts & sunflower seeds. But mine also get a lot of different things in addition - including chicken bones occasionally, Purina Salmon & Fish cat biscuits, dried baked bread, cooked pasta if I have that for myself.



I was using Burgess hamster mix but wasn't 100% satisfied with how they seemed to be eating it (or not). I can only get small bags of Harry Hamster locally and it's twice the price.



The trouble is so little is known about Syrians in the wild that a good hamster mix can be hard to formulate. But mine do go for plain cereals and grains more than the coloured "biscuit" things and other odd bits they put in the food. But I have read that they inhabit grain frields etc in Syria so grains and seeds should be a good part of the diet, as they would be able to eat wild grains & seeds as well.



In defence of Burgess, I have to say their Supa Rat food is the best rat food I've ever used for my rats... no pellets and they do eat it all up, leaving only a few oat husks.



Making your own homemade diet is - as others have said - fraught with difficulties, and it's not like the old days when you could go into an old-fashioned pet shop & buy things like crushed oats, flaked maize, barley flakes, groats and kibbled wheat by the pound. Unless you live near a Jollyes (which I don't) but then I worry about the freshness of some of their loose grains as they aren't kept in airtight containers and you don't know how fast the turnover is.

[Skwee]

Forgot to mention as well.... we want a bloomin nu free guaranteed feed!!! grrrr.



Not for the hamsters sakes.. but for my friend, she has to use think gloved when handling the food or cups and stuff because she is so allergic to nuts. If she has a cut on her hand and touches a nut... well.. she'd die. :(



I wasn't aware Burgess made the P@H food. No wonder the sugar levels are so high then :roll:

[Pendragon]

If you're going to make up your own mix, I would reccomend that you read up on hamster nutritional requirements (texts are available on the internet relating to findings from laboratory animals)



Hmmm.... do you have any URL's? I've been Googling all over the place and can't find much, apart from the oft-quoted "feed a rodent laboratory forumla" which isn't much help.



I have an old UFAW handbook which details some nutritional requirements but I'd rather get a better overview... preferably one a bit more up-to-date since mine quotes studies done in the 1950s and 60s.



The other part is, of course, that when you start looking at the protein content of various foods that often just lists crude protein not digestible protein levels... which are different.



I can get rat & mouse lab cubes which are probably suitable but haven't given much thought to trying them on my hamsters, mainly as they were just stashed when I gave them a few to see what they'd do with them!

[nooboo]

thank god i have a jolleys down the road is all i can say!

[Emma]

If you're going to make up your own mix, I would reccomend that you read up on hamster nutritional requirements (texts are available on the internet relating to findings from laboratory animals)



Hmmm.... do you have any URL's? I've been Googling all over the place and can't find much, apart from the oft-quoted "feed a rodent laboratory forumla" which isn't much help.





http://www.nap.edu/books/0309051266/html/125.html



This is the main one I was thinking of - provides a pretty good overview of what is known (bearing in mind it is now 10 years old) and provides references to each study so you can read up further if you are so inclined and have the time - I haven't found the time amongst everything else.

[Skwee]

The Scuttling Gourmet - Alison Campbell.



Thats the one im thinking of, its mainly based of rats but does have other rodents in it too. Is a very interesting ready and fun too!

[i-love-paddy]

I use Tesco Hamster Mix -not the basic value bag. I do mix Harry Hmaster into it as well.



Is Tesco's one ok? Ive been using it for nearly 1 year and no probs so far.



I get confused with Harry Hmaster-there are so many different bags-which is the best one?

[Skwee]

I have used the tescos mix as a base mix before. There is just nothing in it :lol: seriously nothing interesting but locust beans and flakes and pellets.



What do you mean confused with the Harry Hamster? It's the most commonly sold one in most places amd petshops i think...

[i-love-paddy]

it seems to come in different coloured packaging-unless its just me.



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/maknowey12/harryham1.gif



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/maknowey12/harry22.jpg



youre going to say its the same ingredients arent you? :oops: :oops:



Just wondering-a 15kg bag is between £14-17.can anyone get it cheaper? ive been buying small bags which just dont last

[Emma]

The Scuttling Gourmet - Alison Campbell.



Thats the one im thinking of, its mainly based of rats but does have other rodents in it too. Is a very interesting ready and fun too!



Erm, my copy is only about rats! Alison is a brilliant rat breeder and the Shunamite Diet for rats detailed in the SG is very good (my boys are on it) - on constant development though, even since the most recent addition (2nd) she has mad further recommendations about what exact cereals are best etc (I usually use weetabix, kashi and whole earth cornflakes). But she is a rat breeder, incredibly knowlegable about rats but AFAIK dshe doesn'c claim any expertise with hamsters. The SG is a great book, a lot of work has gone into it, it' be brilliant if someone did similar work on a hamster diet bus AFAIK noone has.



Never seen white bags of HH before! I usually buy the green bags. You also see clear bags that are repackaged from larger sacks - these tend to not have a representative mix of the feed in though, i try to avoid them.

[/u]

[Skwee]

Darn! :roll: i can't for the life of me remember what the name of the book was then :shock:



I just named that one as i remembered it because it was the last book i read. *sigh*



I've only seen the greed/clear bags of Harry Hamster.



I will only buy the clear bags of Harry Hamster but thats because its from my local petshop where i worked and i know he doesnt leave bags of it open because i commented on how fantastic it was that the food was kept fresh once when i was working their... soon got his act together :wink: plus with HH each batch seems to be slightly different and i like to be able to see whats in the hamster food!

[hamsterman]

:) Has anybody used the Pets@Home Premium hamster muesli food? if so what do you, and of course your hamsters think of it? I can't see sugar on the ingredients (unlike the ordinary Pets@Home muesli). It also states that the soya is non GM.

[souffle]

Never tried that one Hamsterman. Do your hammies like it? The problem with the original was the sugar added so if this has none it may be a better buy. What are the other contents, protein levels like?

[hamsterman]

Ingredients as follows... Extruded Biscuits (wheat, oat feed, non GM soya), toasted maize flakes, toasted soya flakes, rabbit pellets, (oat feed, wheatfeed,sunflower,grass, molasses, vegetable fat), toasted oat flakes, whole peas, whole maize, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (min 2.5%) brazil nuts (min 2.5%) banana flakes (min 2.5%) poultry fat, dried grass, minerals and vitamins, rice, chicken meal.
Protein: 16.5%, oils and fats 7%, fibre 7%, ash 5%, vitamin A 12,000 iu/kg, vitamin D3 1,500 iu/kg, vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate) 60mg/kg, copper as cupric sulphate 15 mg/kg. Coloured with EC additives.
Upto now I have been feeding Harry Hamster but lately there seems to be loads of small bits in the bag and my hamsters don't eat them, so I thought I'd look for an alternative. Tried Inky with a small amount earlier and he didn't really show much interest, going on looks (colourwise) I prefer Harry Hamster as it looks less artificial compared to the P@Home mix. I would be very grateful for your opinion - after reading the above list. Thanks

[souffle]

Well it does not sound bad but I notice there are some 'hidden' sugars in the molasses and banana chips. The soya and chicken are good protein sources but the overall protein content is not that high. It also does not contain any prebiotics which Harry has. These support a healthy gut and I am sure that this is why hamsters fed Harry seldom have tummy problems once they are settled in a new home.
If I were you Hamsterman I would continue using Harry and mix the packs say 1 pack Harry, one third the new mix and see how it does. I think they do eat some of the little bits even though it seems they don't :wink:

[hamsterman]

:) Thanks for your thoughts, and I will stick with Harry Hamster. :D

[Holly]

Naughty Supreme though - I looked at the new style Harry Hamster yesterday (I get mine from Wilko's where they still have the old dark green bags) and, though the bag looks very , very pretty, it's now 850g instead of the old 1kg and still the same rrp :roll:

[souffle]

Never spotted that Holly. How sneaky. It has also gone up to £1.29 in Wilkos which is annoying. :roll: It's still a lot cheaper there than some stores though.

[Jane]

I got some the other week and noticed it was a different bag.

I can't really recall what it looked like :oops: but I'm sure it was a grey colour. Seems the same though and the hammies still love it.

[agatecrystal]

I use a re-bagged version of food that one of my local pet shop supplies (food in a sealed plastic food bag). It only contains the odd and very rare peanut and banana chip with lots of good seeds. The pellets are really small/thin so they get eaten with plenty of biscuits which are really good for wearing down their teeth.

[sarahh]

Hi ya

We use P@H hamster museli, Harry hamster and Tesco hamster food not the cheap rubbish one but the £1.29 one. Ours seem to like most foods and we always make sure that it contains all the things they need to ensure they get the correct diet.

I do like Harry Hmaster though I think its a good one.