Feeding Ruby

[Bunsey]

i've tried Ruby (6.5 week old syrian) with rice pudding and heinz baby food but she won't eat it

does anyone have any recommendations for specific flavours and brands that hamsters like? most of the ones i looked at had onions in, which i didn't think would be suitable.

[Louby]

All my 3 love Baby Rice made up with milk. When I bought a jar of Baby rice pudding, Alvin wouldn't touch it either. Then again, he was the only one to eat his baked beans the other night.

Lots of people seem to buy the babyfood with spaghetti hoops and sausages. When you have taken a spoonful from the jar, freeze the rest. Just because she doesn't like something now, doesn't mean she won't like it in a few weeks?

Waste not want not and all that!

[Holly]

She might not be so keen to eat the stuff as she's in a new environment and needing to settle down a bit. I gave her Ambrosia rice pud (naughty naughty) on Saturday night and she wolfed down most of that.

On the baby food front mine only seem to eat the Hipp organic stuff

[Bunsey]

oh i saw the Hipp. It might have been the one that had onions in. honestly the whole shelf virtually was onion this and onion that. i just got everything that didn't have onion in, but she won't eat any of it! I'll boil up some egg tomorrow and see if she'll take that.

[internet_nobody]

Orna refused to eat "mushy" food when I got her home, and she was just a tiddler. I got her to eat scrambled egg twice then everything else (porridge, cheese, chicken, yoghurt, baby food, baby rice pudding) was totally ignored. In the end I had to coat chicken in ground almonds to get her to eat protein. A few weeks later eggs and chicken were back on the menu un-bribed, and when I was building her up for babies anything went down well! Maybe if you just give her a few days she'll get her appetite for treats back?

[Bunsey]

perhaps, yeah. She has taken "milk drops" off me, so that's good. I also dipped some of them into the rice pudding, so unless she got a tissue and wiped off the pudding, she ate at least a bit

[Moosley]

I think most of the Hipp stuff *does* have onions in, however, it is going to be so well cooked into a mush that with little onion cooked into mush, i doubt there would be any ill effects, ours have been eating it for years.

Your best bet would be to buy a box of the powdered stuff rather than jar stuff

The chicken and vegetables one is the best! Then you dont waste any and you only have to make up a tiny bit at a time without worrying about it going off.

We now always use the powdered stuff as we add vitamin powder like Complan to it for the young uns, old uns and sickies.

[Louby]

Originally Posted by Moosley

I think most of the Hipp stuff *does* have onions in, however, it is going to be so well cooked into a mush that with little onion cooked into mush, i doubt there would be any ill effects, ours have been eating it for years.

Your best bet would be to buy a box of the powdered stuff rather than jar stuff

The chicken and vegetables one is the best! Then you dont waste any and you only have to make up a tiny bit at a time without worrying about it going off.

We now always use the powdered stuff as we add vitamin powder like Complan to it for the young uns, old uns and sickies.

I didn't know you could buy powdered babyfood? I knew you could get babyrice..but I had no idea about food food!

I have to admit to being slightly worried about people feeding that to a human baby!

[Moosley]

Hum yiiissss powdered babyfood that you add warm water to and it goes to the same consistency as jar food or runnier or drier etc.

I believe it is made by.. by... I think we use stuff by Heinz but I know that both HIPP and Cow & Gate make powdered babyfood. Definately avoid sweet ones like caramel of chocolate etc as they wont do the hamsters any good and they are aparently highly addictive. Rice food gets boring as well aparently but peaches, banana, strawberry or vegetables go down well

There is a strawberry one that i no longer buy as its kind of expensive and i got into the habit of having a bowl full for breakfast every morning it was yummy!!!

Another reason for getting powdered stuff is that it doesnt make me gag like the jar food does! I swear if i ever have a kid (haha) i wouldnt make them eat that stuff!

[Louby]

Well, for hamsters, it sounds perfect. Saves the waste as you said, with jars.

I will have to have a look when I go shopping! At the moment, there is more in my trolley for the hamsters than for us!