Not eating bigger,,

[Dax]

...parts of Harry hamster..?

Hammy has stopped eating the bigger bits of Harry hamster food. He still likes the corn/seeds/smaller parts. His teeth are fine as he still chews his whimzee and eats his milk biscuits/mealworms/egg biscuit/veg. . :/

Is this him just being picky or is it common with Harry Hamster food?
I know alot of hams dislike the black logs in the mix.

x

[Peanut84]

Both my hamster did this, I always thought they were particularly difficult, so it's good to know I'm not alone. And no use trying the tough love approach either, they just started to pee on it or hide it away until they got new food. They like burgess hamster harvest and the jr farm stuff from zooplus (they are dwarfs, so I get the dwarf version). Both are bit low in protein so I also give them a bit of yoghurt and fun stuff like crickets...

[kyrilliondaemon]

I was going to suggest trying a different food, I'm not sure theres a set great amount of protein for hams (if anything harry hamster is above most other decent foods) so I'd not worry too much if protein is a bit lower in your next one either

[Peanut84]

Originally Posted by kyrilliondaemon

I was going to suggest trying a different food, I'm not sure theres a set great amount of protein for hams (if anything harry hamster is above most other decent foods) so I'd not worry too much if protein is a bit lower in your next one either

Some research suggests that protein should be 19% which is why harry hamster is ideal (also supposed to have right fat and fibre content). I think other people suggest different protein levels for different ages, but I read 19% more often (which of course does not make it right). Anyway, I am sometimes a bit obsessive about hamster stuff and in reality 2% more or less probably does not make such a difference

[Teddy001]

Teddie does this, too! I fed her Hazel Hamster which is similar to Harry Hamster food. What I do is break up the larger pieces and she seems to eat them better that way..

[Dax]

Is there such a thing as giving too much protein? If so, how do I tell if ive given him too much?

I got some Tesco value hamster food. Just so i can mix it in with the Harry Hamster food. The pieces are smaller..Im not very impressed with it tbh but it will do until i can get to P@H on the weekend.

Today im going to try and make his Harry hamster/tesco value mix his only food as given by me. No extras like milk bones, veg or other treaty type things..

(EDIT; just to clarify, im only withholding all other food for one night to ensure he isnt just being picky because he can be.)

x

[DrKMcK]

Hello Dax. There really should be some veggies in a hamster's diet. Small pieces at least 3X week. Spinach, peas, broccoli, carrot, romaine lettuce, dandelion greens in season, raisins are all okay for hammies and have vitamins they do need. You want a balanced diet and some fruit and veggie should be there.

[Dax]

Oh, yeah i do feed him veggies as often as i can. Usually 3 times a week actually.
But i wanted, just for tonight, not to give him anything extra.
I want to make sure that he isnt just eating his "extra"s and deciding to leave most of his mix out of choice before going off and having to buy new mix!

x

[DrKMcK]

Oops! I didn't realize. That is a good way to see if hammy is eating his food. Make believe I didn't say anything!

[kyrilliondaemon]

Originally Posted by Peanut84

Some research suggests that protein should be 19% which is why harry hamster is ideal (also supposed to have right fat and fibre content). I think other people suggest different protein levels for different ages, but I read 19% more often (which of course does not make it right). Anyway, I am sometimes a bit obsessive about hamster stuff and in reality 2% more or less probably does not make such a difference

Yeah but other research says different things and realistically every animal (even humans) needs to have different levels of things through life - e.g pregnant/lactating hamsters benefit from more protein than those the same age but not raising a litter.
I've heard a couple of reports of high protein causing serious damage to hamsters so when the range of protein levels found in good foods is generally anywhere from about 13-19% from what I've seen I'm much happier with my own mix of mixes falling a nice bit under 19% protein. A year or two ago 18% protein was quoted as perfect yet when people looked into it things suddenly became a lot, lot more complicated and it became much harder to find an exact ideal value.

That said... I also now follow a policy of never trusting one mix too explicitly as one minor mistake by the manufacturer could cause problems if that mix is fed exclusively over a long enough period of time. My vet once confirmed food (that at the time was highly reccomended) to be causing issues in my pets and I suspect if I chatted to the vet they'd agree with my suspicions that the same has happened again with a completely different diet, unfortunately when faced with those issues I was too preoccupied with resolving them to discuss the cause in detail with the vet. One mix I hear really highly reccomended by a lot of people is only 17% and the hams on that definetly do fantastically. My own hams also do really well on their mixed diet which at less than 19% protein seems to be completely suited to their current dietary needs. (Many of them have been eating a mix of mixes with less than 19% overall protein for over a year now.)

Oh and thats not even getting into the complicated chaos of what people do/don't mix into diets lol.
I reckon generally as long as its a fairly varied diet without tons of added stuff you should be ok. Theres no one rule fits all for humans, mice, rats or anything else I can find (e.g some dogs are best fed raw food, others end up seriously ill on raw food) and I'm very reluctant to apply a one size fits all rule to any aspect of hamster care either.
Food is a big scary mess when it goes wrong and I worry that a one size fits all rule will increase the risk of it going wrong - hence trusting my mix of mixes to balance each other out even if one is (unbeknownst to me) slightly less than perfect I don't think feeding just one mix is wrong but I do think stressing about the exact levels of protein e.t.c in said mix is unneccessary - I know plenty of hams fed exclusively one mix with less than 19% protein through their lives who've lived really long, happy and healthy lives

Sorry if thats a bit of an essay but the whole food thing is something I feel quite strongly on. Basically in my own opinion (which everyone is completely entitled to disagree with) its best to not quote specfic percentages as the ideal will vary depending on the specific animal in question and there's unlikely to be a one size fits all approach that works perfectly at all stages of life for all hamster species.



I'd definetly give veg reguarly too by the way, its really good for hams and its also really nice for them to get treats - just like humans all like the odd treat now and again I reckon hams should get the odd treat now and again too (And I don't even think of veg as a treat to be honest)