What seeds for a homemade mix?

[artgecko]

hello guys,
I'm hoping to get my dwarf hamsters this week and wanted your feedback on which seeds to include in a homemade mix.

I will be using harlan 2018 (native earth) lab blocks as their primary diet, but also want to feed a seed mix and some veggies. The harlan seems spot-on in terms of meeting their dietary needs, except for fiber content (3.5%).

It seems most commercial seed mixes contain grass pellets, which I'm allergic to (I'm allergic to hay of all kinds), so those aren't an option for me.I considered using a mix made for birds, but most contain other supplements or fruits, etc. that I wasn't sure would be good for a hamster.

If you have any advice on what kinds of seeds to buy, that would be great. I found a mix sold from a finch website that contains canary seed and millet. They also offer other types of seeds in bulk, so I can make my own mix.

If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them. If you know of a mix that is good for dwarf hamsters and doesn't contain alfalfa or timothy meal, I'd love to hear about that as well. I am based in the US, so some of the types those of you in the UK use might not be available here.

Thank you for your time and help!

[cypher]

Making up your own mix is a bit tricky as you need to keep the overall protein, fat & fibre in mind, not that easy to do!
All varieties of millet are ok as is the canary seed (although mine totally ignore it!) I also give mine some flax & hemp seeds, you could think about adding oats or other flaked grains or something like pearl barley as the protein & fat won't be so high.
Other good things to add in occasionally are monkey nuts (or other nuts in the shell), sun flower & pumpkin seeds but not too many!
mine all eat a good variety of veg daily but I would avoid things like corn, carrots, peas or anything high in natural sugars & do avoid fruit.
Hopefully someone in the US will be able to suggest some mixes that might work for you.

ETA if you go for a robo rather than a hybrid then you can ignore the bit about fruit & veg high in sugars as they aren't prone to diabetes like hybrids can be.

[artgecko]

Thanks! I did finally find a mix that didn't include grass pellets, but it does contain fruit bits... If I end up going with a Russian, I will have to pick out the fruit, etc. but otherwise, I think it should work to complement the HT 2018 I will be feeding.

[kyrilliondaemon]

The mix containing fruit may be ok even for a russian, maybe mix that and the other food and see what the hamster thinks?

[artgecko]

I guess so. This is the food that I will be using along with the blocks. Unfortunately, I had to order it online, so if I end up getting the hamsters before it arrives, they'll have to make due with lab block and a mix of pasta, oats, sunflower seeds, and some dehydrated fruit until it arrives.

[Peanut84]

Good quality budgie and canary food, for example a sprout seed blend, is usually safe for hamsters as long as it's not the only thing you feed. if you get a diabetes prone species I would not recommend to feed dehydrated fruit, go for dried or fresh vegetables instead. Other things you can feed are dried herbs and flowers (daisy, camomile, dandelion root)

[cypher]

The protein is a little low but not bad compared to most mixes but it does have a lot of fruit in it, obviously it's up to you to choose but personally I wouldn't want to feed that to a hybrid although it should be ok for a robo.