Waste, waste, and more waste !

[Achenar Moiety]

Wasting food . Both hamsters have a tendency to pick through their food and leave the small rabbit-pellet looking things alone.
It's called "Small World Hamster and Gerbil Food". Lots of millet and pumpkin seeds in it.

The pet store was feeding rat and mouse rodent blocks to their hammies and I wondered if this was ok, since the word "hamster" isn't in the title ?

We also give them a small treat of a piece of carrot or other vegetable once or twice a week.

I'm willing to try the rodent blocks but wondered if it makes the hamsters smell bad--- since the rat and mouse bins at the store smell pretty bad.

[Piebald]

Have a look at this and see if it helps

[Achenar Moiety]

OK Thanks.

[cypher]

A lot of hamsters will leave those pellet things, they just don't seem to like them. If they're eating most of the rest I wouldn't worry too much, you could try using blocks & the food mix & see if they'll eat that for a more complete diet.
I'd gradually increase the veg too up to a small piece each day & as much variety as you can manage within the safe food list.

[Nienna]

I doubt very much a hamster would do well on a food labeled for rat/mouse; they're different species with different nutrient requirements. (Same could be said for rats and mice.... But I digress.)

Blocks/pellets shouldn't make hamsters smell any better or worse. Perhaps the rat and mouse cage were a little dirty. Or your nose might be sensitive to eau de rattie/mousie. I understand mice are naturally a little strong-smelling, particularly the males.

[Amys_Mum]

Piebald, thanks for that link - the square pellets are always left by Harvey! They never used to feature in hamster mix I bought 20-odd years ago, but I thought maybe there was some amazing hamster nutrition that had been developed.

[Piebald]

Ha that's what they want you to think

[Achenar Moiety]

Alright ... I'll increase the extra 'tidbits' like veggies and other items on the safe food list.
There are several major pet store chains like PetSmart and Petco in our area ; as well as a few small pet shops. And they're ALL feeding the rodent blocks. (?)
I have called them all to inquire about this and they said it's ok and also a little cheaper.
I "get" the cheaper part, but I want to feed my hammies the best nutrition available for THEM.

[Nienna]

If you're in the US, the stores might be using Oxbow; they have blocks specifically for hamsters/gerbils. The local PetsMart here uses it. I don't know enough about hamster nutrition to know which brand is best for the hamster....

But I use Oxbow (and my hamster likes it very much), because I have a cousin who's allergic to nuts, and Oxbow is the only rodent food without them. I'm also going to introduce National Geographic's hamster food (which is of the mixed ingredient type) as a 'side dish'. A pinch in the bowl on top of the Oxbow every day, bits scattered about the cage for her to find.

(I would actually prefer NatGeo's food over Oxbow as the main food; it's a bigger bag for the same price. But alas, pine nuts!)

[Nienna]

Welp, that National Geographic food was a no-go. The first thing I pulled out was a dried bay leaf. She took a bite and immediately threw the whole thing down in disgust. I'm pretty sure she even spat out the bit in her mouth. Wouldn't have anything to do with anything else, either. Everything in the mix probably smells like bay leaf; those things seemed a little pungent to my wimpy human nose.

Back to the drawing board. With a stop at the trash can along the way....