Selective Science Hamster Food

Gemma_xo · 08-25-2015, 04:28 AM

In the past two maybe three months I've tried many different hamster foods with Pixie, when I thought she was FINALLY getting on with a mix of Burgess Dwarf Hamster Harvest & JR Farm Dwarf Hamster food, I've noticed she's decided to selective feed again, so on trawling through the forums I found these Selective Science hamster biscuits..

My question is, I don't want to take her mix feed off of her because the biscuits, although a brilliant idea, look boring for an every day food. The bag says a portion is 5g for a dwarf hamster, but with not taking the mix feed off her, what would be a good daily portion? I figured one every two maybe three days in her "treat" bowl would be suitable because surely she's too small to eat one every two days with the existing mix feed already, plus that way she has a choice?

Nancy's Hamsters · 08-25-2015, 05:17 AM

You may be surprised,

I feed two different seed mixes(one commercially made , and one I put together myself) Then I add in a specially formulated Solid block food which is made for Syrian Hamsters which has the correct amount of Vitamins, minerals, and the biggest one, the correct protein levels for Syrian hamsters.

The instructions for the block food says to offer 4 to 5 blocks daily, so I place that many on top of the seed mix, and let the Hamster choose which to eat first and every single one takes the blocks to the nest first and doesn't touch the seed mix until all blocks are consumed.

That said my advise would be to cut the seed mix down and offer the biscuit food at the suggested amount and see if the hamster prefers what to you looks boring over the seed mix. By still offering the seed mix it is like the seed mix is a treat to which the hamster can still pick it's favorites while still getting a proper balanced meal from the biscuits.

cypher · 08-25-2015, 05:30 AM

5g is about 5 biscuits so if you gave her one a day that would still only be a small portion of her daily intake, I'd begin by trying 2 a day (you may need to break them up for a dwarf with a pestle & mortar or plastic bag & a rolling pin if you haven't got one) don't crush them just tap into smaller pieces as they are a bit big for a dwarf, add that to a smaller then normal portion of her seed mix & see how she goes.
Just how picky is she? Most hams are selective feeders to some extent & a little selective feeding is ok as long as they still get a reasonably good variety from the mix plus healthy add ons like veg, mealworms & a few seeds & or nuts.
The only way to really avoid it completely is to either feed only something like the science selective which is a bit boring & has a narrow range of ingredients, doesn't allow for foraging & just seems very unnatural to me or to not refill the bowl until it's empty.
If you feed daily you could try leaving it for 2 or 3 days before giving more so she has less chance to be picky.

racinghamster · 08-25-2015, 05:44 AM

Hi Gemma. Just as the others have said, these biscuits are a good addition to your other mixes. I bought a bag of Science Selective mainly to try Chubs on and I take one heart shaped biscuit, give it a light `tap` in my pestle & mortar and chuck in on top of his food dish every few days. It`s a complete food, but obviously it doesn`t need to be fed on it`s own. I wouldn`t either.

It`s a good bag of food to have in actually as the biscuits can be crushed or made soft with water if a hamster gets old or ill and needs a hamster food that can be mashed up and mixed with other things for example, chopped nuts. Or used with a little peanut butter to mask the taste of Baytril or medications given.

Hamsters do tend to get bored with their food sometimes, so it`s a good idea to add new things from time to time to allow for different textures and tastes. I don`t regret buying a bag of science selective even though I always thought it looked bland. It isn`t. It smells like gravy bones! x

velma · 08-25-2015, 06:53 AM

I can't advise about dwarves but I do like the Science Selective biscuits for my Syrian (Hector my robo does get one occasionally broken in to bits). I give Cleo a few biscuits scattered around her cage in addition to her main food & she seems to quite like them. She eats which she wants then. All the hamsters I've ever had have left the brown bits out of their food so if that's all that's being left, I wouldn't be too worried but the science select will boost up what's being missed.

RubyDG · 08-25-2015, 08:01 AM

I give the Science Selective to my Syrian as well. I add in three pieces whenever I do his food bowl. I started doing it because he wasn't eating as much of the 'kibble' pieces in his mix as I would of liked. He likes the Science Selective biscuits and always eats them so I feel that offsets whatever bits of his mix he doesn't eat. I also crush them and use them as a base for homemade treats

Fluffagrams · 08-25-2015, 09:41 AM

I have a very fussy girl at the moment and she's terrible for picking her favourite bits out of the mixes and leaving the rest so a couple of times a week I'll take out the mix and feed her the Science Selective so I know that she's getting all the nutrients she needs a few times a week. As she's a Chinese, I'll break them into slightly smaller pieces for her just using the back of a spoon and she's usually happy enough with that.

She sulked about it a couple of weeks ago but last week I'd added a few pieces to her mix and she ended up eating them first.

I've used the food exclusively for a period of time with one of my previous hamsters as he had dental problems and couldn't eat the normal hamster mixes. He did well on it.

Gemma_xo · 08-25-2015, 09:41 AM

From what I've seen in her hoard, Pixie eats the sunflower seeds, meal worms mostly, then the pea flakes and the yellow flakes (not sure what they are) and on a good day a sweetcorn piece and sometimes a few of the tiny seeds, I don't know the name of them, but I do keep an eye on the level of her food each day, I put a tablespoon in her bowl every couple days, but take out the uneaten and it always looks like nothings changed from when I last changed the food. I've seen her rummage through for the "good bits" too, but never see hear eat any of the heart things or the round little brown ball things (no idea what that's meant to be either!)
I'll also lessen the amount of food in her bowl too, I didn't actually think about that!
2 a day sounds pretty reasonable to me too, I had thought about the fact they're going to be huge compared to Pixie, already practiced breaking them down, food bag & rolling pin worked out quite well

Thank you all!

Gemma_xo · 08-25-2015, 10:51 AM

So, I broke two up, they're in Pixie's treat bowl (only cause I wont go into her cage until 9pm to feed her these bits will go into her main food bowl then, her treat bowl gets taken out an hour after the treat gets put in)... There's the pieces in the bowl and one in my hand to try give an idea of the size of each piece.. Hopefully the size is okay for a dwarf?

Fluffagrams · 08-25-2015, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemma_xo

So, I broke two up, they're in Pixie's treat bowl (only cause I wont go into her cage until 9pm to feed her these bits will go into her main food bowl then, her treat bowl gets taken out an hour after the treat gets put in)... There's the pieces in the bowl and one in my hand to try give an idea of the size of each piece.. Hopefully the size is okay for a dwarf?

That's a similar size to what I give May so I'd have thought it should be fine. You can always break them up a little bit smaller if you find that Pixie is not eating them.