Best Syrian diet

[ladyntramp002]

Originally Posted by Drago

I posted an ingredients list earlier on this thread so you can double check, but from what I've read, it doesn't appear to contain any fruits

Thank goodness! I check right on that. Thanks for doing this thread Drago this is very helpful.

[cypher]

Originally Posted by Hamsterita

I didn't know about the grass pellets. Anyway Blacky doesn't eat the grass pellets in the HH either. I don't care about the flakes, they are natural too. He likes sesame seeds and the tiny seeds that the HH has... but obviously I don't want to give him an unsuitable food.

Now that you're telling me about ingredients that I didn't know it had, has the regular one mealworms on it?

The dwarf mix has mealworms in it, if Blacky likes small seeds then no reason why he shouldn't eat it (the burgess syrian mix has biscuits in it like HH does) it does have a lot of those grass pellets in though!

[Pebbles82]

Originally Posted by ladyntramp002

Thanks. I forgot about this. So does hazel/harry hamster miix have fruits?

No it doesn't have any fruits

Hamsterita - Burgess also make Supahamster for Syrians. The formula is probably better sized pieces for Syrians. I did try Charlie with it but he left a lot - he didn't like itty bits and pieces and preferred the bigger pieces in Harry Hamster.

It isn't always that easy to find - this link is for 9 bags!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burgess-Sup...ss+Supahamster

[Drago]

After hearing that hazel isn't really the best food any longer, I have definitely become more interested in the different foods available out there and I have stumbled upon a food on viovet which overall seems good to me, but wanted to get some second opinions!

Here's the link
https://www.viovet.co.uk/Mr_Johnsons...il_Mix/c12844/

The GA
* Crude protein - 18.00%
* Crude fibre - 4.50%
* Crude oils & fats - 5.50%
* Crude ash - 3.00%

The ingredients
Concentrate nuts (wheatfeed, extracted sunflower, straw, sugar beet, calcium carbonate, molasses, grassmeal, sodium chloride, vegetable oil, vitamin & trace element premix), kibbled maize, flaked maize, flaked peas, flaked beans, whole wheat, wheat extrusions*, sunflower seeds, locust bean extrusions, flaked naked oats, dried carrot, dried banana, peanuts, Verm-X herb blend, Soya oil.

And lastly, the add-ons
Vitamin A (E672) 16,00iu/kg; Vitamin C 280mg/kg; Vitamin D (E671) 840iu/kg; Vitamin E 40iu/kg; Copper (E4) 8mg/kg, colourants.


I think overall this food seems pretty good, it's got high protein levels, appropriate amounts of fat, and looking at the ingredients, it has pretty good variety as well. The only things I can really see being an issue would be the dyes in the food (which is inevitable) and the fiber Is low as well, but that could be supplemented with a higher fiber pellet (especially for older hams) Im trying to create a mix with a good variety, would this be a food to add in?

Quick note: I do know how to balance and measure different mixes as well as how to calculate the GA of a mixed diet, a bit of research and practice has been a great help to me

[cypher]

I'd be very wary of the Verm X, it's not possible I don't think to find a complete list of what's in it but I did find a partial list once (forgotten where now sorry!) & it does contain things I would consider unsuitable for hamsters, I think it was originally formulated for horses & have no idea why they think it's a good thing to put in hamster food!
With sugar beet & molasses it has quite a bit of sugar too although the sugar beet may refer to what's left after sugar has been extracted.

[AmityvilleHams]

I'd also be worried about wheatfeed.Feed grade grains tend to be poor quality,and a lot of times they can even be the biproducts rather than the whole grains

Straw is not digestible either so there's yet another unsuitable ingredient.Colourants are also unspecified on top of all the other bad things,so it just makes the food look worse and worse.I really see this as being a low quality food,definitely not as good as Harry/Hazel.

If the extracts are protein extracts I do know they're possible for causing health problems at least in humans,dogs,and cats.Extracted protein would be inferior to whole foods,no matter what.

Yet another sketchy ingredient is grassmeal.Firstly grasses are not appropriate for hamsters,and secondly there is no specification as to what type or what blend of grasses.This is unacceptable,and you really do need completely specified ingredients otherwise you're just playing guessing games and it isn't good.

[Drago]

That definitely makes sense, it's definitely unfortunate that few foods have proper GA's! I'll cross this one off my list as well. My hunt will continue, I'm thinking of using Higgins sunburst with maybe hazel as well as my own add ins. It will definitely take a lot of work and calculation, but I hope I can achieve a better mix. I wish companies would be a bit more honest about what ingredients are in their foods as well as using less dyes and preservatives. Thank you both for the clarification

[AmityvilleHams]

I use Higgins Sunburst,Carefresh Hamster/Gerbil,freeze dried chicken,and flax seed as my Syrian's diet The protein of Higgins and Carefresh combined alone are not enough,hence the extras on a regular basis.That is one of the easiest combinations to work with,definitely easier than Mazuri as there's no weight involved(1 tablespoon Carefresh,0.5 tablespoons or the equivalent in some measurement Higgins rather than having to measure out grams).

I think if you'd want to do Carefresh in the combination the best way would be using Chewy They have amazing cat and dog products(including a much better selection of raw foods,just check with Dog Food Advisor or other reputable sources before ordering something)so if you were to do a good sized order and get free shipping with everything it would be worth it.Carefresh is less than 3 dollars currently there,and has no artificial dyes,preservatives,or flavors The GA is wrong on Chewy though by the way.

[Drago]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

I use Higgins Sunburst,Carefresh Hamster/Gerbil,freeze dried chicken,and flax seed as my Syrian's diet The protein of Higgins and Carefresh combined alone are not enough,hence the extras on a regular basis.That is one of the easiest combinations to work with,definitely easier than Mazuri as there's no weight involved(1 tablespoon Carefresh,0.5 tablespoons or the equivalent in some measurement Higgins rather than having to measure out grams).

I think if you'd want to do Carefresh in the combination the best way would be using Chewy They have amazing cat and dog products(including a much better selection of raw foods,just check with Dog Food Advisor or other reputable sources before ordering something)so if you were to do a good sized order and get free shipping with everything it would be worth it.Carefresh is less than 3 dollars currently there,and has no artificial dyes,preservatives,or flavors

Thank you for showing me that! I like the looks of it, and it has pretty good fiber which I'll need for my older ham Duncan I have to order hay for my bun and I planned to get it from chewy anyways so it works out perfectly

[Humphrey_hamster]

Originally Posted by Hamsterita

And I was wondering. Would it be ok for a sirian to feed him Burgess Dwarf?

I would like to feed Blacky a mix that doesn't have pellets, but I would like it to be enough by itself (I mean, with a good composition, not unbalanced, I know that extras like fresh vegs are necessary anyway). Now he's eating HH too, but I would like a more natural food, and Burgess Dwarf looks like it only has seeds, or at least that's what I saw on pictures.

Hamsterita you can also buy Burgess Syrian hamster food- that's what I feed Humphrey. There's seeds, nuts and mealworms. There are dried banana chips but there's not very many. There is things like flaked corn and stuff too. There are a few biscuity bits but I don't think they have much or any food coloring in them as they are natural colours. I think it's much more natural than most mixes I have added some other things to it but ive only added some extra seeds and that kind of thing as Humphrey really likes them. I think the Syrian food is quite similar to the dwarf but is bigger pieces but I'm not sure as I've never used the dwarf stuff
Here's what I use for Humphrey:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00...amster+harvest