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Old 01-29-2017, 01:02 PM   #1
ellieiskinz
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Smile Feeding

Hi! I've just started feeding my hamsters a mix of Care+ (This is what they were on at the petstore and recommended by them), Burgess hamster harvest and JR farm feast for dwarf hamsters. I was wondering if this is a suitable diet for my two dwarf hamsters? They seem to enjoy it and i tend to only mix two foods together at a time
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Old 01-29-2017, 01:32 PM   #2
barley
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Default Re: Feeding

Sounds good to me. From my experience, it's very easy to go round & round in circles when it comes to feeding hams, confusing yourself further as you go. If you're feeding reputable brands (as you are), regular fresh veg, and your hams enjoy it, then I don't think you can go far wrong.
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Old 01-29-2017, 05:04 PM   #3
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Default Re: Feeding

The regular hamster harvest isn't that good.The dwarf hamster harvest,however,is excellent and would be perfectly fine on its own with no other mixes added It is difficult to get nutrition right with hybrids,but Burgess dwarf food is diabetes friendly and very affordable.In fact,it's one of if not the best diabetes friendly hamster foods you can get!

Pet store hamsters should always be treated as hybrids,since it is pretty much impossible to get a pure Russian from a pet store.This means they're diabetes prone,and so added sugars are even more of a problem and should be completely left out of the diet.

Beaphar isn't a very good food in general,so try and leave that out.JR Farm main diets aren't as good as Burgess either,and so Burgess dwarf food on its own is all that is necessary as the main diet.

You don't need to mix foods when one food is perfectly suitable(in the case of Burgess dwarf food),and it really just ends up a waste of money when it isn't necessary.You could easily add in the other ingredients as treats instead which would be much better.Go through Rat Rations for individual ingredients,it is very simple and you can get just the things you need instead of adding more of the same foods that would be in Burgess dwarf hamster food already!

Whole corn instead of extruded corn flour would give something to actually chew and would therefore be more beneficial than the mixed placement extruded corn flour and corn in JR Farm.Burgess already has the same type of millet so that doesn't need replacing.You could add in some form of oats,wheat,linseed,rice,peanuts,mung beans,dari seed,freshwater shrimp,and freeze dried chicken.Cheese is not good for hamsters as it is a dairy product,and dairy products are not digested well among hamsters along with most other animals that do eat meat and such.Fish also isn't that great for hamsters,so it isn't worth bothering to replace.

Interestingly enough,the Burgess dwarf food has higher protein and less ingredients than the JR Farm dwarf food which has some ingredients which aren't even that healthy.

Some good add on foods to choose from instead of feeding the JR Farm:
Canary Seed - £0.50 : ratRations.com
Golden Linseed - £0.44 : ratRations.com
Linseed - £0.40 : ratRations.com
Locust Bean pieces (Carob) - £0.30 : ratRations.com
Maize - Whole - £0.45 : ratRations.com
http://www.ratrations.com/dari-red-milo-p-164.html
http://www.ratrations.com/dari-white-milo-p-165.html
http://www.ratrations.com/barley-whole-p-346.html
http://www.ratrations.com/groats-p-140.html
http://www.ratrations.com/millet-japanese-p-148.html
http://www.ratrations.com/millet-panicum-p-150.html
http://www.ratrations.com/millet-panicum-red-p-151.html
http://www.ratrations.com/mung-beans-p-157.html
http://www.ratrations.com/niger-p-158.html
http://www.ratrations.com/oats-whole-p-159.html
http://www.ratrations.com/fresh-water-shrimp-p-356.html
http://www.ratrations.com/gammarus-shrimp-p-367.html
http://www.ratrations.com/green-bean-slices-p-1044.html
http://www.ratrations.com/beetroot-flakes-p-427.html
http://www.ratrations.com/dried-carr...kes-p-194.html
http://www.ratrations.com/dried-pars...es-p-1009.html
http://www.ratrations.com/bran-flakes-p-2120.html
http://www.ratrations.com/couscous-p-544.html
http://www.ratrations.com/pasta-shapes-p-683.html

If I kept the list going it would probably go on forever But the point is,there are better ways to add variety without purchasing a separate food mix in a larger amount than necessary.Some foods can come in bulk,others come in small amounts,but you can be more selective and get only a few at a time and work to figure out exactly what is most popular with your hamster rather than wasting time on something that just isn't necessary.
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Old 01-29-2017, 10:35 PM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: Feeding

I agree with barley, it is very easy to over complicate things & end up getting confused going round in circles with food!
I've never been able to find the ingredients or G/A for the Care+ but the burgess dwarf hamster harvest & JR farms dwarf food are fine, I've used both of those before now.
With a good variety of fresh veg (not sweet veg or fruit with hybrids which is what your hams will be having come from a pet shop) & a little extra protein from time to time (tiny bit of chicken or a few extra mealworms are fine).
I wouldn't worry about adding too much else, your hams will be getting what they need & if you try to add in too many other things the diet can easily become unbalanced.
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