Probiotic Reccommendations

[AprilPearl]

I might possibly be bringing home a new hamster when I go to the Andover show next Saturday. Though I have never had a hamster contract wet tail, I remain terrified of it happening and I know that new hamsters are most at risk during the initial settling in period. I think I am correct in saying that using a probiotic can help to minimise the risk of this.

What probiotic would you recommend? And, how would you administer it? When I got Mushu, P@H told me to sprinkle pro c probiotic on their food. But, I've since been told that not only is pro c not a great probiotic, but you should not sprinkle the probiotic onto the food.

EDIT: please excuse my terrible spelling in the title!

[cypher]

I always put probiotics on food, far better than putting it in a water bottle.
Most people in the UK use Pro C & it's fine for short term use, there aren't that many that are suitable for hams but I prefer to use Potent brew.

[AprilPearl]

Thanks Cypher. How much do you put on? Do you feed it every day? And, seeing as it us liquid, do you put it on the main food mix or something else?

Also, how long does it usually take to arrive?

[cypher]

I give it to mine once a week, for a dwarf it's just one or two drops for a syrian it would be more, the dose is 1 drop pre 30g body weight, with sick hams I have used it twice a week & that's plenty, I just put a drop on wet food, veg usually.

[AprilPearl]

Great. So, for a new hamster, would it be a good idea to give them one dose right away? And thereafter to feed it once a week? Or twice a week during the first few weeks?

[cypher]

I wouldn't use it more than once a week for a healthy hamster, you could begin the day you brought your ham home, it wouldn't do any harm.

[AprilPearl]

Will do that then. Want to make absolutely sure nothing bad happens to my next ham.

I bought it from a different site to the one you linked because it seems that it will arrive quicker and I want it for Saturday just in case.

Pretty sure it's the same product, but have I bought the right thing?
DrS Potent Brew - probiotic for small animals

Also, how do you measure out the dose? Does it come with a dropper? If not, how many ml is there per drop?

[AmityvilleHams]

Zooplus doesn't have anything from what I saw,as the supplements there are all low quality ones(Forti Flora may look good on Zooplus but don't be fooled,the US ingredients show the truth as it contains unspecified biproducts which aren't safe).

Honestly the only reliable product I've seen from P@H is Tropiclean's Life Probiotic.It does contain fish oil,however that isn't a problem as you'd most likely be feeding it for a short period of time anyways.It does seem to be more of a liquid though,but that shouldn't be a problem Just mix it into a high quality hamster safe baby food or cat food.

[cypher]

That's the right one, it comes in a dropper bottle so very easy to use.
You don't need to worry about mls for tiny animals, it does say on the bottle one drop per 30g.
You don't need to be too precise but you could weigh your ham in the carrier when you get home then weigh the carrier again when you've put him/her into the cage if you don't know how much s/he weighs beforehand, that will give you an accurate enough weight.

[AmityvilleHams]

Potent Brew actually seems a bit questionable.They only list active ingredients which isn't great.What are the inactive ingredients if any?Without knowing that information it's impossible to guarantee safety.