Thoughts on the following food items and their safety?

[HealthfulLard]

Hi!

I'm looking to broaden my horizons so to speak in regards to my hamsters' diets and I was wondering whether the following foods were safe or not:

- Green Mush. It's a greens powder with added enzymes and probiotics that was, i believe, originally created for rats. I'm not sure if everything ingredient wise is even okay for hamsters though.

- Tempeh. It's a fermented soybean product, but you can also make it with black beans and even sunflower seeds. I've seen people experiment with making 100% oat tempeh as well, which interests me a lot.

- Homemade vegan "yogurt" made from diy coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk or basically any milky substance produced from nuts, seeds or grains with agar agar as a thickener. I'm not a vegan at all but I'm trying to do away with dairy so I was wondering if I started making my own yogurt, if it'd hurt my hams to have some as a treat? It'd just be cultures, homemade "milk" and agar agar.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC.

I have no idea about the green mush, you would need to know every ingredient before you could determine whether or not it would be safe for hamsters.

I wouldn't give hamsters tempeh or any fermented products, I'm not at all sure it would be good for them or of any benefit.

The vegan yogurt should be ok but only in tiny amounts & not too often, that goes for all soft foods for healthy hams really.

[HealthfulLard]

Thank you so much! Couldn't find any information regarding this stuff.

These are the Green Mush ingredients, if anybody knows:

Spirulina Manna™, Broken Cell Wall Chlorella Manna™, Nettle Leaf, Carob Pod, Whole Leaf Wheatgrass, Icelandic Kelp, Horsetail (Shavegrass), Burdock Root, Alfalfa Leaf Juice, Nova Scotia Dulse Leaf, Plant Source Digestive Enzyme Blend (Protease, Alpha-glactosidase, Amylase, Cellulase, Lipase, Bromelain, Papain), Ginger Root, Nopal Cactus, Co-enzyme Q10 (40 mg per 9.5 grams, 13.4 mg per teaspoon), Probiotic Blend (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillius paracasei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus salivarius, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus)

[cypher]

It wouldn't be safe to feed that to hamsters.
Horsetail I don't know about but it is toxic to some animals, ginger root they couldn't have & I have no idea about the cactus tbh.
You do need to be aware that hamsters have a very different digestive system to us, they don't have an acid stomach like we do so shouldn't have things like papain or bromelain & possibly some of the other things in the enzyme blend.

I wouldn't mind trying some myself though

[HealthfulLard]

Yikes, it's advertised for "dogs, cats, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, ferrets, squirrels, other mammals and human animals, too." Of course, species inappropriate things being advertised anyway is nothing new, but I sure wish it didn't happen just because some people DO buy those things without looking into it.

(I mean, I'm not sure what I expected though.. I found it on a website that sells vegan cat food.)

Again, thank you so much!

[cypher]

You're welcome
It can be surprising what's sold as safe for hamsters, unfortunately I think a lot of people or companies just think if something is safe for other animals then it should be fine without actually doing any research into it.
If you're ever unsure it's always best to ask & see if anyone knows.