My own mix

[sushi_78]

Just to add that the "Teddy hamster" mixes have higher protein than the standard Syrian mixes, even without the insects.

[Engel]

Originally Posted by sushi_78

The base mixes don't have mealworms in. You're supposed to buy dried insects separately and feed them as treats, and the protein is intentionally a little low to allow for that.

ok. Are there any other foods to use as a base? Rodipet is obviously the best one. Are there any others?

[cypher]

Rodipet is the cheapest just because delivery costs are so much better but Mixerama & Getzoo do some very good mixes too.
I'll have a link hunt tomorrow.

[sushi_78]

Originally Posted by Engel

ok. Are there any other foods to use as a base? Rodipet is obviously the best one. Are there any others?

The Bunny Dwarfhamster dream food is good. It has very small seeds so would not be ideal on its own for a Syrian. It also has low protein (15%), which is why I supplement with mealworms and peas. It has no pellets, and it does have mealworms and freeze dried chicken.

There is also a Bunny Basic hamster food, which has bigger pieces, including pellets. I've never used it. It also has mealworms and chicken in it. Both the Bunny foods are available from Zooplus.

[Engel]

Originally Posted by sushi_78

The Bunny Dwarfhamster dream food is good. It has very small seeds so would not be ideal on its own for a Syrian. It also has low protein (15%), which is why I supplement with mealworms and peas. It has no pellets, and it does have mealworms and freeze dried chicken.

There is also a Bunny Basic hamster food, which has bigger pieces, including pellets. I've never used it. It also has mealworms and chicken in it. Both the Bunny foods are available from Zooplus.

ugh. the mealworms will go to waste

[cypher]

I've had a bit of a hunt through my mammoth list of hamster bookmarks, hard to find anything there are so many I know I have some more ham specific sites bookmarked somewhere but can't find them yet, here are a couple that might be useful though.

General food info where you can find data for many of the foods you might want to include.
https://frida.fooddata.dk/index.php/...g=en&#headingA
Info on various grains
http://www.einkorn.com/wp-content/up...son-Matrix.pdf

An old thread you might find worth a read, there are some links there too.
Just to say my mix has evolved quite a bit since then before I was completely happy with it!
Has anyone ever made their own hamster food?

[EmmaAndChester]

Roborovski hamsters and Syrian hamsters don't have the same dietary preferences, and in an ideal situation should not be consuming the same diet. Dwarf hamsters eat dwarf hamster food, and Syrian hamster should eat Syrian hamster food. I would stress extreme caution with feeding the mix you have listed. It doesn't appear balanced, at all, and you are running the risk of severely jeopardising the health of your hamster.

For some further reading on homemade diets, I recommend reading here.

If you want to purchase a pre-made diet, that is just as high quality as a homemade mix, I recommend Getzoo - their mixes are far cheaper than Rodipets (who are daylight robbery, honestly) and they offer bulk options which is appealing to those who own multiple hamsters. You will go broke feeding 4 syrians rodipet and my Syrians in the past haven't been a huge fan of rodipet either, but they've all adored get zoo. Getzoo also offer mixes free of animal protein, so you can choose to add your hamsters preferred protein instead.

[Engel]

Ok. I used the calculator that was linked and my mix was mostly ok, not perfect though. Low in magnesium and riboflavin in particular.

Looking at vitakraft food and puur. (Both hamster and dwarf varieties). Are they any good? I know puur has mealworms and it's just my one Syrian that won't eat them.

[cypher]

Neither of those are very good tbh. If you want a commercial mix I would look to the German ones already mentioned.

[Engel]

I'll order some rodipet teddy and dwarf in the week. I'll mix in some more seeds (while trying to keep it balanced of course) to help it go further.

What's the difference between a teddy bear hamster and a normal Syrian? The foods are different % on rodipet so I'm curious