[ninaa]

Originally Posted by Ria P

I don't know how to link so took a photo of Whimzees.

Thanks! I'll look for those in the pet store. I hope Nina likes them!

Originally Posted by Ria P

Strictly as a matter of interest: have you checked what exactly pellets are made of? There should be an ingredients list on the packet. I'm curious enough now to check next time i'm in a petshop.

The pellets I bought are Versele-Laga Complete Hamsters & Gerbil.
Here's a link to their website where they state the nutritional facts:
Hamster & Gerbil - Versele-Laga

Ingredients: cereals (40%), derivatives of vegetable origin, vegetables (peas 15%), meat and animal derivatives (chicken 4%), fruit (apple 4%), oils and fats (salmon oil 1%), seeds (linseed 2%), minerals (montmorillonite clay 0.5%), yeasts, eggs and egg derivatives, fructo-oligosaccharides (0.3%), calendula, yucca (125 mg/kg), rosemary, green tea.

Analytical constituents: protein 17.0%, fat content 6.0%, crude fibre 4.0%, crude ash 5.5%, calcium 0.6%, phosphorus 0.4%.

Originally Posted by Ria P

Foraging for and hoarding food is such an important part of a hamster's life. I think it makes them happy.

Yeah, at the end of the day I want her to be happy. Maybe what I'll do is mix the pellets with some seeds formula, and be careful about sunflower seeds, cause it looks those are the most discussed around forums and should be limited because of its fat content.

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

Hi ninaa, reading your first comment can you clarify something, when you say seeds are you referring to what you called corn seeds and sunflower seeds?

The seed mix I bought is Versele-Laga Nature Hamster. Here is a link to their website:
Hamster - Versele-Laga

Ingredients: cereals, derivatives of vegetable origin, vegetables (green peas 12%), seeds (striped sunflower seeds 6%), vegetable protein extracts, fruit (apricot 1.5%, raisins 1%), nuts, insects (mealworms 4%), minerals, yeasts, oils and fats, herbs, MOS, FOS, calendula, grape seed.

Analytical constituents: protein 18%, fat content 9%, crude fibre 8%, crude ash 9.5%, calcium 0.7%, phosphorus 0.4%

They don't really state all of the seeds. In the website you can see a picture of the mix. If I were to describe it, I'd say there's sunflower seeds, grape seeds, white seeds, corn, peas, dried worms, peanuts and pellets. And also some kind of thing that looks like a big extruded rice grain, but it may be an egg of some sort. She would eat everything except the pellets and sometimes the worms.

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

So, you can see it has lots of different types of seeds and they are measured in a well balanced nutritious way and should not make your hamster fat or unhealthy.
However, say you fed your hamster an extra 10-20 sunflower seeds as a treat everyday and they ate them all, of course they would probably get fat as they are fattening.

Maybe I should take away the sunflower seeds and only give them to her as a treat and burry some of them under the bedding so she can play for a bit. That way I ensure she doesn't overeat them and I get her used to me.

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

Also as Ria already advised hamsters do not need a mineral block of any kind (this was a mistake I also made at first) it can mess with their own delicate mineral intake and they don't need that. If they are on a good food/seed mix they should not need any extra minerals.

Okay, I'll take it away then. I bought it for her moreso so she could file her teeth, not because I was worried about the mineral content, but it may not be useful for any of the reasons hahaha.


Thanks everyone for the advice! I think it'll really help!