Quote:
Originally Posted by Quin
I was thinking of mineral chews, but I currently feed him the mix above and Zilla Munchies Omnivore Mix. It contains: dried bok choy, dried carrots, freeze-dried meals worms (Or dehydrated), freeze-dried silkworms, freeze dried crickets, dried zucchini, dried bananas and dried zucchini. He also eats meat one or twice a week during her period of feeding. Of course, he’s not fed everyday and there’s some time between his meals. The herbs, I’m working on the research more (I’m in a low-income area) and everything is fairly far. I may grow some of the herbs myself and dry some, but I need to do more research. And do you mean pure bites as in frozen chicken, fish, etc given to cats and dogs?
His current protein meets 17%, fat is 4, and fiber is 10,
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Pure Bites are the freeze dried cat & dog treats. Personally I would stick with chicken, turkey, shrimp, etc and not the fish or liver options - shrimp in particular is actually much healthier than mealworm since it has a lower fat content. Unlike dried mealworms and similar dried insects, you won't have pieces of potentially pure chitin(which isn't necessarily nutritional beneficial). I would stick to those instead of the Zilla omnivore mix, you're trying to add protein with things like Pure Bites
not extra vegetables and such. Vegetables tend to have the most nutritional value fresh anyways when possible, with some exceptions needing to be cooked for safety or rarely having better nutrition cooked!
Container gardening is definitely a good idea. I've even found organic seed in Walmart of all places, but if you have the option to order online(not through Amazon, look for places with the safe seed pledge) you might find better deals and more variety. I would also highly recommend looking into ways to grow more of different produce in general from what you buy - not just for the hamster but for you as well.
Overall though it's important not to just go by the macro nutrients. These are important, but ingredients in general can also impact the quality of a food. It's easy to meet protein, fat, and fiber requirements even if something is the hamster equivalent to junk food.