Best Food Brands Question

WendyAnne · 07-22-2013, 11:11 AM

After doing some searching and reading here on the forum, I'm more educated about what is ok for Chinese hamsters to eat, but I'm still a bit confused. Right now I am feeding Princess Snowflake a mix of Ecotrition Essential Blend for Hamsters & Gerbils and Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster & Gerbil Food. I used to feed my guinea pigs Oxbow pellet food; I know that is one of the best recommended for piggies, so I would think/hope that they make a good hamster/gerbil food, too. Are these 2 brands/foods good for my little Chinese hamster? Some of the brands that I saw recommended here in the forum seem to be unavailable here in the US. (I'm sure I could order some from the UK, but I would think the shipping would be costly.) Basically, I'm asking the Chinese hamster owners in the USA - What brands/foods do you feed your little ones? Thanks!

racinghamster · 07-22-2013, 11:24 AM

Hi WendyAnne. I`m not familiar with foods in the US apart from Hazel Hamster (Harry Hamster here in the UK) so our US member`s will be best answering your question. The most important thing is to check the food ingredients and the analysis, which should have a high protein content of at least 18 or 19% protein. You want to avoid molasses, honey, syrup or banana pieces as these are all `added` sugars. If your mix contains whole corn, flaked maize or peas/pea flakes, don`t worry too much about these as they are essential parts of the mix and should not be removed. It`s `added` sugars you need to avoid.

Things you can add to your mix that are safe would be loose millet seed sold for caged birds like canary mix and also millet spray. They love the tiny seeds!

NO fruit (even dried) as this contains a high sugar content. A small amount of raw vegetables like broccoli and cucumber are enjoyed and are beneficial.

A small amount of crushed (safe) nuts are good also and a nice source of unsaturated fat and protein. Peanuts are usually added to hamster mixes sometimes.

Mixes formulated for two different species (hamsters & gerbils) may not suit a Chinese hamster, but without seeing the ingredients and the analysis, I can`t make any comments. It might be absolutely fine, but our US members would know more about those I suspect.

Kirsty1987 · 07-22-2013, 12:17 PM

I have found a couple of hamsters foods sold in the US supreme science selective is good but i had to crush the biscuits up as they were to big for my chinese hamster to manage Supreme Selective Fortified Diet for Hamsters at PETCO and it has zero added sugar.
This one I'm not sure about as i have not heard of it and i can't find any nutritional info about it Amazon.com: Vitakraft Vita Prima Sunscription Dwarf Hamster Formula, 2 lbs.: Pet Supplies But perhaps another member on here will have a bit more info on this food

WendyAnne · 07-22-2013, 05:16 PM

Thank you both for the great food advice! I greatly appreciate it! I checked out the 2 brands that I have here (Oxbow & Ecotrition), and they do not have any added sugars, but they are both around 15% in the protein category (a little low). Other than the protein being a little on the low side, they seem to be pretty good choices. That's a great idea to crush up the 'biscuits' in the mix; I'm noticing that our little Princess is leaving them in her dish. The Oxbow food is all O-shaped biscuits. I'll be sure to crush or break them up from now on.
I did a little more research on the foods that you both mentioned. The Supreme Selective Fortified Diet for Hamsters that Petco sells has no added sugars and has 17% protein; as you suggested, it does look like a good choice. I managed to find some nutritional/ingredient info for the Vitakraft Vita Prima Sunscription Dwarf Hamster Formula. Unfortunately, it contains cane molasses and fructooligosaccharide (a naturally occurring sugar), along with a few other ingredients which may be a bit challenging to pronounce and/or identify. Too bad, since it is the only food that I was able to find that is labeled as specifically for dwarf hamsters. Given all of this info, I think I'll probably order the Hazel Hamster or Selective Fortified food in the future. However, one of the websites that carries (or carried) Hazel Hamster said that it was discontinued by the manufacturer. Is this true?

WendyAnne · 07-22-2013, 07:08 PM

Almost forgot.... I saw a few posts here mentioning Burgess SupaHamster Dwarf Hamster Harvest food. It's supposed to be very good/highly recommended, but it's mainly available in the UK. It is available in the US via Amazon.com, but only in bulk at a cost of $51 + shipping.

When I have some extra time I will try to find a website that would ship internationally at a decent price....

racinghamster · 07-23-2013, 05:22 AM

That`s a shame the Burgess dwarf mix isn`t available unless you pay extortion money on shipping, that`s terrible! The Science Selective one does sound good as it`s a biscuit formula, so your hamster will get a balanced food, but you could also add in the loose millet and millet spray and also offer things like broken up peanuts and sunflower seeds as daily treats. Any good pet store should sell loose bags of caged canary mix and these can also have other seeds in them like hemp, which Chinese hamsters love!

Good luck with your search. x

WendyAnne · 07-25-2013, 06:15 AM

Yes, I'm a bit disappointed about the Burgess food, but I'll give our little Princess Snowflake the best that we can get over here. I'll also go down to our local Agway (farm supply store - where I buy our wild bird seed & supplies) and buy some of the seeds & canary mix you mentioned. Thanks for the advice!

racinghamster · 07-25-2013, 07:54 AM

She`s in good hands because her new mum is researching her diet!

They do love the millet type bird seeds. Canary mix is especially good as it contains linseeds and sometimes hemp seed, which is high in protein and tastes nutty. They love it!