dwarf food for syrians?

danni02 · 12-30-2011, 05:38 AM

seen as harry flat out refuses to eat the nuggets in the syrian food the woman at p@h suggested i feed him dwarf food as it doesnt have any in. i brought the superhamster stuff. now im assuming i have to add some things to this to make up the things syrians need to eat??

**kyrilliondaemon** · 12-30-2011, 07:17 AM

If its the nuggets in the P@H hamster muesli then you need to thank Harry and praise him forever for not eating them lol (Sorry for saying it, but I checked the ingredients of those and they're mostly sugar by the looks of it, so ours get compliments for hating them now.)

Other than that, I think syrians and dwarves actually have a reasonably similar diet (or roughly as similar as that of all dwarf species anyway). We have a syrian, four russian hybrids and two roborovskis and their diet is very similar. The dwarves have added mealworms (because the syrian won't touch them), and the russians have less sugar but thats the only difference in what we feed.

So in short - I think it'll actually be ok to just feed the dwarf food, but there may be some things he still won't eat unfortunately. Like a lot of hamsters scarcely touch the alfalfa pellets (unfortunately there are quite a few in the dwarf hamster food P@H sells from what I've heard), and all of ours have their own little preferences with what bits of the food they like most and such.

Someone may disagree, but personally I'd be happy to feed our syrian dwarf food if I ever wanted to try her on it.

**Silver** · 12-30-2011, 07:56 AM

Yes Dwarfs & Syrians both need the same fibre/fat/protein so feeding with Dwarf hamster food is ok.

The only thing is Dwarfs like smaller bits & usually Syrians like bigger bits. But every Syrian is different, so Harry might like the smaller bits in the dwarf food as he is leaving the bigger bits out of the bigger bits in his mix.

I would add in some other type of kibble Burns Chicken & Rice Kibble is a good one it's the one I use in my dwarf mix's & they love them. But any dog kibble would be ok to try xxx

racinghamster · 12-30-2011, 09:02 AM

I agree. There isn`t that much difference in `mixes` generally, except a syrian mix will have larger pieces and dwarf mixes will have smaller pieces and smaller seeds! Harry Hamster goes down well with syrians (this is what my lad eats and seems to enjoy) although I add other ingredients to this and he also gets bits and pieces from my Burgess Supahamster Harvest mix (not the dwarf version tough).

Alfalfa/grass pellets don`t normall get eaten by rodents in general, although I always add some just incase. But I mainly pick them out and bin them since I add other fibre anyway like Kallo organic wholegrain puffed rice and organic jumbo oats from Tesco! All hamsters love dry porridge oats, but jumbo oats are bigger and less dusty.

I would be wary of dog kibbles all being the same because they are not. Many are very high in protein and not suitable. The best dog kibbles are Burns and James Wellbloved `lite` or `senior` versions as these are produced for older dogs and have far less protein. An animal the size of a hamster could run into kidney/urine problems if fed too much protein, so be wary of feeding dog or cat kibbles. Especially to animals over a year old.

KatiePillow · 12-30-2011, 09:57 AM

Danni, where abouts in SoT are you? I bought a bulk lot of 14 bags of harry hamster, and then two of my hamsters have died since, so I am unlikely to get through it all. If you'd like you could have a bag of mine to try? I haven't found it in any pet shops around Sadly

danni02 · 12-30-2011, 10:31 AM

we live in goldenhill katie. its just down from kidsgrove. i would love to buy a bag off you if thats possible. i have looked in several pet shops around here but like you say they dont stock it

racinghamster · 12-30-2011, 10:38 AM

If Harry Hamster is a food you can`t get hold of locally or can buy online, I wouldn`t start a hamster on a food it won`t be on long term as it can upset their tummy. Even though most hamster mixes are much of a muchness, they do say that new foods should be added slowly over a time period, so be aware of this. Harry Hamster can be purchased online though, so you do have that option open to you if KP can get you started.

KatiePillow · 12-30-2011, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danni02

we live in goldenhill katie. its just down from kidsgrove. i would love to buy a bag off you if thats possible. i have looked in several pet shops around here but like you say they dont stock it

You needn't buy it.. nice to help a fellow pet shop impared person out

but I've just googled were you are.. and it might not be economical for you, lol. I'm right down by festival park >.<

danni02 · 12-31-2011, 10:47 AM

i was down in festival park yesterday at p@h

. we go there a few times a month

KatiePillow · 12-31-2011, 01:23 PM

Ah, awesome.. that p@h is where we got my Sandy and Pillow from ^.^ (last year my OH lived up here, and this year I joined him)
If you PM me next time you come down I can give you my address or whatever and you can grab a bag if you'd like.

I haven't been to festival park for a while because I end up going into p@h and getting all.. hammy broody