An alternative to mealworms? Ideas please

[Gizmo_Gonzalez]

Both my boys love mealworms! I currently feed them burgess dwarf superham mix which they love, and scatterfood treats are monkey nuts, broccoli and occasionally a scrap of apple or carrot insted of broccoli. I was wondering...

If wild dwaft hansters forrage for insects, is their any other dried insects i could try them with that are safe for them?

Are their any nuts/ seeds i should avoid?

I already limit fruit and sugar to a minimum to avoid diabetes. And veg is limited to small pieces (1 or 2 cm cubes) once or twice a week to avoid diarrhoea. But i would like to give rhem different treats once in a while, to spice things up.
Thanks

[vanilla-yazoo]

if you check the wiki section it has a safe food list
what i do with my lot is give them sunflower and millet seed from the bag, wilkinsons canary mix is only cheep and is yellow and white millet and canary seed, thats safe.
You can always mix this with a pot of mealies and have a scatter food box this is like what i do XD
i know they can have shrimp, i asume dried is fine, and krill fish is in silvers food mix, these are also good protien foods
i have a terrible memory, yours are dwarfs right?
they can have egg, chicken or turkey thats been boiled and shredded, markie and bonios(or shops own versions, as long as no onion) my lot had puppy markies, they would sit and chew it all XD
you can also use dry or cooked pasta, cooked rice, dry porridge oats, or made up with warm water into a porridge
babyfood is my main supliment to syrians, but some are too sugary for dwarfs, grandpas sunday lunch is chicken and veg, so a tea spoons worth of that will make them happy
the list goes on XD

[kiania]

I was thinking the same question (for roborovski hams specifically). I have a dubia roach feeder colony, so have some dwarf hamster hand-sized roaches that I was wondering if anyone else had tried?

Same with micro crickets and mini locusts, butterworms and calciworms. I buy in live food anyway (combined with the mealworm and roach breeding), so it isn't exactly hard/expensive for me to add a pot of mini-sized hoppers to my basket. Just not sure if anyone else has tried roaches/locusts/crickets/butterworms/calciworms, or whether there is anything inherently wrong with any of them

[KatiePillow]

Locust and crickets would probably be better off dead, people feed live mealworms but often crush their heads first because hamsters pouch them and can get a nasty nip.

I've tried dead crickets and none of my dwarves like them, I think they're too big and might be appreciated more by a syrian, but they're always left without exception with my lot

I have no idea about the roaches etc though >.<

[kiania]

Did you try normal instars or micro crickets? I know what people call pinhead crickets are about the same size as a syrian hamster's eye, which would be the size I'd consider. Probably locusts over crickets though - less chance of nipping. But generally speaking, folk (reptile/hog folk) tend to pop crickets/locusts in the fridge for a while, to slow them down, and then tong-feed.

Either way, I've got dried crickets, canned crickets, dried locusts, dried mealworms, live mealworms, live dubia roaches, and can get mini mealworms, pinheads, and all sorts of things I <3 my livefood seller.

If there is nothing 'bad' in them, then I'll have a go. No great loss if they don't get eaten, I know a certain spiny madame that won't let them go to waste

[JessieAnne]

I feed my dwarf a mix of dried mealworms/grasshopers/crickets.


She likes to dig out the grasshopers, and they are HUGE, the last one she grabbed was about two inches long and it freaked me out lol. She actually seems to like those more than the worms.

[kiania]

Ha! That is the same one I have I have only found it in the US though Bodhi (hedgehog it was bought for) loves it - she only very very rarely gets any because of the association between dried insects and compaction of the gut, so she normally only gets one or two at a time if we're out of the house for whatever reason (vets/shows/etc) if I can't take live mealworms for whatever reason (or have run out - I keep a pot of dried in her travel bag in case I run out of live mealworms and need to bribe her still ).

If I can use them with the robos, awesome! Just need to find a UK seller

[Hamtastic]

I use the same Fluker's mix linked above. I also add dried gammarus shrimp. Some of my hams don't like freeze-dried mealworms, so I offer them live. My friend feeds live crickets, which I'm still squeamish about, but it's fun to watch hams hunt a cricket

[kiania]

Does your friend a) have dwarfs (robos?), and b) if so, use pinhead crickets, or bigger ones?

I bring the hog out into a big plastic box to let her run around like a loon and hunt live food. Certainly willing to encourage her to 'share' her box with the future robos to let them try to catch a few bits and pieces of their own. I don't like letting live food (other than mealworms in a mealworm-proof dish) loose in cages - too many reports of crickets and morio worms eating/biting lizards Worries me. But I am not exactly squeamish...although atm, one of my adult roaches is sitting on the top of their house above my desk, peering at me, which is...a little disconcerting...

[Gamina]

This is a great site for things liek this my boys have had a selection of all in the mixed packet Dried Insects and Fish Products : ratRations.com