Bought a bag of Tesco Hamster Food..

[racinghamster]

I thought I would give this a go since my syrian (bless him) eats the Burgess Supahamster Harvest, but I feel it`s a bit lacking in larger pieces for him, so I had a look at the Tesco Hamster Food (not the value stuff) the one in the black bag at £1.99p while I was in the store this morning and decided to give it a go. It reminds me of any familiar hamster mix really with the typical biscuits, grass pellets, pea flakes, whole corn, sunflower seeds and a few other bits and pieces. I`m mixing it in with some Burgess (half and half) and also adding the jumbo oats, pumpkin seeds, bukwheat and a few hemp seeds, which he enjoys.

It has a 2013 use by date so it`s nice and fresh. I`m sure he will like it because he used to be on Harry Hamster and this isn`t far off that in terms of ingredients. I will be sticking to the Burgess food for my roborovski though as it`s a smaller grain mix and he enjoys that with his added millet and other bits that my syrian also has added to his food.

Anyone else use this food for their syrian? Just interested to know if it goes down well or not. I know some people use it as a base with other foods when they have a number of hamsters and they say it works well.

[Hammymad]

I too have decided to try this for my hams,they've not started on it yet,so fingers crossed they'll like it xxx

[Silver]

what is the Protien/fat/fbre content RH?

Silver xxx

[racinghamster]

Hi Silver, I will list what it states on the bag:

Analysis:

Protein: 16%
Crude Fibres: 7.5%
Fat Content: 9.0%
Inorganic Matter: 4.0%

Composition: Maize, Wheat, Soya, Wheatfeed, Oatfeed, Peanuts (min 4%), Sunflower seeds (min 4%), Grass, Sunflower Extract, Vitamins & Minerals, Apple, Grape, Vegetable Oil, Carob Meal, Linseed.

It goes on to list additives per Kg... things like vitamin A, vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Iron, Zinc, manganese, Iodine, Copper and Antioxidant.

The jury is still very much out at the moment but I do like the sizing of the edible biscuits (not too small but not large like the Harry Hamster biscuits) and it does look nice. I have to say, It`s nicer than I thought it would be. Boris will be the one who decides that though!

[Silver]

The fat is really high.

Should be:

19%Protien
6% fat
Fibre 8%

So Protein a little low
Fibre a smidgen low
Fat way high

Silver xxx

[TraceyH]

I sometimes buy this and mix it with the hamsters main food, which is from local pet shop I bought the hamsters from. The mix from local pet shop is similar to the Harry Hamster food as I remember buying a bag and comparing the ingredients.

To be honest I don't think much to the tesco stuff, it seems more cat biscuits than anything else to me and the other stuff I buy at the local pet shop I've noticed they've started scrimping and don't include monkey nuts anymore. Just seem to be filling it up with sunflower seeds. I'll be complaining soon I'm sure.

[Kissa]

Originally Posted by Silver

The fat is really high.

Should be:

19%Protien
6% fat
Fibre 8%

So Protein a little low
Fibre a smidgen low
Fat way high

Silver xxx

Is there any commercial food that actually has this? Just out of curiosity

ETA: Not including your mix, of course, I know that one has all the necessities

[Silver]

Harry Hamster has the same % as above.

But mine will have many more different ingredients

Silver xxx

[racinghamster]

Thanks for the input guys. Silver, it was the fat/oil content I thought was dodgy aswell, but because I mix in other bits and pieces, I tought this might dulute it a little? People who make their own mixes used to say that if you add other ingredients to a base hamster mix, it will reduce the overall analytical percentages, but I have no idea if this is correct or not. I don`t like to sway too far away from an original mix for fear of unbalancing it too much, but the only other seeds and grains I add now are few and far between. Things like hemp seed, jumbo organic oats, buckwheat and human grade monkey nuts. My wee roborovski gets these aswell (minus the large monkey nuts) aswell as budgie tonic seed mix and dry mealworms added. I`m always on the lookout for other additions I feel are beneficial, but the above are all I add at the moment.

I`m not sure all commercial hamster mixes will have the same protein/fat/fibre content anyway as they all use different or similar ingredients.

[Silver]

You are right all the different makes of hamster food have different %. It doesn't make it right though.

As ever I am trying to get mine first on Ratrations then hopefully taken up by a big company.

Ho hum one day xxx