Mix Comparison

[StarlightSerenity]

I've been looking at different mixes for a little while now and thought I'd do a quick table comparing some of them. I've only compared the protein, fat and fibre contents and put in whether or not the mix has high sugar content ingredients. If anyone has any information on other mixes which I can add to it please let me know I have only added mixes that are in the UK, I can do a separate US one but will need some help finding the info



Notes:

The ‘sugar’ column only matters when buying a mix for a diabetes prone hamster, the high sugar content foods in mixes are usually corn and peas which can be taken out (there's loads of topics on this in the Feeding/Nutrition forum). Ensure to check the ingredients though as some also contain molasses. RatRations sell a dwarf mix (Dwarf Hamster Basic) which is sugar free but I haven’t listed it as the protein fat and fibre contents aren’t listed on the website.

Mr Johnson’s Supreme Hamster and Gerbil Mix – the only online information I could find was for this product, most places seem to sell the ‘Amos’ range and I can’t confirm whether they are the same product or not.

Beaphar do not provide any information regarding protein, fat or fibre levels but from what I’ve seen they all contain corn, peas and other high sugar content foods.

I couldn’t find protein, fat or fibre contents for the following mixes which are sold on a few online stores:

Quiko Sunny Greens Hamster Food
Quiko Sunny Greens Dwarf Hamsters Gerbils & Mouse Food
Mayfield Hamster Food

[StarlightSerenity]

Just thought of the Wilkos mix and the supermarket ones... Will add those ASAP

[Bekki2308]

The JR farm mixes and vitakraft menu are sugar free according to the manufacturer though. Some distinction between molasses, fruit and no added sugar might be good?

I have never seen the amos range of the mr johnsons in shops only the normal one so I cant help with if they are the same though

[souffle]

Thanks - useful, unbiased reference starlightserenity.
I will sticky it. Let me know if you need the original post modified at any point as more mixes are added.

[StarlightSerenity]

Originally Posted by Bekki2308

The JR farm mixes and vitakraft menu are sugar free according to the manufacturer though. Some distinction between molasses, fruit and no added sugar might be good?

I have never seen the amos range of the mr johnsons in shops only the normal one so I cant help with if they are the same though

Trying to make more work for me Hehehe I should be able to do that. A few more columns, what about corn and peas too? I'm don't really know much about the sugary stuff as I only briefly looked into it once. So, molasses, fruit, peas/corn, no added sugar? That sound good?

Originally Posted by souffle

Thanks - useful, unbiased reference starlightserenity.
I will sticky it. Let me know if you need the original post modified at any point as more mixes are added.

Thanks!! Glad I could be helpful, I'll let you know when I do an updated version/s

[bonkers4hamsters]

Would it be possible to put the reccomeded percentages up there as well, or does that make it biased?

[Lougarry]

Thank you for this, SS; very interesting.

Originally Posted by bonkers4hamsters

Would it be possible to put the reccomeded percentages up there as well, or does that make it biased?

I think it does as there isn't a strong body of evidence supporting the recommendations.

[Dandelion07]

This is really good Starlight - thank you! (And I love a proper tick in a box, not a square root sign - you did good!).

I am interested in the recommended percentages of protein, fat etc for hamsters too, and where these figures come from if anyone has the research refs? (I am definitely a 'why' person). I quite often see people say that hamsters should have x percent of this and that but I would be interested in why this is. I did research this myself recently but could not find any evidence that was up to date and relevant.

[StarlightSerenity]

The tick was a copy and paste job from the net lol!

This thread - Why Protein 19% Fat 6% Fibre 8%? (Over here Silver!) states the percentages that is recommended by Silver and some of the reasons for recommending them. Silver is unable to share details of her research though (a lot of threads have covered this).

I've never come across any scientific papers that talk about the levels of protein fat and fibre and I'm unsure as to why these figures are seemingly the most important but it does give us something specific to look at when researching different mixes.

Silver, what is the protein, fat and fibre levels for your dwarf mixes? Just so I can add them to the table

[Silver]

I did make a very long post about how to search for information but it got taken off

Research, Research, Research some more

Collate all the info & come up with what you believe is the best % for hams from all the info you can find.

Is the very short answer

Silver xxx