Burgess dwarf - picking bits out?

Clairealex · 09-21-2013, 02:34 AM

Hi all,

I've noticed Chubs seems to be getting a bit bored with his Harry Hamster mix. I pick out the peas and corn and usually add a little bit or broccoli, cucumber and one mealworm. He gets the tiniest shaving of apple once a week. I did plan to cut it out but he'd had much bigger pieces all his life and he absolutely loves it, so I left a tiny little bit in for his enjoyment! He now flys at my hand when I'm putting these extras in and seems much less enthusiastic about his main meal! He still eats it, but I have to leave the big biscuit parts in for about two days before they start to disappear.

I noticed yesterday p@h stock the Burgess Supahamster Dwarf. I thought I could mix this with his harry hamster for a bit more variety and hopefully bring back his enthusiasm for his dinner!

My only question is: The Burgess still contains Peas and Maize. Do these still have to picked out, even though the mix is specifically for dwarfs?

Thanks!

jesselle · 09-21-2013, 03:45 AM

I mix burgess and hh for my hybrid. Because he hasn't tested positive for diabetes I allow him all the mix and leave out any sugary treats.

racinghamster · 09-21-2013, 03:50 AM

Hi Clairalex. To answer your questions. First of all, you don`t need to remove anything from your hamster`s mix. I know you are thinking these need removing because they are sugary, but no, they are NOT added sugar, they are starchy carbohydrates which are beneficial to your hamsters health.

So you can do a few things:

1. Feed both the Harry Hamster and the Burgess Dwarf mix together. This will boost the variety and everything is natural, so nothing needs removing.
2. Apple (if you have a diabetic prone species) is fine. Apple has recently been proven to help reverse the problems with diabetes in humans. I always offer apple to any hamster I keep, even a Chinese. So it`s fine as a treat.

Supermarkets sell a hamster mix called WAGG Hamster, Gerbil, Mouse Munch. It`s 1kg in weight and has apple added in dried form. I feed this along with Burgess Dwarf to my Roborovski and he really enjoys it. It`s 16% protein, 10% fat, 9% crude fibre, 5% crude ash, 0.7% calcium and 0.5% phosphorous.

My friend recently tried to buy the Burgess Dwarf mix from her Pets At Home branch and they said they didn`t stock it anymore, so just to let you know that if your hamster enjoys this mix, it might be a good idea to look at independent pet shops as well in case you go back to PAH to find they don`t have it anymore. I buy mine from my local pet shop supplier.

So no, you don`t need to remove anything from your mix. x

Clairealex · 09-21-2013, 04:04 AM

Hi racing hamster and jesselle!

Thank you! I started out not removing anything but due to a lot of things I was reading I thought I had to take out the peas and corn from mixes like harry hamster to make it 'dwarf friendly'. There's so much conflicting info out there!!

That's great news though. I'll start phasing them back in

I seen some on the shelves of my local p@h yesterday so ill maybe buy two bags whilst I'm there

racinghamster · 09-21-2013, 04:44 AM

I think the general view was based around some of the dwarf hamster species being prone to diabetes that the right thing to do was to attack the corn and peas in their food, which is crazy because hamster`s require all the nutritional needs their mix gives them. Whole corn/flaked maize contains omega 3 & 6 as well as vitamin B. So removing corn removes these elements. I was one of those people who got it into my head that removing bits from a mix was the wise thing to do, when all I was doing was depleting the nutrients. Even though I was adding puffed rice and porridge oats to make up for it, I don`t do that now. I realised that my actions were nothing more than listening to hype and gossip and the `word of others` with no real scientific base to it.

The best way to keep hamsters healthy is to stick to feeding a whole commercial mix that is produced solely for their dietary requirements and don`t go mad with artificial treats or human based foods. x

Clairealex · 09-21-2013, 05:14 AM

Excellent! He'll be happy to have his corn and peas back! I've got the supahamster so he'll have a wee tiny 1/4 teaspoon full of that with his regular HH today.

His only treats are fresh veg, millet and mealworm so he doesn't get added sugars that way, apart from his little bit of apple. The more I think about it, of course he needs sugar in his every day diet! Think I just got caught up in the word of mouth hype like you said.

He shows no signs of diabetes so I'm quite happy to include all of his mix now

racinghamster · 09-21-2013, 05:24 AM

Go for it.

x

Clairealex · 09-21-2013, 09:20 AM

For the first time in weeks, chubs has jumped into his food bowl and half is it is done already! Very impressed with burgess. It's definitely here to stay!

Here he is foraging about his bowl. Wee cute tub!

racinghamster · 09-21-2013, 09:51 AM

What a greedy guts!!!

I always use Burgess. It`s a good small seed and grain addition on it`s own, or added to another mix which offers extruded biscuits and other bits and pieces. I use the Burgess dwarf with WAGG hamster/gerbil/mouse Munch. Goes down well with my wee robo and he`s over two years old!

Clairealex · 09-21-2013, 10:05 AM

I seen the WAGG in Asda today so will probably pick up a bag next time and include a wee bit to his mix and see how that goes down too. Think I've hit gold with the HH and burgess mix just now but i quite like experimenting to keep his dinner time as exciting as possible!