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Old 10-28-2015, 01:00 PM   #1
ThereGoesLucie
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Smile Which baby food do you use??

Hey!!!

I've been recommended to try giving my hamster baby food daily as she's not eating her normal food and will be better at taking her meds if I mix it with baby food...but!

...is there a specific one you can recommend? Only because I'm thinking about hamster nutrition and want to make sure she gets the protein, fibre etc

Thanks
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Old 10-28-2015, 01:51 PM   #2
EmmaAndChester
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

I've mentioned this to you before, but I'm not sure if you've seen it - but to reiterate, you cannot rely on baby food as the sole source of your hamsters nutrition. I'm not sure where abouts you are, but there are several lab blocks that you can buy to mash up and make soft for her to eat and if she eats those, THEN you can be rest assured she's getting everything she needs as these are nutrionally complete pellets.

But with feeding ONLY baby food, not only do you have to worry about protein, fat & fibre levels, but you have to worry about vitamins and minerals too as a defiency in those can be equally, if not more, damaging. We see this A LOT with homemade mixes that are fed alone - people only focus on getting the protein, fat & fibre right and compelety disregard everything else. The result? Sick hamsters. To my knowlege, this forum has seen it before with nutrionally in-complete mixes that were being sold as otherwise complete mixes, totally misleading people.

For baby foods you can feed to coax her into taking her medication (or eating the mashed up lab blocks), any brand is really fine - PROVIDING it doesn't contain:
- Vitamic C
- Citric Acid
- Onions/leeks
- Foods like liver, kidneys , as these are too rich for hamsters.
- Spices
- and added salt or sugar.

Last edited by EmmaAndChester; 10-28-2015 at 02:17 PM.
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Old 10-28-2015, 10:36 PM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

I generally find the baby food intended for babies under 4 months is safest, you still need to check the ingredients but it's less likely to have any of the things you need to avoid added to it.
Mine have never been at all keen on meat based ones so I use things like cauliflower cheese or pasta in broccoli & cheese sauce, baby porridge can be taken quite well too although most hams will enjoy just plain human porridge made with plain oats & water or a little milk & water, all of those are pretty good for mixing meds into.
They can't get their proper complete nutrition from baby food alone so only give a small amount, soaking ham mix or all in one pellets may help but if she's not eating normal food you need to find out why & try to encourage her if possible, it's not only nutrition you need to think about they also really need to chew hard food to wear those teeth down or you will have a whole other set of problems!
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Old 10-29-2015, 01:50 PM   #4
Kirstyw
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

Hey guys, sorry to barge in to your conversation but what are these lab blocks? We have a two year old hamster who is not doing too well at the moment. She is barely opening her eyes and can't walk without falling over. She seems to have gotten old all of a sudden. We are feeding her baby food with a mixture of science selective soaked in water and all mushed together. Do these provide adequate nutrition or should I get these lab block things? She still eats museli but as she doesn't have much balance etc she only eats a bit. The baby food is easier for her to eat.

Also, ThereGoesLucy, the baby food I'm using at the moment is Heinz Sunday chicken dinner, Hipp organic carrots cauliflower and peas and I've just tried her on Hipp parsnips, sweet potato and broccoli. They were recommended on here to me. Good luck. I hope your little one is ok
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Old 10-29-2015, 02:14 PM   #5
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

I am not familiar with lab blocks but I use Science Selective food and soak some of the heart shaped pellets in some water to make a hammie porridge. I am using it with two of my girls at the moment and have used it in the past too.

Science Selective is available at most good pet stores and online. It's a great food and is versatile with being able to make it softer for poorly or older hamsters. It can also be crushed and added to dry mixes.

Same precautions go along if using Science Selective in this way....hamsters' teeth will not be worn away, so there will need to be harder food, chews etc available for their teeth. Check that teeth are not getting too long, as that will cause additional issues. If the teeth do get too long, then a vet can trim them.
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Old 10-29-2015, 02:19 PM   #6
Kirstyw
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

Thanks artisans_uk. Yeah we got the science selective off the pets at home website. Any ideas which chews would be appealing to an old hammie?
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Old 10-29-2015, 02:36 PM   #7
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirstyw View Post
Thanks artisans_uk. Yeah we got the science selective off the pets at home website. Any ideas which chews would be appealing to an old hammie?
Mine all love the Whimsees, even Rue who has cutaneous lymphoma and Bracken who is really frail now due to old age.

Also, now that they are back in shops in preparation for Christmas, I have put a walnut in its shell in each cage. I crack the shell and remove part of it, otherwise it might be a bit tough for my dwarf fluffs to get going on it. Then I leave the rest to them. Although the walnut is not very hard, they will use teeth and claws to get to the walnut, so that might be worth a try too.

Also the traditional Bonio dog biscuits are popular with mine. I get a bag of the Wilkos (UK store) equivalent biscuits in the smaller size.
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Old 10-29-2015, 02:38 PM   #8
EmmaAndChester
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

Lab blocks are nutritionally complete pellets that can be fed by themselves (though it's not advisable as hamsters require a varied diet). Science selective pellets fall under these and are classed as lab blocks - they're super uselful for situations like this when hamsters can't or won't eat harder foods by themselves.

Unfortunately not a lot of chews will appeal to an older ham with teeth issues, but you can give whimzees or harder dog biscuits like Tribal Dog Treats a go to see if that's any help. If not, you're just going to need to check her teeth regularly and pop down to the vet for a tooth trim if you notice they need it. It's not too expensive either - my past old syrian required tooth trimes almost twice monthly (she had a jaw malformation as a result of how badly bred she was), and I was only charged a Tenner each time. Of course, prices vary from vet to vet, but I wouldn't imagine it'd cost anymore than €20.
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Old 10-29-2015, 02:58 PM   #9
Kirstyw
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

Thanks artisans_uk I will get them dog biscuits and leave one in her cage for her and I'm definitely going to get a walnut- sounds like a nice little treat for her!! Thanks as well as I'm sure it was you who originally recommended science selective to me and they have proved to be very useful!!

Thanks EmmaandChester I'll have a look out for them dog biscuits and giver her one. Will keep an eye on her teeth as well. It's good to know that we can get her teeth trimmed down if necessary.

It's quite upsetting sometimes to look in on her and she's so frail and can barely walk without falling over. We've just this minute looked in on her though and she had her eyes open and was walking about relatively ok so we were dead pleased!
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Old 10-29-2015, 03:17 PM   #10
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Default Re: Which baby food do you use??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirstyw View Post

It's quite upsetting sometimes to look in on her and she's so frail and can barely walk without falling over. We've just this minute looked in on her though and she had her eyes open and was walking about relatively ok so we were dead pleased!
I know exactly what you mean. I am so glad that she was managing reasonably well just a few minutes ago when you saw her. You are obviously doing the very best for her.
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