Supreme Harry hamster vs Burgess Hamster harvest

[WinnieTheHam]

Through studying nutrition at college at the moment and the inspiration of my highly motivative nutrition lover tutor, I have decided to look at these two feeds. I took the Harry hamster packet in college today and realised there are some nasties in there - like the colorants.

Comparing these foods I find that the Burgess hamster harvest may be better than Harry hamster. There are no nasty additives and the protein source if from pure chicken and mealworms. The downside to Hamster harvest is that it contains banana, which is okay depending on the amount in the whole mixture. The fibre is higher, which is good, It contains vitamin E (unlike Harry hamster) which is also good and aids in proper digestion of the fibres. The fat content is a little higher but i'd still say it's fine for Syrian hamsters. Protein is a little lower - but as a whole it would be good for any age of Syrian hamster, with additional protein foods fed to the young and growing ones.

They both have the same ingredient of corn, which is a shame as it's classed as a 'filler' due to it's low nutritional value, but I have yet to see the comparison of amounts in the whole mix.

I've always been put off by the colourants in Harry hamster but bought it as it was a great food otherwise, though I think I may have to try my hamsters with Hamster harvest and see how they take to it.

Burgess Hamster harvest -

Composition
Cooked Cereal Biscuits, Toasted Wheat Flakes, Toasted Soya Flakes*, Toasted Maize Flakes Grass Pellets, Toasted Oat Flakes, Peas, Maize, Sunflower Seeds, Banana Chips, Peanuts, Pumpkin Seeds, Meal Worms, Poultry Fat, Chicken Meal , Monocalcium Phosphate,
*May Contain GM Materials

Analytical Constituents
Protein 17%, Fat Content 8%, Crude Fibre 6.5%, Crude Ash 5%.

Nutritional Additives
Vitamin A (retinyl acetate) E672 11,516 iu/kg, Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) E6761 1213 iu/kg, Vitamin E (dl Alpha Tocopherol acetate) 3a700 55mg/kg, Copper (copper sulphate pentahydrate) E4 46mg/kg, Iodine (Calcium Iodate anhydrous) E2 1.56 mg/kg, Selenium (Sodium Selenite) (E8 ) 0.37 mg/kg, Iron (Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate)(E1) 176 mg/kg, Managanese (Manganese Oxide) (E5) 74mg/kg, Zinc oxide E6 76mg/kg.


Supreme Harry hamster -

Ingredients
Wheat, torrified wheat, flaked peas, soya bean meal, whole maize, flaked maize, sunflower seeds, flaked soya beans, alfalfa meal, peanut kernels, soya oil, peanuts in shells, pumpkin seeds, soya bean hulls, wheat feed, extruded locust beans, calcium carbonate.

Analysis
Protein 18.0%, Crude fibre 6.0%, Fat content 6.0%, Inorganic matter 5.0%, Calcium 0.8%, Phosphorus 0.6%, Additives: Colourants.

Vitamin A 20000 IU, Vitamin D3 2000 IU, Ferrous sulphate monohydrate 61mg, Calcium iodate anhydrous 1.5mg, Copper sulphate pentahydrate 20mg, Manganese oxide 32mg, Zinc oxide 87mg, Sodium selenite 0.3mg.

What is your view on these foods and which do you think is best? I haven't tried the Burgess Hamster harvest yet, though I'm thinking of changing to it. My hamsters just don't seem fussed with Harry hamster unless I mix it with Rosewood naturals herbs plus.

[Pebbles82]

That's interesting that there isn't added vitamin E in HH - I hadn't noticed that before. On the other hand it does have sunflower seeds in which are probably high in Vitamin E. I'm not keen on added colourants either, but it doesn't say which ones they are - some are harmless or quite natural. Some are in many human foods without much issue. It would be nice if there weren't any I guess.

I have tried Charlie with just about everything but the Burgess. He likes HH and it's been the only thing he will go for each time. I think I should try the Burgess though. I hope it has good sized pieces in for Syrians because most of the others I've tried have lots of itty bits in that just get left or end up at the bottom of the bag, and not many good sized pieces in like HH is.

The senior Rodipet mix looks good and has good sized pieces in. Charlie will eat that but prefers HH.

[racinghamster]

Good article Winnie. I`ve never been keen on Harry Hamster personally due to the large coloured biscuits. Used it a while back when I had a male Syrian and ditched it in favour of the Burgess Supahamster, but I also used various other mixes back then like WAGG and Tesco`s own brand hamster mixes. Boris liked them mixed together but I always struggled to make them more exciting for him.

Nowadays, having looked at most of the locally available hamster foods and online, I eventually opted for these:

Burgess Supahamster (not the dwarf version but that one is fine for dwarfs as it has added millet seeds which Syrians don`t particularly go for) but I feed the normal Supahamster to my Russian hybrid and remove the banana pieces and only feed a small broken off piece as a treat now and then.

JR Farm Dwarf food (Zooplus only) this is a nice small seed mix for all dwarf hamsters with dried shrimp added. It`s lower in protein, but can have dried mealworms added.

Supreme Science Selective biscuits: A complete food, but adds to the above mixes with it`s nice gravy/bonio type smell and the biscuit texture and is an all-in-one heart shaped biscuit that can be fed on it`s own, added to other mixes, or softened for old hamsters or hamsters who have dental issues.

I have ordered a bag of Bunny Dream hamster food a few days ago from Zooplus mainly as something `new` to add to all the above. It costs £5.99p a bag, but looks appetising for what it is and I felt it was worth giving a go as my hybrid is older now and I like him to keep focussed on what he eats and not become un-interested. I`m a fan of mixing many things together for variety. Some ingredients never get touched in some mixes, so being creative means the hamster isn`t missing out. More importantly, raw vegetables should always be part of a daily diet as these provide the hamster with nutrients and fibre which help keep them in better health. Something a dry diet wont do if it`s not all eaten.

So far, these are the only hamster foods I`ve felt are worthy. I`ve never tried the Rodipet stuff Serendipity mentioned but I`m sure it`s a better food than harry Hamster! I could be wrong though! x