Mr Johnsons hamster food

barley · 12-09-2015, 12:50 PM

I've been feeding my hamster a basic food mix from my local pet shop, it's not any specific brand, just their own-brand stuff in clear bags. My hams have been enjoying it but I'm sure it's not the greatest as it's very cheap and there is no nutritional info on the bags.

My hams don't like Harry Hamster and I wasn't keen on the Burgess when I used that for a little while, so with my last VetUK order I ordered a bag of Mr Johnsons hamster & gerbil food. I opened it today and it looks good - a nice variety with bits of banana, semi-moist carrot, mealworms etc. But the first thing that hit me when I opened the bag was how sweet it smelt?! It was really odd! It does have molasses listed in the ingredients, but still.

Quote:

Concentrate nuts (wheatfeed, extracted sunflower, straw, sugar beet, calcium carbonate, molasses, grassmeal, sodium chloride, vegetable oil, vitamin & trace element premix), kibbled maize, flaked maize, flaked peas, flaked beans, whole wheat, wheat extrusions*, sunflower seeds, locust bean extrusions, flaked naked oats, dried carrot, dried banana, peanuts, Verm-X herb blend, Soya oil.

Has anyone ever used it? My hams are a Robo and a Syrian. They get plenty of healthy extras too, including Science Selective complete pellets.

StarlightSerenity · 12-09-2015, 01:26 PM

Is it this one Mr Johnson's Supreme Hamster & Gerbil

If so, it looks OK. Although it only has about half the amount of fibre that a hamster needs and it seems like there's a lot of sugary ingredients. See how your hams get on with it, I wouldn't advise to give it to a diabetes prone ham but yours aren't so that's not a massive worry (still something to be aware of though). You'll have to watch out for them being selective with what they actually eat from it, you don't want them ending up with a sweet tooth!

barley · 12-09-2015, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarlightSerenity

Is it this one Mr Johnson's Supreme Hamster & Gerbil

If so, it looks OK. Although it only has about half the amount of fibre that a hamster needs and it seems like there's a lot of sugary ingredients. See how your hams get on with it, I wouldn't advise to give it to a diabetes prone ham but yours aren't so that's not a massive worry (still something to be aware of though). You'll have to watch out for them being selective with what they actually eat from it, you don't want them ending up with a sweet tooth!

Thanks for your reply. Yes, that's the one!

I think I'll see how we go for this bag but doubt I'll buy it again - half the recommended fibre is really low! Although I do give oats, flaked rye, linseed, millet and hay so hopefully that'll bump the fibre up a little.

What else is there I could try other than Harry Hamster or Burgess? I'm not so keen on trying the Zooplus mixes. Anyone ever used Vitakraft or Pets At Home own brand?

cypher · 12-09-2015, 11:14 PM

It's not really any wonder it smells sweet really if it has sugar beet, molasses & banana in it, that is a lot of sweet stuff!
As SS said the fibre is very low too.

I've looked at Vitakraft & never really been impressed by the ingredients so I haven't tried it or P@H mixes.
I don't know about syrians but my dwarfs really like the JR farms & Bunny mixes from zooplus, any particular reason you don't like the idea of trying Zooplus mixes?

barley · 12-10-2015, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

It's not really any wonder it smells sweet really if it has sugar beet, molasses & banana in it, that is a lot of sweet stuff!
As SS said the fibre is very low too.

I've looked at Vitakraft & never really been impressed by the ingredients so I haven't tried it or P@H mixes.
I don't know about syrians but my dwarfs really like the JR farms & Bunny mixes from zooplus, any particular reason you don't like the idea of trying Zooplus mixes?

Thanks for your reply - shall I not bother feeding them it at all? I don't want to give them something which isn't going to be good for them.

I am probably wrong, but the Zooplus mixes seem to have a lot of animal protein in? My hams love fresh chicken and dog biscuits and I wondered if I would have to stop those (they love them!) if I used a mix that already has a lot of animal protein already in? My Syrian is a year old now and I think my Robo must be soon if not already.

My hams hate foods that have loads of extruded biscuits and black logs, they all get totally ignored! I'd rather feed the same food to both - would I need the separate Syrian and dwarf mixes from Zooplus?

cypher · 12-10-2015, 05:56 AM

Whether you use it or not is going to have to be a personal choice I think, I don't think it has a particularly good selection of ingredients overall & don't think animals (regardless of issues like diabetes) need that much sweet stuff but that's me, I'm sure it wouldn't harm to use it maybe now & then.
The zooplus mixes do tend to have a good amount of animal protein in them but the overall protein isn't that high really so I would think you could still give other animal protein in moderation, your hams aren't old & if they're still active then I don't think you need worry about cutting back on anything.
I've had both the Bunny mixes from zooplus & there's not much difference between the dwarf & syrian mixes tbh, I don't see why the dwarf mix wouldn't be ok for a syrian & the syrian mix should be ok for a robo too so either would work.
I've only tried the dwarf JR farms mix so I'm not really sure what the other mixes would be like but again the dwarf one should be fine for a syrian.

racinghamster · 12-10-2015, 08:34 AM

What you could do, is pick out the banana pieces and put those in a small plastic air tight container and break smaller pieces off as treats? That`s what I do with the dried banana in the Burgess Supahamster. I have a Russian hybrid and although he doesn`t get sugary bought treats or raw fruit (apart from a small piece of apple) I still allow him fresh baby sweet corn and a little piece of dried banana as a special treat. Obviously you need to be wary of feeding these every day to diabetes prone species (Chinese and Russian hybrid) mainly, but they DO benefit from a little sugar especially if it`s natural and not `added`.

I`ve been looking at other mixes recently myself even though I use Burgess Supahamster (not the dwarf version), Zooplus JR Farm dwarf food and Science selective biscuits. I tend to break one up and add it to his food dish. Dwarf hamsters love millet seeds, which is why many of the dwarf versions have added canary seed and millets of various kinds added. Your basic shop bought foods are just that. Basic. They never look very appetising either and I doubt they cover all the nutritional needs of a hamster throught it`s life, although some poor souls probably do if their owners never bother to change things. They will survive on it.

Sugar beets are used in the production of the white sugar that is processed that we buy in bags! Molasses can be sprayed onto a hamster food to add taste. Usually things to avoid really, but a small amount added to a healthy hamster diet on occasion shouldn`t harm. Perhaps only add a small amount every other week?

The Bunny Dream hamster food on Zooplus looks very good and I`ve been mulling over this one for a few days now. like my little man to have a variety of tastes and sing more than one mix means if he hates something in one food, the other food makes up for it, or part of. I absolutely hate those extruded biscuit mixes with the alfalfa pellets too and it`s not easy to avoid them unless buying better quality stuff online. More expensive yes, but if you make them stretch, it can pay for itself. x

cypher · 12-10-2015, 10:05 AM

I suspect the sugar beet used in hamster food will most likely be the fibrous part of the plant left over after the white sugar we use has been extracted so not necessarily all bad & has some nutritional value but probably not so good either, molasses also has some good mineral content so again not all bad but basically still a sugar.
RH just to clarify a bit if anyone reading has the diabetes prone species, they don't benefit from sugar at all, no animal does but they do need complex carbohydrates & some of the natural simple carbs in some veg & fruit which come intact with all the fibre & other nutrients. I think the term sugar can be a bit confusing sometimes.

racinghamster · 12-10-2015, 10:31 AM

your right cypher, I should have noted that more. Rather than saying sugars, I should have said carbs or starches that are naturally found in some foods. I really need to pay more attention when I`m trying! x

barley · 12-10-2015, 10:45 AM

Hmm maybe I'll just use a little bit of it now and then mixed in as a treat and keep looking for a good food mix to try. I will try the Zooplus ones when I next do an order

- but I literally only placed one last week for all my dog chews, and it'll take him a good few months to get through them and be needing more, and not worth doing an order just for ham food as it doesn't meet the minimum spend without adding loads of things I don't need!

I do only use the store-brought hamster foods as a base mix, I add heaps of extra stuff like millet, canary seed, extra sunflower seed, complete pellets, oats, mealworms, dog kibble, alfalfa rings, rye flakes, hay etc. But I do like the base mix I use to be a good one, as I know that's the nutritionally balanced complete stuff for them.

They get veg virtually daily and the odd bit of fruit too.