Science Selecive?

[pinkneon]

I just wondered how good the Science Selective food is? Sweep is currently on Harry Hamster but is VERY picky! I was wondering whether Science Selective is nutritionally balanced? I was thinking of getting some as adding it to his current food in the view to changing him over completely BUT ONLY if it was nutritionally balanced for him. If it isn't I would probably feed with the current food, or I might just leave it. I have noticed though that it is quite expensive, and you don't seem to get a lot of it in a pack!

[velma]

I'm not so hot on nutrition but I think it's okay so long as supplemented with fresh food and a little extra protein from seeds?
I like it but I use it as an add on food. I give a few pellets to my Cleo, my Syrian, every few days as a "treat" as she really like them. It means I'm only giving her food but she thinks she's having a treat Hector, my robo, isn't that fussed (and I have to bash them up for him into smaller pieces.) Lewis, the Chinese, seems to love them - he carries them round but I've not actually seen him eat one yet, so who knows... As I'm not using it as their sole food it doesn't work out an expensive thing for me.
I know some people use it as a complete food on it's own for very picky hams (Fluffagrams is one, I think) but in other circumstances foraging is good for hamsters as their natural behaviour so changing the food every 2-3 days can encourage them to eat the more boring foods. But if you're worried Sweep isn't getting all his nutrients you could try adding it in with his food?

[cypher]

It is nutritionally balanced & has a good amount of protein, not a very wide range of ingredients though so I would only use it as a supplement to another more varied food mix.
I've tried it but not keen, I'm not mad about all in one food pellets anyway, wonder where the smell comes from as no additives are mentioned & none of the ingredients smell like that so I'm just a little suspicious lol! none of my hams will touch the stuff!

[Fluffagrams]

I used it as the primary feed for an extremely fussy Chinese Hamster and upon being shown, I was told that her condition was very good so it can't have been that bad for her. My first choice would have been for her to have eaten a more varied diet but she was happy enough with it so we stuck to it. I didn't find that we went through it all that quickly but then May was a Chinese and they're obviously going to eat a little less than a Syrian.

Whilst May was being fed Science Selective I would occasionally scatter some seeds or mealworms in her cage to encourage foraging and she'd be fed extra things like fresh vegetables a couple of times a week to add variety to her diet. As May passed away a couple of months ago, I'm now using Science Selective in conjunction with a more varied food mix.

[BluerayDarkes]

Three of my hamsters eat Science selective and will devour them quickly, or grab a lot of them to hoard for later. Only one doesn't have them due to his tummy issues, I feed him a dwarf mix. I supplement their diet with mealworms, various treats, and veggies

[flowerfairy]

I mix science selective biscuits in with other mixes from zooplus. It is very cute seeing Flower (roborovski) chewing a ss biscuit!

[pinkneon]

I might buy some and try them as a treat to begin with. If he likes them I may just add them to his mix so he can have both and still gets enough nutrition if he leaves most of his other food ...

[AmityvilleHams]

Actually there's a very interesting approach to hamster nutrition!In America we have a very good seed mix and a very good rat and mouse lab block,so we combine the two in certain amounts to get proper nutrition.Just calculate GA's and play around with things,and as long as you can create a formula that has the right nutrients you're completely fine.

If the ingredients are entirely safe in all your foods and provide the right nutrition,there is absolutely no reason to not have a mixed diet and combine the best of both worlds.