Pets at Home nuggets vs Supreme Selective

spacebyte · 05-14-2016, 03:13 AM

I'm anaphylaxis to peanuts (deathly allergic) and can't have them in my home at all. All of the muesli type foods seem to contain them, so I think we're going to go the nugget route.

When I had a hamster previously, we used the pets at home hamster nuggets - she lived two and a half years eating them, I don't think a lack of nuts or a complete pellet was bad for her. I lived ten minutes away from P@H at that time though, now I live ages away and don't have a car.

Are the supreme selective nuggets okay? They seem cheaper, and postage is definitely a lot better. Do they smell better?

Or should I just bulk buy pets at home nuggets occasionally? Has anyone else come across a good peanut free hamster food?

cypher · 05-14-2016, 04:18 AM

No idea about the P@H nuggets, they don't have any real info on the site so can't compare them nutritionally to the SS but the SS ones aren't bad, they have a reasonably good GA so are healthy enough if you really have to avoid any kind of muesli type mix, if you can give something else for some added variety I would though, hamsters are foragers by nature so nuggets aren't ideal in that respect.
Some people say the SS biscuits smell of gravy, personally I really don't like the smell but I guess you'll have to try them & see!
I don't think you can guarantee any ham food will be totally peanut free, possibly even nuggets, as most are packed or made in places where there are also nuts.

spacebyte · 05-14-2016, 04:36 AM

"Traces of nuts" aren't so bad, they usually put that on to protect themselves- they can't get in legal trouble if you fall ill that way. Even if there was traces of nuts on something and then I touched it, I know the symptoms and can deal with it- outright nuts are an absolute no go though

I had to do a big order from P@H to set everything up (Delivery lowers from a fiver to free after you spend £35- but I dont imagine I'll be spending that much there again...) and I bought a packet. The ingredients are :

wheat, maize, soya, wheatbran, peas, beet pulp, chicken meal, poultry fat, monocalcium phosphate, limestone, salt, short chain fructo-oligosaccharides

Science diet one has more protein (19% vs 17%) , fibre (5% vs 4%) and fats (5% vs 4.5%). Does this mean it's better for them? I know there's debate about what a hamster 'needs'...

It's odd that they would smell of gravy, there doesn't appear to be animal products in them? The P@H ones don't have a strong smell, but it's still not great.

I'm definitely going to be supplementing with seeds and things like that. I have a bunch of millet and sunflower seeds waiting, and I'll be researching more into other things I can give her. Plain popcorn, veggies and the occasional bit of plain rice/pasta or chicken are good also from what I've heard- but these are all 'People food'. Might get some of that small pet grass you can grow yourself..

Pebbles82 · 05-14-2016, 04:37 AM

I would go with the Supreme Science Selective. Many people use that and it's probably got better ingredients. Nightmare having a nut allergy. Even if you bought treats like pumpkin seeds etc, so many products say they "may have been produced in a factory where nuts are present".

I think you'd be fine using the Supreme Science selective and you could supplement with a tiny piece of fresh veg every day or two - and the occasional piece of cheese or plain cooked chicken.

I give our Syrian veg each day but might be best to start out with every 2 or 3 days at first in case their tummies aren't used to it. About 1cm cube sized piece of either broccoli, carrot, cucumber, cauliflower, green beans, baby corn - I try and give him a different one each day - which means we now eat more veg too lol.

spacebyte · 05-14-2016, 04:39 AM

This one bag is going to last me a couple of months. She's coming tomorrow and I'm just really hoping I'm doing everything I can best for her, and whether I should switch her to something else you know? I think these will be okay for now but in the future I'm going to try her on the SS ones...

Pebbles82 · 05-14-2016, 04:40 AM

That ingredients list sounds not too nice! I'm not sure bran is good, beet pulp sounds like sugar, chicken meal could have anything in it, poultry fat could be bad quality.

You can get Science Selective in bulk too on Amazon, and the ingredients sound much healthier!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Pet...ence+Selective

Switching food needs to be done carefully and gradually or it can cause digestive problems and diarrhoea.

I think if it was me I'd get a bag of the Science selective and send the other stuff back, and start her on something tried and tested so you don't need to change later.

spacebyte · 05-14-2016, 04:49 AM

Oh it's pretty cheap on Amazon, and I'm already buying the SS sand off there today anyway so I've just bought some

The ingredients on the SS do seem more healthy- meat in animal foods could be anything really.. It should be here in a couple of days.
I want her to be healthy without making me sick, and this sounds like the best compromise!

pinkneon · 05-14-2016, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacebyte

"Traces of nuts" aren't so bad, they usually put that on to protect themselves- they can't get in legal trouble if you fall ill that way. Even if there was traces of nuts on something and then I touched it, I know the symptoms and can deal with it- outright nuts are an absolute no go though

I had to do a big order from P@H to set everything up (Delivery lowers from a fiver to free after you spend £35- but I dont imagine I'll be spending that much there again...) and I bought a packet. The ingredients are :

wheat, maize, soya, wheatbran, peas, beet pulp, chicken meal, poultry fat, monocalcium phosphate, limestone, salt, short chain fructo-oligosaccharides

Science diet one has more protein (19% vs 17%) , fibre (5% vs 4%) and fats (5% vs 4.5%). Does this mean it's better for them? I know there's debate about what a hamster 'needs'...

It's odd that they would smell of gravy, there doesn't appear to be animal products in them? The P@H ones don't have a strong smell, but it's still not great.

I'm definitely going to be supplementing with seeds and things like that. I have a bunch of millet and sunflower seeds waiting, and I'll be researching more into other things I can give her. Plain popcorn, veggies and the occasional bit of plain rice/pasta or chicken are good also from what I've heard- but these are all 'People food'. Might get some of that small pet grass you can grow yourself..

That's not always true! My daughter is also seriosuly allergic to nits, and even the slightest trace can send her into anaplyaxis shock!

I think the science selective ones are ok. They do smell funny, though I have no idea what of! I don't think it is smells of gravy though ... But my Sweep seems to like them. He has only had a couple so far to try but I am going to add it to his mix

Pebbles82 · 05-14-2016, 04:53 AM

Actually having read that it sounds so nice I think I'll get some myself lol! As an extra to mix in with Charlie's Harry Hamster.

cypher · 05-14-2016, 05:42 AM

SS does sound better, both are very low in fibre though so supplementing with some veg & other higher fibre foods would be good, the protein is fine in ss really.

Serendipity, bran is fine (in those kind of amounts) & beet pulp is what's left after the sugar has been extracted as far as I know anyway.

Spacebyte I really don't get the gravy smell either, it just makes me wonder where it comes from, suspicious!