Advise on my current dry food mix

[Tjibbe]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently debating whether or not I should change my current base mix for my 14 month old winter white dwarf. I've had her since she was 4 weeks old and I've always fed her this mix: https://www.drdknaagdierwinkel.nl/en...400-grams.html . I always add one or two mealworms daily because the protein content is a little low at just 13%. On top of that she gets a variety of fresh vegetables once every three days. I've been very happy with this mix and my dwarf seems to like it as well. However, I've noticed that the last pack of this mix that I bought contained much more light coloured round seeds (not sure what they're called, they're not listed in the ingredients) that my hamster barely eats. It seems like they've added in more of those and less of the other ingredients. To offer a more diverse mix of dry food I decided to mix in some white sunflower seeds, dried carrot and wallnuts or peanuts. Now my dwarf basically only eats these 'bigger' pieces of food and leaves the round seeds and oats behind.
I've been thinking about changing my base mix to Harry Hamster for a while now, since it doesn't contain as much small seeds and oats. Would that be a smart move? Or would it be smart to mix Harry Hamster with my current mix? Or is it better to stick to her current mix? I'm afraid the sudden change might stress her out.

It would be great if someone with more experience on this topic could help me out

[cypher]

That mix is very low in protein so you would need quite a lot of mealworms or other extra protein for a younger ham especially, not so much for an older ham but still a fair bit. It doesn't really seem to have much variety & some of the ingredients are a bit vague too which is never good imo.
Dwarf hams usually enjoy the smaller seeds although they love nuts too so will pick those out if you add them in, Harry Hamster isn't ideal for a dwarf ham & some of the larger biscuit type pieces may need to be broken up for smaller mouths.
You would probably do better to get a good quality dwarf specific mix such as the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert or the Rodipet mix, that would be far better than adding things to another mix or using a mix that may not be suitable & having to guess at what nutrient levels she would be getting.

Whatever you choose to do any change should be gradual as her digestive system needs time to adjust & she needs to get used to a new food, so you just add a little of the new food to the old slowly increasing the amount of new food over a couple of weeks or so.

[Tjibbe]

Originally Posted by cypher

That mix is very low in protein so you would need quite a lot of mealworms or other extra protein for a younger ham especially, not so much for an older ham but still a fair bit. It doesn't really seem to have much variety & some of the ingredients are a bit vague too which is never good imo.
Dwarf hams usually enjoy the smaller seeds although they love nuts too so will pick those out if you add them in, Harry Hamster isn't ideal for a dwarf ham & some of the larger biscuit type pieces may need to be broken up for smaller mouths.
You would probably do better to get a good quality dwarf specific mix such as the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert or the Rodipet mix, that would be far better than adding things to another mix or using a mix that may not be suitable & having to guess at what nutrient levels she would be getting.

Whatever you choose to do any change should be gradual as her digestive system needs time to adjust & she needs to get used to a new food, so you just add a little of the new food to the old slowly increasing the amount of new food over a couple of weeks or so.

Thanks for your reply. I can't get the Rodipet one unfortunately because the shipping would cost more than the actual food. The Bunny one seems alright but the protein content is still too low right? And it looks like this one is filled with those tiny round seeds as well, so that would leave me with the same problem. Thanks for your advise on Harry Hamster though, that makes a lot of sense.

[mangoandmimi]

I can't see many seeds in the mix you're using anyway, the bunny or rodipet mixes have better variety so you're likely to see your dwarf start enjoying it more. I've not really come across dwarfs that don't do well on those mixes so I'd give them a go.

You can supplement the bunny mix with protein too, mealworms and shrimp will work.

[cypher]

The Bunny mix is a little low in protein yes but not so much & a few mealworms will be enough to make that up.
It's hard to guess which seeds you mean but the Bunny mix does have plenty of variety so if there is one seed she doesn't like then she should still get a good nutritionally balanced diet with a mix like that.

Rodipet delivery can be a bit expensive depending on where you are but it is worth considering buying a few bags of food then keeping them in the freezer to reduce costs.

[Tjibbe]

Originally Posted by mangoandmimi

I can't see many seeds in the mix you're using anyway, the bunny or rodipet mixes have better variety so you're likely to see your dwarf start enjoying it more. I've not really come across dwarfs that don't do well on those mixes so I'd give them a go.

You can supplement the bunny mix with protein too, mealworms and shrimp will work.

The picture on the website isn't an accurate representation of what it really looks like. I see some ingredients in the mix I received that are not listed in the ingredients. I think I'll settle with the Bunny mix.

[Tjibbe]

Originally Posted by cypher

The Bunny mix is a little low in protein yes but not so much & a few mealworms will be enough to make that up.
It's hard to guess which seeds you mean but the Bunny mix does have plenty of variety so if there is one seed she doesn't like then she should still get a good nutritionally balanced diet with a mix like that.

Rodipet delivery can be a bit expensive depending on where you are but it is worth considering buying a few bags of food then keeping them in the freezer to reduce costs.

I think I'm going to give the Bunny mix a go. How much should I give her? I read that giving her 2/3 teaspoons and not giving her more until she (almost) finishes it can be a good approach. Do you agree? I'll do that after she's gotten used to the new mix of course. How many mealworms should I add? I've read so many different advises on mealworms... I read that too many mealworms can cause tumors so I've always been very carefull with feeding them (max two medium sized per day).

[cypher]

I've never heard that mealworms can cause tumours! They are very high in fat so you don't want too many, two or three a day should be enough to top up protein a bit, as mangoandmimi said you can give dried shrimps too, they usually really enjoy them & they are a lot lower in fat so a good alternative, you can use both, not at the same time but for some variety.
Giving enough food for a few days & not topping up the bowl until at least most of it has gone is a good idea, it should help to prevent any picky eating.

[Tjibbe]

Originally Posted by cypher

I've never heard that mealworms can cause tumours! They are very high in fat so you don't want too many, two or three a day should be enough to top up protein a bit, as mangoandmimi said you can give dried shrimps too, they usually really enjoy them & they are a lot lower in fat so a good alternative, you can use both, not at the same time but for some variety.
Giving enough food for a few days & not topping up the bowl until at least most of it has gone is a good idea, it should help to prevent any picky eating.

Thanks for the info! You've been very helpful, thanks a lot. I'm ordering the Bunny mix tonight

[Pebbles82]

I use one of the Bunny dwarf mixes for our Robo - I use it 50/50 with the Rodipet mix but our robo likes both of them. I haven't tried the Bunny Dream Expert - I have the Bunny dream basic for dwarf hamsters and it's nice - has plenty of mealworms and smells quite nice, plus no soya or strange additives.

What I do with our syrian is give a nut once or twice a week as an extra - not in with the food - hide it somewhere - which helps boost the protein as well. eg half a brazil nut or half a walnut or pecan nut. Brazil nuts have a lot of vitamins and immune boosting things in as well as high in protein. Pecan nuts are high protein but also have lots of healthy fats. So you could give the Bunny mix - an "extra" nut somewhere else in the cage as a treat, and the veg and it should be fine. As they get older they don't need quite so much protein anyway.