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Old 09-30-2020, 02:04 PM   #11
Ria P
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

I made up a little of that Heinz banana porridge. Its not as bad as it sounds on the tub and tastes ricey.
To my surprise, Henry ate some!
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Old 10-03-2020, 11:19 AM   #12
Ria P
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

I found a baby food Henry likes! Ella's kitchen Peas. Yay!

I put a little in his egg cup and two seconds later the nose appeared followed by the rest of the hamster and he ate it. I had added a few drops of his probiotic as well.
I'm still trying to source the one Serendipity gives her hamsters.

I give Henry his daily Metacam with the syringe and he got used to it but i worried about times if/when i'm away (covid depending) visiting family. Can't see my OH giving Henry his meds with the syringe so it was very important to find something readymade to mix it in with. OH would be likely to forget to put it in the porridge at breakfast.
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Old 10-03-2020, 04:19 PM   #13
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

These are the ones I get (as well as Ellas kitchen peas ).

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/...--chicken-125g

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/...125g-7957895-p



https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-G...ucts/305249435

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-G...ucts/292943687

They’re all free from onions, tomatoes, pepper, spices etc. They’re all popular but especially the first two chicken ones. The carrot one less so and I find it easier just to give them a bit of cooked carrot left from our meal.

That Ellas kitchen baby porridge with strawberries went down a storm!
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Old 10-04-2020, 06:02 AM   #14
Ria P
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

Thanks for that. I'll try Tesco after work tomorrow for the Ella's strawberry porridge. I spent ages in the baby food isle yesterday and its not easy to find suitable ones. A lot of the fruity ones have concentrated lemon juice on the ingredients list so no good for hamsters. I got a strawberry/blueberry one with rice, added a few soaked oats and dished it up this morning (OH was away and Henry doesn't like my porridge or me serving it!) convinced it was a winner but no.....Henry took one sniff and walked away.
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Old 10-04-2020, 06:21 AM   #15
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

Lol Henry. Yes I gave up on the fruity ones for that reason. I think that‘a why the sweet potato and chicken is popular - it’s sort of fruity. I used to try mashing a bit of banana but it goes brown so horribly quickly and then they wouldn’t touch it - must have smelled different.

Moo had the baby rice/porridge the other night and liked it. It just looks like ground rice and you add a bit of water instead of milk. Didn’t look great - white paste. But he liked it and the smell didn’t make me feel sick.
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Old 10-04-2020, 06:28 AM   #16
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

Lemon juice is often misrepresented as this extremely problematic ingredient but it really isn't when present in reasonably small amounts as a preservative. Just because it can be irritating in larger amounts doesn't mean it's necessarily a completely unsuitable ingredient, and unfortunately I've even seen it be so dramatically misrepresented as being considered toxic which is complete nonsense!

Personally I would be cautious with foods that don't label specific percentages of lemon juice though, as it is possible some may overdo it. With preservative levels you'd see something like 2% or less - an extremely small amount especially when you consider how little baby food you'd actually be giving. For example, if 2% of a 100 gram jar of baby food was lemon juice there would only be a mere 2 grams of lemon juice - and no hamster would be getting the entire jar fast enough to be remotely concerning. There could certainly also be baby foods using lemon juice as a preservative which have even less lemon juice.

I do know in the US we have Beech Nut baby food, some of which are hamster friendly. I've found they do have decent enough variety of fruit baby foods without lemon juice, but again personally I wouldn't be too concerned with lemon juice compared to things like garlic and onion which absolutely should not be included in any amount.
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Old 10-05-2020, 12:34 PM   #17
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

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Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams View Post
Lemon juice is often misrepresented as this extremely problematic ingredient but it really isn't when present in reasonably small amounts as a preservative. Just because it can be irritating in larger amounts doesn't mean it's necessarily a completely unsuitable ingredient, and unfortunately I've even seen it be so dramatically misrepresented as being considered toxic which is complete nonsense!
Actually it has the ability to be toxic! Its because it contains D-Limonene which can cause cancer, kidney and bladder problems, tumours, cell damage, developmental abnormalities, convulsions and respiratory issues amongst rats, mice dogs and rabbits. Now as a hamster is such a small animal, even the smallest amounts could cause issues as they're very sensitive. Now as the lethal dose for hamsters is unknown its best to avoid it
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Old 10-05-2020, 12:37 PM   #18
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

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Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
While at Aldi today i saw a tub of Heinz baby banana porridge powder to be made up with hot water.
Can hamsters have instant porridge like that?
Depends on the ingredients list and how often you intend to give it. As im very wary of products for rodents I just stick to plain porridge oats missed with a little warm water or soya milk. I give it to my old or ill hamsters though rather than a treat. Well.. I may give some dry oats as treats..
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Old 10-05-2020, 01:08 PM   #19
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Actually it has the ability to be toxic! Its because it contains D-Limonene which can cause cancer, kidney and bladder problems, tumours, cell damage, developmental abnormalities, convulsions and respiratory issues amongst rats, mice dogs and rabbits. Now as a hamster is such a small animal, even the smallest amounts could cause issues as they're very sensitive. Now as the lethal dose for hamsters is unknown its best to avoid it
Even that is up for debate actually - and it's quite misleading and only serves to spread fear and panic over something that is not toxic(lemon juice in reasonable amounts). While there have been claims that D-Limonene cause cancer in rats especially, even this isn't showing the full picture and often leads to people irrationally panicking and making it out to be this horrible danger.

Lemon juice also may not necessarily contain significant D-Limonene in the first place. However with that being said, studies supposedly "proving" it as something that causes cancer are giving very pure D-Limonene and likely at far greater values than a hamster would ever consume in baby food. Essentially even the rat studies have been dubious at best, which further complicates things.

When it comes to D-Limonene, it isn't even exclusive to citrus by any means! Many very safe foods also contain it, and obviously just as with any other food they too need to be given in reasonable amounts because any food in overly large quantities will create a problem - digestive, dietary balance, or others.

ETA I think a lot of accidental fear mongering happened in the rat community from what I remember because of this. Even I was a victim of this thought process for a period of time until I actually just took the time to think rationally about it and learn more on my own. The same sort of irrational fear also happened in the rat community over alfalfa at one point and I believe people still think that's somehow toxic to rats!
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Old 10-05-2020, 01:43 PM   #20
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Default Re: Instant baby porridge

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Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams View Post
Even that is up for debate actually - and it's quite misleading and only serves to spread fear and panic over something that is not toxic(lemon juice in reasonable amounts). While there have been claims that D-Limonene cause cancer in rats especially, even this isn't showing the full picture and often leads to people irrationally panicking and making it out to be this horrible danger.

Lemon juice also may not necessarily contain significant D-Limonene in the first place. However with that being said, studies supposedly "proving" it as something that causes cancer are giving very pure D-Limonene and likely at far greater values than a hamster would ever consume in baby food. Essentially even the rat studies have been dubious at best, which further complicates things.

When it comes to D-Limonene, it isn't even exclusive to citrus by any means! Many very safe foods also contain it, and obviously just as with any other food they too need to be given in reasonable amounts because any food in overly large quantities will create a problem - digestive, dietary balance, or others.

ETA I think a lot of accidental fear mongering happened in the rat community from what I remember because of this. Even I was a victim of this thought process for a period of time until I actually just took the time to think rationally about it and learn more on my own. The same sort of irrational fear also happened in the rat community over alfalfa at one point and I believe people still think that's somehow toxic to rats!
D-Limonene is what gives citrus the smell and thus only found in citrus. Its also been tested on other animals not just rats.

Also low toxicity shouldn't be confused with no toxicity.

Also there's sufficient evidence in animals for the carcinogenicity of D-Limonene. Where its lacks evidence is in regards to humans.

As rats are able to consume many varieties of food thus there system well adapted, if it poses issues to RABBITS, RATS, MICE AND DOGS, the hamster system is quite poor in comparison so would you risk it considering the effects it has on other rodents? That coupled with the lack of knowledge relating to the hamster it makes it very irresponsible of you to state its completely safe when its so dangerous to other members of its order.

You compare it to onion when its actually Thiosulphate which is toxic.

Using your reasoning of small percentage contains said compound means its not toxic. Onion must be ok as its only when Thiosulphate is given in large amounts and/ regularly that it'll cause anaemia.

But hey im not going to argue with you as you simply know best ] (*,)
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