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Old 05-05-2022, 08:37 AM   #11
cloudy
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Default Re: Hamster food

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Originally Posted by sushi_78 View Post
I will add Harry Hamster to the commercial foods in the ingredients list so you can use it with the calculator if you decide to go down that route. It will be at the very bottom of the ingredients list.
That is so kind of you. My partner is looking at the lists you complied. He said he eats a lot of the things on there so that is handy.
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Old 05-05-2022, 08:52 AM   #12
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Default Re: Hamster food

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That is so kind of you. My partner is looking at the lists you complied. He said he eats a lot of the things on there so that is handy.
That's ok. I enjoyed making the database and I like to know when others find it useful

Just one thing to be aware of when you are making a mix that includes a large quantity of a commercial mix. Most of the nutrient values for commercial mixes aren't available, i.e we don't know how much thiamin, niacin and so on are in Harry Hamster but we can assume it's a sufficient quantity because it's a complete food. But the database will assume that it's zero because the box for those nutrients is blank. This means that if you're using the Mixer and 50% of your mix is Harry Hamster and 50% of your mix is other ingredients, it will tell you that your mix is deficient in a lot of things even when it might not be (because those assumed zeros are skewing it downwards). To get around this, I would recommend putting all your added ingredients into the Mixer as if they were an stand-alone diet, checking the calculated values, and then adding Harry Hamster. Hopefully that makes sense!

If you're only making additions up to about 10-20% of the overall diet you probably don't need to be too exact with your calculations but beyond that you want to make sure you aren't unbalancing the Harry Hamster too much.
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Old 05-05-2022, 09:03 AM   #13
cloudy
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Default Re: Hamster food

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Originally Posted by sushi_78 View Post
That's ok. I enjoyed making the database and I like to know when others find it useful

Just one thing to be aware of when you are making a mix that includes a large quantity of a commercial mix. Most of the nutrient values for commercial mixes aren't available, i.e we don't know how much thiamin, niacin and so on are in Harry Hamster but we can assume it's a sufficient quantity because it's a complete food. But the database will assume that it's zero because the box for those nutrients is blank. This means that if you're using the Mixer and 50% of your mix is Harry Hamster and 50% of your mix is other ingredients, it will tell you that your mix is deficient in a lot of things even when it might not be (because those assumed zeros are skewing it downwards). To get around this, I would recommend putting all your added ingredients into the Mixer as if they were an stand-alone diet, checking the calculated values, and then adding Harry Hamster. Hopefully that makes sense!

If you're only making additions up to about 10-20% of the overall diet you probably don't need to be too exact with your calculations but beyond that you want to make sure you aren't unbalancing the Harry Hamster too much.
It must have taken you a very long time doing all that research. Thank you for the tip. My partner said best to just make his own from scratch so that is what he will do. I appreciate all your help.
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Old 05-05-2022, 09:20 AM   #14
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Default Re: Hamster food

Pico refuses to eat Harry Hamster, and he's a robo, so it's likely something some hamters okay with and others aren't. I'd feel pretty uncomfortable feeding a dwarf species harry hamster, though, as one piece can last a long time & they could refuse to eat other bits.
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Old 05-05-2022, 09:32 AM   #15
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Default Re: Hamster food

Just as a matter of interest. Is your partner going to create individual mixes catering for different species of hamsters or is he going to create a one for all mix?
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Old 05-05-2022, 09:41 AM   #16
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Default Re: Hamster food

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Just as a matter of interest. Is your partner going to create individual mixes catering for different species of hamsters or is he going to create a one for all mix?
He was going to create one mix for all species. Is this okay? Like Sushi said, there is not a lot of information about dwarf hamster requirements so we thought one mix would be okay.
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Old 05-05-2022, 09:55 AM   #17
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Default Re: Hamster food

Different species have different preferences and tastes. I have three different mixes: one for my Syrian, one for my dwarf, and one for my gerbils. The Syrian mix has lots of larger grains like barley, oats, wheat, corn. It also has Science Selective pellets and a small amount of cornflakes because they like those. The dwarf mix has some of the larger grains but also millet and grass seeds which Syrians don't tend to like.

There's also individual preference. Fortunately my Syrian likes dried insects so I have black soldier fly larvae in his mix but a lot of Syrians don't so for other hamsters I might need to do something different. On the other hand it's rare to find a dwarf who doesn't like insects. Neither my dwarf Bramble nor my late dwarf Athena ever ate whole oats so I stopped putting those in their mix.
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Old 05-05-2022, 10:01 AM   #18
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Default Re: Hamster food

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Originally Posted by sushi_78 View Post
Different species have different preferences and tastes. I have three different mixes: one for my Syrian, one for my dwarf, and one for my gerbils. The Syrian mix has lots of larger grains like barley, oats, wheat, corn. It also has Science Selective pellets and a small amount of cornflakes because they like those. The dwarf mix has some of the larger grains but also millet and grass seeds which Syrians don't tend to like.

There's also individual preference. Fortunately my Syrian likes dried insects so I have black soldier fly larvae in his mix but a lot of Syrians don't so for other hamsters I might need to do something different. On the other hand it's rare to find a dwarf who doesn't like insects. Neither my dwarf Bramble nor my late dwarf Athena ever ate whole oats so I stopped putting those in their mix.
I see. This is very helpful. In that case he will make different foods for each species. I understand it is also down to personal taste and in time we will learn what the hamster likes and dislikes.

I thought we could make a mix and then adjust protein but I can see that would not work so different mixes it is then.
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Old 05-05-2022, 10:05 AM   #19
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Default Re: Hamster food

Yes, you'll find it's one thing to work out the perfect mix on paper, but there will probably be some ingredients your hamster doesn't eat so you'll need to tweak it to suit them. For that reason, don't mix huge quantities in the beginning. Mix a small amount and see how your hamster likes it first.
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Old 05-05-2022, 10:06 AM   #20
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Default Re: Hamster food

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Originally Posted by sushi_78 View Post
Yes, you'll find it's one thing to work out the perfect mix on paper, but there will probably be some ingredients your hamster doesn't eat so you'll need to tweak it to suit them. For that reason, don't mix huge quantities in the beginning. Mix a small amount and see how your hamster likes it first.
That is a really good idea. Thank you for that tip. You have been really helpful.
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