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Old 06-26-2022, 02:07 AM   #1
AmbientOcclusion
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Default Healthy/Organic treats

It's fairly known that commercial treats advertised towards hamsters are practically contaminated with heavily processed sugars such as cane mollasses. An example of this would be yogurt drops. However, I realised it's fairly difficult to find organic/low-sugar treats that can be fed fairly frequently. I'm aware Gerber puffs, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and also Piccolo Organic multigrain puffs are alright, but are there any others?

I was also wondering whether Rosewood Naturals Luxury Flower, Fruit & Veg Bars are safe to be fed in small quantities? It's mainly just herbs and vegetables.
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:29 AM   #2
Ria P
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Brown linseeds are healthy. I give organic, dried coconut flakes for treats (not the supermarket ones that contain sulphur), dried mealworms, nuts, shrimp cookies but i also give junk food treats in moderation avoiding anything with honey.
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:51 AM   #3
AmbientOcclusion
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Brown linseeds are healthy. I give organic, dried coconut flakes for treats (not the supermarket ones that contain sulphur), dried mealworms, nuts, shrimp cookies but i also give junk food treats in moderation avoiding anything with honey.
I see. Thanks!
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Old 06-26-2022, 03:12 AM   #4
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Honestly I've found a lot of things tend to be easier once you go for actual human foods in terms of treats, and the quality control is generally significantly better than with pet grade things. It can also be a lot cheaper.

In the US a great alternative to yogurt drops to avoid dairy entirely would be Beech Nut's fruit & veggie melties - do be careful not to get the yogurt melties they have though. The fruit & veggie ones are very simple in terms of ingredients - no added sugar of any kind(all sugar coming from the whole food ingredients themselves), no preservatives, the only non whole food type ingredient being fruit pectin which is very safe.

Beech-Nut Naturals(R) Fruit & Veggie Melties banana, blueberry & green beans Stage 3 Snack
Beech-Nut Naturals(R) Fruit & Veggie Melties apple & pumpkin Stage 3 Snack

Using plain puffed grains would honestly be my go to for replacing the Gerber baby puffs entirely. While those aren't the worst thing you could give your hamster especially compared to a lot of storebought treats, they're still not exactly the healthiest option.
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Old 06-26-2022, 03:16 AM   #5
Ria P
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Quote:
Originally Posted by AmbientOcclusion View Post
I see. Thanks!
I think that we all have different attitudes towards food, for ourselves and our hamsters and opinions vary.
For example, someone i know would never feed their hamster what i feed because they class Harry Hamster as an inferior food.

In my opinion, if you want to feed your hamster on organic and healthy foods only, most ready made treat foods wouldn't meet this criteria. They usually contain some kind of binding agent or preservative which would be listed on the ingredients list.

If you want to feed pure, unadultered food then another option would be to make your own treats.
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Old 06-26-2022, 03:41 AM   #6
Stanza
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

I’ve used one of the rosewood, rose and timothy hay mixes. I sprinkled it for foraging but he wasn’t too keen. Our Syrian is pretty big so I’m careful with any treats. I do use the rosewood apple and pansy treats but not often, perhaps only once every 2months.

He loves a proper peanut in a shell case, he doesn’t always eat the peanuts they go into his hoard, he just loves cracking the case he also enjoys millet sprays (I just give a small 1 inch section) from time to time otherwise sunflower seeds are his main treat and brown linseeds as mentioned by Ria.

Last edited by Stanza; 06-26-2022 at 03:46 AM.
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Old 06-26-2022, 03:46 AM   #7
Stanza
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Brown linseeds are healthy. I give organic, dried coconut flakes for treats (not the supermarket ones that contain sulphur), dried mealworms, nuts, shrimp cookies but i also give junk food treats in moderation avoiding anything with honey.
Hi Ria, do you buy the dried coconut flakes from a health food shop?

Hammy loves Harry Hamster mix. Looking at the content it was fairly on par with the PAH mix only looks so much nicer
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Old 06-26-2022, 03:58 AM   #8
Ria P
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stanza View Post
Hi Ria, do you buy the dried coconut flakes from a health food shop?
I came across them in Tkmaxx but was going to go to Holland & Barrett.
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Old 06-26-2022, 06:02 AM   #9
AmbientOcclusion
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
I came across them in Tkmaxx but was going to go to Holland & Barrett.
As in these?: Holland & Barrett Flaked Coconut 100g | Holland & Barrett
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Old 06-26-2022, 06:05 AM   #10
AmbientOcclusion
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Default Re: Healthy/Organic treats

Quote:
Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams View Post
Honestly I've found a lot of things tend to be easier once you go for actual human foods in terms of treats, and the quality control is generally significantly better than with pet grade things. It can also be a lot cheaper.

In the US a great alternative to yogurt drops to avoid dairy entirely would be Beech Nut's fruit & veggie melties - do be careful not to get the yogurt melties they have though. The fruit & veggie ones are very simple in terms of ingredients - no added sugar of any kind(all sugar coming from the whole food ingredients themselves), no preservatives, the only non whole food type ingredient being fruit pectin which is very safe.

Beech-Nut Naturals(R) Fruit & Veggie Melties banana, blueberry & green beans Stage 3 Snack
Beech-Nut Naturals(R) Fruit & Veggie Melties apple & pumpkin Stage 3 Snack

Using plain puffed grains would honestly be my go to for replacing the Gerber baby puffs entirely. While those aren't the worst thing you could give your hamster especially compared to a lot of storebought treats, they're still not exactly the healthiest option.
I'm in the UK so those aren't available to me, but when you say puffed grains, do you mean things like puffed brown rice, spelt, oats etc?
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