Sand? How often?

[Cinnamon Bear]

That's true, you are about to have your first child

[Pebbles82]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

This is off subject but do you know what I fed 4 of my hammies last night? Seed mix, Mazuri 60/40, flax seed, millet, meal worms, almonds & cabbage. That's getting carried away lol

That sounds tasty! I'm sure you already know this but you need to be careful to change diet gradually or it can cause upset stomachs. I'd also still be a bit concerned at molasses with dwarf hammies. Sorry I don't mean to contradict Amityville there, but we have always had such a concern on here for avoiding sugar for dwarf hamsters.

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

That sounds tasty! I'm sure you already know this but you need to be careful to change diet gradually or it can cause upset stomachs. I'd also still be a bit concerned at molasses with dwarf hammies. Sorry I don't mean to contradict Amityville there, but we have always had such a concern on here for avoiding sugar for dwarf hamsters.

We're not sure on the GA yet for Higgins Vita Garden combined with Mazuri yet which would eliminate a lot of sugary bits but make it have significantly less protein(unless amounts were altered to have better protein)but yes,definitely going with the Vita Garden for dwarf hams and the Sunburst for Syrians at this point.Vita Garden would just have less sugar so the only source of sugar I believe is the lab blocks in that case,so with no extra sugary foods it shouldn't be too big of a concern for the most part.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

That sounds tasty! I'm sure you already know this but you need to be careful to change diet gradually or it can cause upset stomachs. I'd also still be a bit concerned at molasses with dwarf hammies. Sorry I don't mean to contradict Amityville there, but we have always had such a concern on here for avoiding sugar for dwarf hamsters.

I know I gave them a feast They all stashed all of it immediately. I give them all this food anyways just not all at once

About molasses, it's in both Kaytee & Mazuri food, supposedly the molasses in far down the ingredients that it won't hurt them. Think a small amount of sugar is necessary (correct if I'm wrong?) But no way of avoiding it 100%.

Btw, I hope they ate their cabbage & it's not spoiling the food in their stashes?

Does anybody know how to remove small pieces of veggies when stashes aren't supposed to be messed with by me? I suppose I'll have to get them out of their cages & search for veggies. I would like to give them veggies every night but in the summer it could be a problem with attracting bugs maybe?

[Cinnamon Bear]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

We're not sure on the GA yet for Higgins Vita Garden combined with Mazuri yet which would eliminate a lot of sugary bits but make it have significantly less protein(unless amounts were altered to have better protein)but yes,definitely going with the Vita Garden for dwarf hams and the Sunburst for Syrians at this point.Vita Garden would just have less sugar so the only source of sugar I believe is the lab blocks in that case,so with no extra sugary foods it shouldn't be too big of a concern for the most part.

Are you referring to the Vita Garden the sell at Pet-Co? Where they sell the Higgins Sunburst & Mazuri?

[cypher]

If you think they may have stashed veg then you do need to check their hoard just in case, it shouldn't be a big deal for them if you have a quick look.

I know it's virtually impossible for you to avoid foods with any sugars but (at the risk of sounding like a parrot lol!) sugar isn't necessary, at all.

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

Are you referring to the Vita Garden the sell at Pet-Co? Where they sell the Higgins Sunburst & Mazuri?

That is the exact one!It's by Higgins,the Hamster and Gerbil mix just like the Sunburst would be,but it is more suitable for dwarf species.It still has to be supplemented with a lab block though,but the exact GA isn't known yet and neither is the exact amount required.I'd guess about a 60% Mazuri and 40% Vita Garden with around 18.6% protein,but that's just a guess at best.It would be a fairly good number though!

[CMB]

Does anyone in the UK have any good litter scoop recommendations please?

[Cinnamon Bear]

I have Vita Garden in the freezer too lol
Its 17.5% protein if you go 50/50 with Mazuri. So 60/40 would obviously be a little lower on the protein.

You want around 19 % protein (except for older hams, then from what I've learned should be about 17%.

So this isn't good news to me unfortunately
My dwarves don't care for Vita Garden, although (Cypher) may be the perfect diet for Izzy only if she's eating the lab blocks too? If not the protein of 12% for Vita Garden is too low for me.

What I'm going to do is keep 3 of my hams on Kaytee Forti Diet with a little seed mix maybe?

The other spoiled 3 will get a combination of Vita Smart & Higgins (more Vita Smart than Higgins & Mazuri). The 60/40 makes sense. But I'm not going to get too concerned over this. Pet-Co manager didn't recommend Vita Garden as being a good food they sell nutritionally.

So don't mean to disrespect anyone but they won't get 100% Higgins after learning this new info. As long as they eat quality food is what's important.

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

I have Vita Garden in the freezer too lol
Its 17.5% protein if you go 50/50 with Mazuri. So 60/40 would obviously be a little lower on the protein.

You want around 19 % protein (except for older hams, then from what I've learned should be about 17%.

So this isn't good news to me unfortunately
My dwarves don't care for Vita Garden, although (Cypher) may be the perfect diet for Izzy only if she's eating the lab blocks too? If not the protein of 12% for Vita Garden is too low for me.

What I'm going to do is keep 3 of my hams on Kaytee Forti Diet with a little seed mix maybe?

The other spoiled 3 will get a combination of Vita Smart & Higgins (more Vita Smart than Higgins & Mazuri). The 60/40 makes sense. But I'm not going to get too concerned over this. Pet-Co manager didn't recommend Vita Garden as being a good food they sell nutritionally.

So don't mean to disrespect anyone but they won't get 100% Higgins after learning this new info. As long as they eat quality food is what's important.

There has never been a recommendation to feed strictly Higgins.The reason I said do Vita Garden and Mazuri is to boost the protein,which if you had it with Mazuri being 60% of the diet and Higgins being 40% of the diet you'd obviously get a protein percentage much higher than just 17.5% that could,if under 19%,be easily boosted with mealworms or chicken.

It seems like 50/50 won't work for any diet though,but 60/40 is a magical ratio that seems to work so well!I'd say ditch the Kaytee altogether though,except for the hamsters that are just way too old to adapt to a new diet but for everyone else 60% Mazuri 40% Higgins if you're using Vita Garden and 40% Mazuri 60% Higgins if you use Sunburst.