Help me get rescued syrians in better cages! Need advice!

[Pebbles82]

Or - you could just have the taller platform next to the house with access to the platform from the house roof via one of the bridges.

[cherryfox22]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

The chicken pure bites are completely fine if you already have them. Shrimp is just a very high quality lean protein, much better than mealworms for example which can be very high in fat in comparison. Chicken & turkey Pure Bites are still completely acceptable though and work very well too!

Whole flax seed is what you want, and go with the regular brown ones. I can never remember the exact nutritional differences off the top of my head between those and the golden ones, but I do know the golden ones are less nutritious.

They won't touch the chicken ones, but my cat likes them at least. I wanted to try shrimp, but the ones on amazon has a bad review. What is another food I can mix in?

[AmityvilleHams]

Amazon reviews are honestly hit or miss at best. I would always take them with a grain of salt.

You could give plain boiled or scrambled egg in small amounts - no salt or anything else of course. I know Applaws has some nice cat wet food options that are generally just meat without additives and such so that's also worth trying, but you can only get those at Petco.

[cherryfox22]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Amazon reviews are honestly hit or miss at best. I would always take them with a grain of salt.

You could give plain boiled or scrambled egg in small amounts - no salt or anything else of course. I know Applaws has some nice cat wet food options that are generally just meat without additives and such so that's also worth trying, but you can only get those at Petco.

That's a fair point. The only one available for shipping to me won't arrive for a couple months, and is 4x the normal cost as well. I don't buy eggs as I am vegan (I'll buy meat/egg what have you pet products, but don't like to get animal products made for human consumption), would trying a lab block, like the mazuri rat and mouse, be okay at this point?

[cherryfox22]

Here are pictures as promised!!!

Oreo, now Ollivander I think.


And Midnight, possibly Meeko now.


Temporary bin cages

[Ria P]

Aww, they are gorgeous!!

[cherryfox22]

The base of their old cage. Toilet paper roll for size comparison.



My partner cut the door out of the old cage, just need to separate it!


And the stacked xmas tree bins (with toilet paper rolls for comparison)

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by cherryfox22

That's a fair point. The only one available for shipping to me won't arrive for a couple months, and is 4x the normal cost as well. I don't buy eggs as I am vegan (I'll buy meat/egg what have you pet products, but don't like to get animal products made for human consumption), would trying a lab block, like the mazuri rat and mouse, be okay at this point?

Lab blocks really aren't a good source of high quality biologically appropriate protein and are honestly best not even being included in hamster diets at all.

You could maybe try the turkey Pure Bites. Pure Bites also have freeze dried salmon that might be worth trying, and while it's not ideal to be giving fish too often it's still important to get a good source of animal protein into the hamsters.

Wellness also make Simply Shreds for cats and the ingredients for those are safe too, so you could maybe even get a pouch of one or two of the flavors of those and try them. They're essentially just a wet topper for cats but with really good ingredients, and luckily unlike Applaws that brand is fairly widely available in most pet stores.

The best advice I can give in terms of food is try different options but don't give up on the first, second, or even third try with new foods - and also don't give up if one day they don't want some particular food. Pets do sometimes just change their minds or take time to get comfortable with the idea of something new especially with food, but it can also happen with foods they're used to for all different reasons!

[cherryfox22]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Lab blocks really aren't a good source of high quality biologically appropriate protein and are honestly best not even being included in hamster diets at all.

You could maybe try the turkey Pure Bites. Pure Bites also have freeze dried salmon that might be worth trying, and while it's not ideal to be giving fish too often it's still important to get a good source of animal protein into the hamsters.

Wellness also make Simply Shreds for cats and the ingredients for those are safe too, so you could maybe even get a pouch of one or two of the flavors of those and try them. They're essentially just a wet topper for cats but with really good ingredients, and luckily unlike Applaws that brand is fairly widely available in most pet stores.

The best advice I can give in terms of food is try different options but don't give up on the first, second, or even third try with new foods - and also don't give up if one day they don't want some particular food. Pets do sometimes just change their minds or take time to get comfortable with the idea of something new especially with food, but it can also happen with foods they're used to for all different reasons!

Thank you for this information! I will hold off on the blocks then, and am going to get a 4 pack of treats (has chicken, fish, shrimp, and beef liver, and will try the shrimp and fish) and will try the turkey or wellness next. Worst case, more treats for my other companions! I will keep the chicken in the cage for now, in case they decide it is a good food after all. Thank you again!

[Pebbles82]

Ooh they are both adorable. Ollivander looks cheeky. Midnight looks like butter wouldn’t melt - looks happy!

My only worry seeing the photo of midnight is - they can leap off when you hold them like that while standing (had it myself). Always best to hold them low down or when sitting on a sofa eg.

For protein supplements you can use nuts or just fresh food. I used to give half a Brazil nut once a week and hand a walnut once a week. They seem to love shelled walnuts. The occasional peanuts in shells as well - they like cracking those open. Easy to keep longer term too. By fresh food I mean leftovers - a bit of plain cooked chicken or beef eg. Actually forget that, just read you’re vegetarian!

I am not sure how much protein you need to supplement with that mix but nuts and mealworms as supplements might do it. Alternatively you could mix two hamster mixes.

I used to mix Harry Hamster 50/50 with Bunny dream hamster food (a European mix). The HH has the correct protein so less supplementing needed. Once they’re a year old they need less protein so 12 to 14% is ok then. In the first year you want to aim for 18 to 20%.

However I think being as hoc about it (is giving protein foods as supplements) is fine and they will only eat what they need. As long as they’re healthy and in good condition then it’s going fine.

I give - hamster mix in a bowl. A tiny piece of fresh veg on a separate little dish somewhere else in the cage. An “extra” each day - either on the floor of the cage or in the house roof. The extra could be a nut, a few pumpkin seeds, a mini chew stick (ours love the tiny friends yippees), occasionally a tiny piece of cheddar cheese, or a raisin or blueberry. They probably eat better than me!

I am so glad you got them out of that awful tiny cage! The tiny wheel made me feel sick!