Few questions to begin with

[tommy]

Originally Posted by olga

Just speaking from my own experience of keeping Syrians there is no need to change the water every day but it is okay to do it if you so wish. The water is fine for a few days in the bottle. My Syrian's bottle does not go green and I only change the water weekly. Her cage is in a coolish room. I think heat causes the green to appear in the bottles more quickly.

Also if you put plenty of substrate in the cage there is no need to spot clean the wee corner every day. Every few days is fine but you will find a routine that suits you and your lifestyle I am sure.

Cheers olga, thanks for your post.

[linford27]

Originally Posted by tommy

Good morning,

I've taken some time to look further into the available foods. This is mainly Healthy Balance Hamster Muesli by Pets at home, Harry Hamster & Burgess Superhamster harvest food.

I am only doing this as I am interested and curious and not to start an argument with you, the more experienced pet owner. I am also doing this as there have been a fair share of claims I came across which were far from truth in my lifetime.

They all seem very similar in their nutritional values.
They are in order Healthy Balance Hamster Muesli by Pets at home, Harry Hamster, Burgess Superhamster Harvest Food

1. Protein: 17.0%, 14%, 18%
2. Crude Fibres: 6.0%, 14%, 6.5
3. Crude Oils and Fats: 6.0%, 2.5%, 8%
4. Crude Ash: 5.0%, 5%, 5%
5. Vitamin A: 30,000 iu/kg, N/A, 10,000 iu/kg
6. Vitamin D3: 2,000 iu/kg, N/A, 1,250 iu/kg

There are other values to be considered, but I had no luck finding a full fact sheet for the products. I also have no idea what are the ideal requirements of our four legged (in most cases) friends.

I must say, that the Pets at home stuff we have at the moment looks incredibly similar to HH minus the large nuts.

As I mentioned yesterday, I wrote to Pets at home with a query:


My personal conclusion for time being?
Well, I am convinced that Harry Hamster is certainly a fine food. I really like the idea of Burgess as it contains mealworms. And I am not entirely convinced that the P@H stuff is so bad. I am curious to see what, if anything, gets to me as a reply from them. Furthermore, based on the above, I will purchase both HH and Burgess in addition of P@H and will provide a bit more varied diet to my new friend. I may phase out P@H if I find it unsuitable and I don't think that I will be getting another one after is finished. However, I do not like waste, especially when it comes to food, be it human or hamster food. I obviously understand that it is advised to change slowly over a period of about 10 days.

Anyone else cares to chip in with any facts?

PS: Now, I've re-read all what I've written, I must say I sound like a proper fruitcake, but I let it slide anyway. All what matters is a wellbeing of our hamsters.

To be honest, Pets At Home will probably fob you off with some reply about how they make sure its balanced and how this is all good for hamsters, etc etc. They will certainly not tell you anything bad about their own product. Anyway, yes obviously finish the bag, but just saying in the future it would be best to change over from the Pets At Home mix. In general, Pets At Home products are never the best quality, and animal welfare isn't usually at the top of their list.
re the varied diet, hams diets can also be supplemented with kitten kibble, dog biscuits, insects, budgie seeds, things like that too!

[tommy]

Cheers linford27 and thanks for not giving up on me yet I ordered both the HH and Burgess now and will be trying out different things over time. I will keep you all posted.
Meanwhile, Spacey and I are making friends. He is fine eating from my hand and lets me stroke him on his back. He is very curious as well and I notice how he is starting to pay attention to me and even looking around to see whether he is being watched. It's sweet. I am pretty happy with this as it is going way faster than with our previous girls. It has only been five days. The goal is to have him tame enough so I could handle him by the end of the week with him being happy about it... Will see

[linford27]

Originally Posted by tommy

Cheers linford27 and thanks for not giving up on me yet I ordered both the HH and Burgess now and will be trying out different things over time. I will keep you all posted.
Meanwhile, Spacey and I are making friends. He is fine eating from my hand and lets me stroke him on his back. He is very curious as well and I notice how he is starting to pay attention to me and even looking around to see whether he is being watched. It's sweet. I am pretty happy with this as it is going way faster than with our previous girls. It has only been five days. The goal is to have him tame enough so I could handle him by the end of the week with him being happy about it... Will see

haha I never give up!! Science Selective Hamster is also a reccomended mix but only if your ham is a picky eater, since science selective is a 'pellet' food, in blocks so the ham can't pick it out. just something to bear in mind!
Males do tend to be friendlier than females!

[kyrilliondaemon]

I don't know if it'd help but the figures listed on P@Hs website for the percentages of harry hamster don't match whats on our bags of it. I didn't check the ingredients but it does mean that you may want to look into harry hamster elsewhere if it was P@H you got the figures from.