[Elliriyanna]

Since I got my hamsters I have been feeding them mazuri pellets and I havent found a hamster yet that doesnt like them and my girl is VERY picky. they are a good price too and last a while. the ingredients are good so you dont have to worry about them eating junk and they cant pick and choose what they'll eat like most diets

my only recommendation is test your dwarf hamster to make sure they arent diabetic before you feed this. and of course supplement with a good quality seed mix for variety

 

[Purple-Hops]

Thanks for the info! It's been a few years since I had hamsters but I only had 1 and I bought him a pile of different things from the Bulk Barn to mix up. He loved it! ^^ It was also cheap, I researched what hamsters ate and created the mix.

Also, how do you know if your hamster is diabetic??

 

[Elliriyanna]

I use diastix you put them in a clean container and wait until they pee then dip the stick in and read it

 

[Purple-Hops]

wow, never heard of that.. TY So is this standard protocol with all dwarfs? And how often would you do it?

 

[Elliriyanna]

With winter white and russian campbells both of which can also be called siberian hamsters yes. Even though Kodi is negative he is on a low sugar diet. Personally for a diabetes negative hamster I would test monthly and with a diabetes positive hamster I would test weekly to twice weekly. I have never had a diabetes positive hamster though. Hazel hamster is the only seed mix I would recommend for a diabetes prone hamster. Chinese may also be prone to diabetes I am not sure.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Wow, interesting!! Thanks for the info!

 

[Lacrima]

Chinese are prone to diabetes, however none of my litters have ever been positive for it. Diabetes in the Hamster species is hereditary since the first batches of Dwarfs where from similar diabetic parents. They didn't know of it at the time but figured it out quickly and ever since, Reputable Breeders have been trying to breed out Diabetes but it hasn't been a full sucess yet. I have been breeding my Chinese with one of my goals being to keep them Diabetes free - however Diabetes can occur any time in their life or be "awoken" from their genetic history at any time in their life.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Wow, so how far exactly into the pool is it?

 

[urofan]

I've never owned a hamster or bought hamster food, but I'm cautious with any animal that I own. Some people buy Purina brand food for their rabbits or guinea pigs, but I look for a brand that is known to be excellent. I've been very happy with Oxbow products for my guinea pig, and I would use them for a hamster even though Oxbow is not the cheapest line of products that you can buy.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Oxbow is an excellent food when I get mice I plan to give them it. However hamsters would rather starve than eat a food they don't like and I've heard a lot don't like oxbow. Before I got mazuri I was deciding between it and oxbow.

 

[urofan]

Petsmart used to sell Oxbow food for hamsters, but I looked on-line to read the reviews and didn't see it. I would never say to give a food to your animal that it didn't enjoy. There's a saying, "First do no harm". As I said before, I don't own any hamsters yet, so I don't have any experience with them.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Going by that logic then, I could feed my dog a diet consisting of only people food and my bunny would eat raisens all day. They enjoy it but it's no good for them without a proper balanced diet in place as well as guidance and scheduld portions.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Lol that's not at all what I said. Mazuri is a very good food. However a good quality food doesn't matter if they won't eat it. I have a very picky eater and even she loves mazuri. However a seed mix for her is hard to find

 

[Purple-Hops]

sorry, not you. I was responding to the above post by uro when he said to give them what they liked. Obviously, you're demonstrating the importance of reading the ingredients and then matching that to the picky one. I apolgize to the harshness of my above post uro, but sometimes I get blunt.. Especially when I got a few in me!

 

[Elliriyanna]

Thanks I would def recommend it its all my picky girl will eat.

 

[Lacrima]

I think what he meant was if you're going to feed your pet healthy food, atleast let it be something they particularly enjoy eating. If they are extremely picky to the point where they reject all quality diets then ou need to compensate in a healthy way. None of my hamsters like mazuri, so I grind it up and powder it all in their seed mix, fruits, veggies and protien foods. I simply measure the appropriate amount of mazuri per bowl and do it that way. They eat it every time without even knowing it. I agree with him somewhat, if your pet hates the food then look for something else of the same quality to compromise. I don't think he meant feed them whatever you want.

 

[urofan]

sorry, not you. I was responding to the above post by uro when he said to give them what they liked. Obviously, you're demonstrating the importance of reading the ingredients and then matching that to the picky one. I apolgize to the harshness of my above post uro, but sometimes I get blunt.. Especially when I got a few in me!

Purple-Hops: I'm sorry, but that's not what I meant. I would never knowingly feed an animal food that was unhealthy or harmful. I can tell that you care for your animals, and some of the other posters seem to know just what to feed hamsters. PetSmart and Petco have ways to look up ingredients on various pet foods, and they offer reviews. I will say one thing that I know of that is unhealthy. There are treats that are made specifically for small animals that are loaded with sugar such as yogurt treats, granola bars, etc.

 

[Elliriyanna]

oh yeah the treat sticks are DEF a now and then things and hams should almost never have yogurt drops. Especially dwarfs. I use this critter cravin's treat mix for my syrian. My bf's mom got it for my ham when she had her litter. generally I dont do treats now and then i'll give them a piece of lean meat ( very small) or something natural as a treat. My Kodi loves his dog food as a treat lol ( VERY good quality dog food ) both of my hams love it. some are against it but with dwarfs having so little they can really safely eat as well as keeping their teeth trim I found it to be a very good solution. natural treats like plain yogurt or a tiny piece of fruit is best. usually with my hams instead of treats I offer a mazuri pellet for sadi ( even though I have the bag of treats) and for Kodi a piece of dog food. They get treats less than once a week though

 

[Lacrima]

You should never feed rodents dog or cat food as they are high in fat and protien made for strict carnivores, I told you that in the other forum but hey why believe a Breeder/Vet tech/wildlife Rehabilitator? Rodents need fiber and vegetarian protiens with often lean meaty/dairy/nut protiens. They need fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, plants and vitamins/minerals aswell. Stop feeding them dog/cat food! It affects their livers due to the INCORRECT diet and nutrition. You are wasting their energy on nutrients they don't need/use or would ever depend on in the wild. Never feed an animal food that is not made for their species...

And FYI, yogurt treats are perfectly fine, they need to just be given in moderation like many other foods.

Hamsters have EXTREMELY sensitive tummies -_-

Also just Mazuri is not enough Nutrition for a Hamster of any Species. You have to add seed mix because it's part of their diet along with other things. It doesn't matter if you think she is picky, Seed Mix is natural and always eaten/enjoyed by All hamsters. There is no way your Sadi doesn't eat seeds, that is literally impossible. If you aren't willing to provide a healthy diet of all the food groups they require then don't own a Hamster. Simply having one or two "Healthy" foods is not enough, you need to balance it, that doesn't make it "okay". So yea, you got the Pellets where is the rest of their food besides the Fruits/vegetables? They are rodents for crying out loud, they need grains and seeds in most of their total diet in order to maintain a healthy body/lifestyle.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Hey now, be civil please.


I'm sure elli feeds them a variety of foods. If a hamster develops a particular fancy diet and gets spoiled off it then it might just look for that food. I fed my hamsters everything, they are omnivores and will eat bugs and stuff. My hamsters all lived to be 2.5-3.5 yrs on a varied diet containing stuff from all food groups. I actually stopped buying commercial hamster food and bought, instead, mixed seeds etc from bulk barn. As for yogurt treats, hamsters can eat them, yes. What uro was saying was that they should be fed in moderation bc of the high sugar content. And IMO, when people are uptight about keeping their pets on a strict and limited diet the pet develops allergies and stomach sensitivites. Like I said, I had hamsters my entire life up until Button (about 3 yrs ago) and I always introduced variation, meats (protein alternatives), and sugars. Everything in moderation kept them strong and healthy until they passed on. There's no need to attack someone based on their particular dieting sched. Everyone has different resources and opinions available.