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Having been a dwarf hamster owner for about 10 years, I have bought practically the same food over the years, and have gotten to know which seeds and treats are eaten and which are rejected. It has come to the point that I throw out about half of the weight of the food or more due to rejected food. So I have 2 wonderings:
1. Am I teaching my hamsters to be picky and only munch on their favorites because I refresh their food daily? The food says for hamsters and mice, and I wonder perhaps mice or other kinds of hamsters do consume the other ingredients my dwarves do not?
and 2. Could I potentially buy food that contains only these few ingredients and supplement the rest with fruits, veggies and mineral pellets (which i supplement their current food with anyway)?
The ingredients that I know they love and instantly load up on are those really tiny white seeds, look like sesame seeds, and the sunflower looking seeds (both white and black, and smaller, just black ones). They also like the perfectly round beige pea ones and peanuts. They usually reject the red round seeds, the small pellets and the tiny oblong beige seeds.
Now, sometimes when I'm in the grocery store, or at the pet store, I see BIRD SEED BAGS that have 95% teeny white seeds and 5% sunflower looking seeds. Are these safe for my hamsters if I bought this bird seed? Is there perhaps some kind of coating on the seeds (they look particularly shiny) that could harm my dwarves?
I suppose a good google search is in order, but if any one has any thoughts, that's why I post here
1. Am I teaching my hamsters to be picky and only munch on their favorites because I refresh their food daily? The food says for hamsters and mice, and I wonder perhaps mice or other kinds of hamsters do consume the other ingredients my dwarves do not?
and 2. Could I potentially buy food that contains only these few ingredients and supplement the rest with fruits, veggies and mineral pellets (which i supplement their current food with anyway)?
The ingredients that I know they love and instantly load up on are those really tiny white seeds, look like sesame seeds, and the sunflower looking seeds (both white and black, and smaller, just black ones). They also like the perfectly round beige pea ones and peanuts. They usually reject the red round seeds, the small pellets and the tiny oblong beige seeds.
Now, sometimes when I'm in the grocery store, or at the pet store, I see BIRD SEED BAGS that have 95% teeny white seeds and 5% sunflower looking seeds. Are these safe for my hamsters if I bought this bird seed? Is there perhaps some kind of coating on the seeds (they look particularly shiny) that could harm my dwarves?
I suppose a good google search is in order, but if any one has any thoughts, that's why I post here