Tuesday 26 February 2013

The Making of a Mix


Recently I discovered that the mixes I have been using for both of my hamsters have been causing problems for other people. I was first alerted when a fellow hamster fanatic, who had been using the same mixes as me, had confirmation from their vet that the mix was the cause of her hamster's digestive problems. The high protein percentage, coupled with a relatively low level of fibre and lack of added vitamins, minerals and probiotics, seems to be the cause of a range of problems a number of fellow hamster addicts have been seeing in their pets, from fur loss to diarrhoea to kidney failure. The problem wasn't purely the high protein content, but the lack of other digestive aids added to most commercial mixes, which help aid digestion of protein.

Of course, as soon as I found this out, I rushed out to get something to replace mine. The problem was, what to get? Some of the worst cases had been prescribed probiotics and fibre supplements by their vets, so I looked at making something high in fibre (and lower, but not too low, in protein). I also wanted to use commercial mixes as a base, for the added supplements, but dislike the lack of variety in most commercial mixes.


Omnomnom?
This is what I have currently come up with. It is 1kg of Pets At Home Premium Muesli, 700g of Burgess Supahamster Dwarf Hamster Harvest, and 900g of Wilkinson's Finch Special Mix.

I chose the Pets At Home Premium Muesli as a base, as it has a lower protein and higher fibre content of the mix I was using. I have used the regular Pets At Home Muesli before and did not like it, but never used the premium one. A number of fellow hamster fanatics were using it as a base as well.

To add to this, I bought a bag of Burgess Supahamster Dwarf Hamster Harvest. This was to add variety, and also to up the fibre content, as it has a higher fibre content than the Pets At Home Premium. It also had the added benefit of lowering the fat content slightly.

Finally, I added the bird seed. I deliberated with Trill, but ended up going with the Wilkos brand because it had a high fibre content, which was one of the things good for aiding protein digestion. Lots of seed mixes out there are very high in fat and not high in fibre, which made me discount them. It also had a large amount of millet, which both my hamsters like. I know some people have issues feeding their Syrians smaller seeds like the ones in this bird seed, but luckily for me my Syrian loves them, and is quite happy to eat them. (I was more concerned about having large bits in for my Robo, who has been picky on food before because of the large pieces.)

The mix overall has a fair amount of variety, with two different types of extruded nuggets and two different types of pellets from the two hamster mixes, as well as flaked wheat, flaked maize, flaked soya, flaked oats, whole peas, whole maize, canary seed, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, red and white millet, sunflower seeds, mealworms, niger seeds and rape seeds.

The mix will probably still need tweaking. It's lower in protein and higher in fibre than the mix I was using originally, but is also higher in fat than I would like. However, because of the added supplements in the commercial mixes, I am happier feeding them this mix than their previous one. The hamsters seem to eat most parts of it too, which is a good start.

(It's not something I'd recommend for diabetes prone species of hamsters due to the large amounts of maize, an ingredient that is high in natural sugar.)

As for the mix that started the issues, it is still being sold, but with an addendum that hamsters require an additional supplement to prevent deficiencies occurring again.

4 comments:

  1. Looks like a pretty tasty mix to me :) I used to work with an exotic specialist and helped her with a lot of hamster patients. A lot of "seed mix" diets for "exotic" pets may say that they are well-balanced. The vitamins and minerals are applied to the seeds but are on the hulls of the seeds which the animals do not actually eat. Some mixes include pellets, but when given the choice an animal would probably rather eat their seeds. We usually recommended a pelleted food as the main base for diet and include all the seeds, fruits and nuts etc. as treats and a variety. I think hamsters do really well on seed mixes usually though. I feel much more comfortable talking about exotic pet diet than I do dog and cat diet if you haven't noticed lol... My rat is eating a seed mix right now but has eaten Oxbow regal rat in the past and I think I'm gonna buy it again next time around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The problem was the mix in question didn't have any supplements added to it.

      I know Annie at least would get bored on a pellet mix. Darla would probably be happy enough if the pellets were small -- he had problems with the huge pieces in Harry Hamster when I tried him on it -- but Annie is an awkward thing ;) They're both emptying their food bowls with this new one, which is a good sign. I just need to see what's left in their stores at the weekend!

      Delete
  2. wow, I just learned a lot. I cook for my dog, but didn't think how important it would be to have the right mix for a healthy hamster. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete