If you are forced to feed a pellet then I would actually recommend Oxbow's Healthy Handfuls :D Oxbow is well known for their well balanced foods and even Petco has been trying to get them to sell in the stores. --> http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1534
in my experience with my rats and mice, a homemade mix can be cheaper then store bought foods. But this is with my experience with rats and mice, I have never owned hamsters.
He will live "fine" on Kaytee Pellets, but even humans can live "fine" on unhealthy foods. I kind of have a thing against Kaytee because of some of the ingredients that they use:
"Corn- It can have high levels of fungal contaminates which can lead to liver cancer. Also, corn also contains high levels of both nitrates and amines. These two compounds can combine in the stomach to form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.
Alfalfa- hamsters can't digest alfalfa very well. Most hamsters will leave these alfalfa pellets alone (meaning you just paid for something to be wasted) and those that do eat them, can feel sick.
Ethoxyqui- This is a used to preserve color and is also considered a pesticide. In a study of rats who were continually feed a mix that had 0.2% ethoxyquin, there was evidence of "caused transient depression in growth rate" and there was evidence of "damage to kidneys, liver and thyroid gland were seen in many of the male rats but not in the females." Continuing to feed the 0.2% ethoxquin, there was evidence of tumors being caused by the ethoxquin. "In another study, diets containing 0.5 % ethoxyquin fed to rats for up to 18 months, produced renal lesions in all of the study animals." " info from http://www.freewebs.com/dreamchaser023/hamsterinfo.htm
I don't think Kaytee uses alfalfa, but the other two they do. (except the new Omega 3 kaytee pellet, but thats still uses a lot of corn).
I to would recommend a bigger cage, and you can find more info in the same link where the food info came from
I am so glad that he is doing well! He is absolutely adorable!
This is EXACTLY the information I was looking for regarding hamster food. I can tell you the same sort of information about every dog kibble I come across but was utterly at a loss here. It looks like I have some local stores that sell Oxbow; I will get him some within the week and begin putting that in the bowl along with the FD to gently switch him over. :)
OT: I'm so jealous you have stores that sell Oxbow! I wish my town did but the only pet stores are the two "Main" chains and a mom and pop shop I refuse to shop in (the living area for the small animals is disgusting :( )
...well, the store search on the website mentioned quite a few, anyway. We'll see how reliable the search is. ;)
Yeah, I saw a store or two on the list that I will absolutely not go into. One of them sells puppies for Chrissakes. Puppies! The first (and only) time I went in there I had my dog with me; we walked in the door, I saw all of those sickly puppies, and we turned around and walked out.
--> http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1534
If you don't want to shop online there is another pellet that is better then Kaytee, but its sold at Petsmart. Its called Mazuri.
--> http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754062
Another is a home made food. A member in this community makes her own found in the link below
-->http://community.livejournal.com/hamsters/2108903.html
in my experience with my rats and mice, a homemade mix can be cheaper then store bought foods. But this is with my experience with rats and mice, I have never owned hamsters.
He will live "fine" on Kaytee Pellets, but even humans can live "fine" on unhealthy foods. I kind of have a thing against Kaytee because of some of the ingredients that they use:
"Corn- It can have high levels of fungal contaminates which can lead to liver cancer. Also, corn also contains high levels of both nitrates and amines. These two compounds can combine in the stomach to form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.
Alfalfa- hamsters can't digest alfalfa very well. Most hamsters will leave these alfalfa pellets alone (meaning you just paid for something to be wasted) and those that do eat them, can feel sick.
Ethoxyqui- This is a used to preserve color and is also considered a pesticide. In a study of rats who were continually feed a mix that had 0.2% ethoxyquin, there was evidence of "caused transient depression in growth rate" and there was evidence of "damage to kidneys, liver and thyroid gland were seen in many of the male rats but not in the females." Continuing to feed the 0.2% ethoxquin, there was evidence of tumors being caused by the ethoxquin. "In another study, diets containing 0.5 % ethoxyquin fed to rats for up to 18 months, produced renal lesions in all of the study animals."
"
info from http://www.freewebs.com/dreamchaser023/hamsterinfo.htm
I don't think Kaytee uses alfalfa, but the other two they do. (except the new Omega 3 kaytee pellet, but thats still uses a lot of corn).
I to would recommend a bigger cage, and you can find more info in the same link where the food info came from
I am so glad that he is doing well! He is absolutely adorable!
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OT: I'm so jealous you have stores that sell Oxbow! I wish my town did but the only pet stores are the two "Main" chains and a mom and pop shop I refuse to shop in (the living area for the small animals is disgusting :( )
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Yeah, I saw a store or two on the list that I will absolutely not go into. One of them sells puppies for Chrissakes. Puppies! The first (and only) time I went in there I had my dog with me; we walked in the door, I saw all of those sickly puppies, and we turned around and walked out.
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