Re: HH Food Topic Discussion

by CallaLily Mon 30 Jan 2017, 3:14 pm

Flaxseed, pumpkin seed? Maybe nuts? All mine so far have loved walnuts. Maybe suggest a healthier dog biscuit than the original milkbones (U.S.)?

I was looking at yogurt drops a few months ago, in local stores. When I couldn't find the sugar free ones I ended up just grabbing some Gerber fruit and veggie puffs from the grocery store. They're pretty tasty.

Edit: Melts. Fruit and veggie melts. https://www.gerber.com/products/product/gerber-graduates-fruit-veggie-melts-snack-very-berry-blend-naturally-flavored-with-other-natural-flavors

by CallaLily Mon 30 Jan 2017, 3:35 pm

I see you added a different food suggestion. Nice! The VitaSmart has slightly better variety than the VitaPrima. Smile

What do you all think of the Vitakraft Vita Prima Sunscription Dwarf Hamster Formula? http://m.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/small-animal/small-animal-food-treats/hamster-and-gerbil-food-and-treats/vitakraft-vita-prima-sunscription-dwarf-hamster-formula#
13 different whole foods. No raisins or peanuts. 13% crude protein. Though I guess it is a little high in fiber. Can anyone confirm Petco's description?

by AnonymousMouseOwner Mon 30 Jan 2017, 3:49 pm

I found the link to my thread: http://www.petmousefanciers.com/t1124-5-great-mouse-treats

I photographed several treats I have and put together some info on them, hopefully that'll help.

by Peachy Mon 30 Jan 2017, 4:18 pm

I can definitely add more "examples" to treats and supplements. I thought you meant more info about something.

I meant to add the new food a while ago. Options are good, always open to suggestions! lol
I fed a Sunseed hamster food for a bit before I settled on what I feed now. I'm not sure which one it was, but it looked ok to me. Gotta get my piggy more hay, will have to check the food out! Razz

by CallaLily Mon 30 Jan 2017, 4:21 pm

Brown's has better variety but I agree, giving a few options is good. Especially if someone has easier access to one store over the other.

by Peachy Mon 30 Jan 2017, 5:38 pm

Here's the dwarf hamster food. The GA is really similar to the hamster & gerbil food and the mouse, rat, & gerbil food. Interesting!
https://i.servimg.com/u/f37/19/46/36/73/20170139.jpg

by CallaLily Mon 30 Jan 2017, 5:59 pm

Thank you! Looks the same as Petco's website. It's good to double check actual bags. I find the store sites are sometimes wrong or outdated.

The hamster/gerbil and mouse/rat have slightly different ingredients.. Their dwarf mix looks best to me. I like that the first 4 ingredients in it are whole foods. The other two formulas don't have that.

To compare, here's the ingredients for the other 2 formulas (according to Petco's website):

Rat, Mouse, & Gerbil wrote:Ingredients
Oat Groats, Wheat Middlings, Wheat, Soybean Hulls, White Millet, Milo, Wheat Flakes, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Flaked Soybeans, Sunflower Seed, Flaked Peas, Peanuts, Whole Corn, Ground Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Carob Beans, Ground Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Corn Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles, Ground Flaxseed, Dried Egg, Dehydrated Apple, Dehydrated Carrots, Dehydrated Sweet Potato, Cane Molasses, Vegetable Oil, Lignin Sulfonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Salt, L-Lysine, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Wheat Germ Meal, Apple Juice Concentrate, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Ground Oat Groats, Magnesium Oxide, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Ground Steam-Rolled Oats, Dl-Methionine, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Torula, Dried Yeast, Potassium Sulfate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Fructooligosaccharide, Algae Meal, Yeast Culture, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Potassium Iodide, Manganese Methionine Complex, Copper Lysine Complex, Zinc Methionine Complex, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Cobalt Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Aloe Vera Gel Concentrate, Calcium Propionate (A Preservative), Color Added (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1, Titanium Dioxide).

Hamster & Gerbil wrote:Ingredients
Wheat Middlings, Oats, Soybean Hulls, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat, White Millet, Milo, Sunflower Seed, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Corn, Whole Corn, Flaked Peas, Flaked Wheat, Steam-Rolled Barley, Carob Beans, Flaked Soybeans, Peanuts, Corn Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles, Corn Gluten Meal, Linseed Meal, Ground Wheat, Dehydrated Sweet Potato, Dehydrated Carrots, Calcium Carbonate, Cane Molasses, Vegetable Oil, Lignin Sulfonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Salt, L-Lysine, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Ground Oat Groats, Wheat Germ Meal, Apple Juice Concentrate, Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Oxide, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Ground Steam-Rolled Oats, Dl-Methionine, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Torula Dried Yeast, Yucc, a Schidigera Extract, Fructooligosaccharide, Algae Meal, Yeast Culture, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Potassium Iodide, Manganese Methionine Complex, Copper Lysine Complex, Zinc Methionine Complex, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Cobalt Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Aloe Vera Gel Concentrate, Calcium Propionate (A Preservative), Color Added (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1, Titanium Dioxide).

I guess because some dwarf hamsters are prone to diabetes, so they're more careful with their mix? I don't think any other U.S. brand does that though? Not that it's suitable for a Ham on it's own. Too low protein.

by Peachy Tue 31 Jan 2017, 12:45 am

Oh yeah, I noticed the ingredients were pretty different. I took pictures of all three and confused myself when both pictures I uploaded listed peanuts. Scratch

A very good example of why you should pay attention to ingredients too!

Looking forward to finishing this up. lol Anyone looked into healthy dog foods? I remember Chicken Soup was recommended on TFM, but I can't remember what other brands I found.

by CallaLily Tue 31 Jan 2017, 7:47 am

I have not looked into them much. I see some recommending to stick with high quality dog foods and others suggesting lower end ones. I've also seen some use the term high quality in reference to a junk brand! Laughing

But I haven't had any interest in adding a dog food to my mix, so I haven't looked further.

Dog biscuits that I've occasionally offered as a treat are MilkBones Healthy Favorites and Buddy Biscuits .

by CallaLily Tue 31 Jan 2017, 8:16 am

Was just looking the page over. It's looking good! Great job, @Peachy!

by AnonymousMouseOwner Tue 31 Jan 2017, 3:04 pm

It's looking great! Just one thing, what's a dward hamster? Laughing

Theres a typo in the dwarf hamster food recommendation.

by AnonymousMouseOwner Wed 01 Feb 2017, 6:04 pm

If I compile a list of commercial treats and why they are good/bad, would I be able to use stock photos from the internet or could we get in trouble for that? Confused

Edit: Nevermind, I already compiled the list, but I can still add pictures if you want Smile

by MesaMouse Wed 01 Feb 2017, 6:51 pm

There are two very good brands of crunchy dog treats that I always fed my loaded-with-allergies dog and also shared with the mice and now Imogene. The two lines are Charlee Bear (the grain-free Chicken, Pumpkin and Apple was always a big hit) and Nutro's Crunchy Apple, Banana, Carrot and Mixed Berries flavors, also grain-free. Nothing artificial in either brand and the pieces are very small, easy enough for a hamster to hold although I'd break the little Nutro triangles in half for the mice.

by Peachy Wed 01 Feb 2017, 6:59 pm

I know we've used pictures elsewhere (mostly pictures that were already posted on TFM), but I usually try not to use pictures unless it specifically says we can. Maybe you could link to them?

Thanks, Mesa. I'll add those, too. Smile

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