Mommy doing research

Hi Everyone, my nickname is Moni. Am a mommy doing research to be ready for our new pet. We have two teenagers in the house and I think we are ready for this responsibility. We’ve started by building a cage. We are currently painting it. I’m doing research ahead of time so we are ready in the next month or so to get a hamster. I find the hardest part right now is figuring out the food especially since we live in Eastern Canada.

Hello and welcome It's great your doing the research first to get everything just right for your hamster Yes food is a tricky one. Do you know which species of hamster you'll be getting? Different species have specific mixes ideally. I seem to remember with Canada that you can only get some things from the US is that right? Some people in the US actually buy hamster food on Etsy (that comes from Germany some of it!). Other than that, Higgins Vita Garden is a reasonable commercial mix and sugar free

I’m happy I did because when I was little back in the 1900’s haha we had no idea about the cage sizes and enrichment… we can get about 90% of products from the US but prices have gone up a lot lately. I heard about Etsy but besides protein levels i don’t know what type of variety I’m looking for. Amazon.ca has vita garden.

Aw I know - it's great things have improved so much in recent years in hamster care! It's the last 10 years it's really come on I think, but mostly in the last 5 years. Many of us started out with a cage too small and upgraded It kind of seems obvious now that they need more space.

As for food. Vita Garden Hamster and Gerbil used to be recommended as ok, although having just looked at the ingredients and guaranteed analysis I'm wondering if it's changed! It has hay high up in the ingredients list (not needed for hamsters. The protein would need supplementing as it's only 15% but that's the same for quite a few mixes. There are no other commercial mixes really with a good variety of ingredients so people tend to get mixes from Etsy or Getzoo! They can work out expensive. I'm thinking @Hamster Haven may have more info than me about where to get the food as she is in the US There are some "home made"mixes that are popular and have a wide variety of ingredients - some are better than others. I'm not keen if they rely on lentils a lot for protein. Partly because hamsters don't digest lentils very well and also they may not even eat them.

Protein needs to be about 18 to 20% but if a mix has less than that, you can supplement the protein with fresh food Eg chopped hard boiled egg, nuts, and people get freeze dried chicken bites or shrimps as well. The ideal thing is a mix that contains everything or only needs a little bit of protein supplement.

Harry and Hazel Hamster are a fairly basic mix for Syrian Hamsters as well. Not the best variety but they aren't bad and are sugar free and contain all the protein needed. The pieces in that are a bit big for a dwarf hamster though.

Congratulations on becoming a hamster parent soon ❤ Welcome to the forum

Maz said:

Hello and welcome It's great your doing the research first to get everything just right for your hamster Yes food is a tricky one. Do you know which species of hamster you'll be getting? Different species have specific mixes ideally. I seem to remember with Canada that you can only get some things from the US is that right? Some people in the US actually buy hamster food on Etsy (that comes from Germany some of it!). Other than that, Higgins Vita Garden is a reasonable commercial mix and sugar free

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Hamster food including Higgins, is available from Chewy.com Canada https://www.chewy.com/ca/app/content/faq

Rescued One said:

Hamster food including Higgins, is available from Chewy.com Canada https://www.chewy.com/ca/app/content/faq

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Thanks unfortunately they only deliver in Ontario at the moment.
I live on the East Coast Atlantic.

I might have found two mixes here that might do at least till I have the hamster and know what it likes

Yeah, most people have recommended mixing Higgins Sunburst mix with Mazuri (or something similar) blocks (sometimes called critter cubes or pellet cubes) - the brown blocks. A couple local places near me only carry the Sunseed Vita Prima brand, which is a pretty good substitute. My favorite mix to order is from an independent small business owner in South Carolina, but she has a robust website for US customers. The business name is Happy Hamstery. She calculates the protein and fat content, and all that, for her homemade mix and sells it. Sometimes I'll vary by the day with either a tablespoon of her mix or a tablespoon of one of the larger brand mixes and then a critter cube.

Thank you for that @Hamster Haven - your source sounds invaluable! I believe the Higgins Vita Garden is supposed to be better than the Sunburst though as it's sugar free.

Is it this one? If so it looks good. It doesn't seem to list the ingredients etc anywhere?

Maz said:

Thank you for that @Hamster Haven - your source sounds invaluable! I believe the Higgins Vita Garden is supposed to be better than the Sunburst though as it's sugar free.

Is it this one? If so it looks good. It doesn't seem to list the ingredients etc anywhere?

Hamfetti Food Mix (1lb)

Introducing our Homemade Seed Mix, crafted with care by the hamster enthusiasts at Happy Hamstery! Each bag contains a little surprise mushroom for YOU, see if you can collect them all! Made fresh every two weeks, this mix is not just a treat—it's a hamster's dream come true! Safe for all...

happyhamstery.com

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I will have to look into Vita Garden myself. It seems available through many of the online sources I've ordered from, but I hadn't paid attention to it before! I couldn't find the recipe posted online, although I didn't check their Instagram, but I found that a couple of years ago she posted a video that included her recipe. I checked and I think she does ship to Canada, but I don't know the pricing. I'm getting a bag next week, so I'll check and see if it's labeled and if so, upload a photo.

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Yes I saw her video and I think the other was Victoria’s or it could have been something animal but both now have the recipe offline. That specific page is down. I tried to reach out to Victoria since she’s Canadian a few weeks ago but didn’t get a response. Might try again in a few weeks. Her latest videos have her moving so she’d be really busy.

Moni72mm said:

Yes I saw her video and I think the other was Victoria’s or it could have been something animal but both now have the recipe offline. That specific page is down. I tried to reach out to Victoria since she’s Canadian a few weeks ago but didn’t get a response. Might try again in a few weeks. Her latest videos have her moving so she’d be really busy.

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oh bummer!