Carefresh Complete Hamster Food: Sunflower Seeds

So I have only just realized that Carefresh Complete does not have sunflower seeds in it. I obviously assumed they were in there because usually all mixes have them, some being overloaded with them. I've never used the mix myself so please excuse me if this is blatantly obvious to anyone else. Link to the product for further information: Care Fresh Complete Hamster Food- Product Link.

So since this is one of the more recommended mixes I did want to bring it up in case someone didn't know. Sunflower seeds are incredibly healthy and should not be cut out of a hamster's diet completely. Since most mixes do contain them and most of the quality ones aren't overloaded with them, I sometimes do not stress this factor. While they aren't good in excess, in moderation they are very important. If you want to know what I mean please check out this link: Sunflower Seeds: Re-examined by Eddie Cope. It is on a gerbil website but the essence of the article can translated back to hamsters!

So if you are feeding Carefresh Complete, please do remember that you will need to add in sunflower seeds to your hamster's diet. Plain, organic sunflower seeds are probably best. About 3-5 daily should be fine, and like 99% of hamsters adore them.

They aren't the horrible fattening seeds that some in the past have made them out to be, so don't skip on them please.

"Rescue or Sympathy Purchase"

     Anyone that has been keeping pets and has been to a pet store has likely come across the unfortunate situation of finding the conditions of the animals in the store to be neglectful and down right appalling. As animal lovers and enthusiasts it can be be difficult to leave behind an animal living in squalor or one the is quite obviously ill. However we must ask ourselves what purchasing this animal will really mean in the long run. This post is to bring to light the term "Sympathy Purchase", that is wonderfully defined and talked about here: Rescue or Sympathy Purchase By: RandomWiktor (Ren Weeks) at UlitmateBettas. I highly recommend that you read through it, it isn't long. It is based around betta fish, but I'm sure that filling in the details of what ever animal, such as hamsters, can be left to the imagination. 

     Basically RandomWiktor says that quietly purchasing an animal living in poor conditions at a pet store is not a true rescue. It does indeed help that one hamster, but this is short sighted and does not help the problems in the long run.

     There are two problems that are not being addressed in doing this. First of all purchasing an animal at any pet store only supports the animal mills from which the said animal comes from. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Read this too: Rodent Mills. Yes it's the same for hamsters, and even if your pet store gets from local breeders they are just a smaller scale of this). Secondly and in regard to this topic, by purchasing this animal you are saying to the pet store that it is perfectly ok to keep their animals in this manner. Another hamster will only take their place afterwards anyway.

     So quietly purchasing an animal to save it or nurse it back to health is called a Sympathy Purchase. And while this act is good in intention, it is not in fact exactly good.

     So what can you do then?  RandomWiktor gives you some much better ideas. Including talking to management (letters, direct conversations, phone calls, etc), keeping up on their progress, asking for a discount on the ill animal, giving advise, etc. You really should read it!

     I brought this up mostly because while this is common knowledge within some circles of animal lovers (betta fish and rat owners come to mind) it isn't always common knowledge in others. So next time you are tempted to make a sympathy purchase, stop and think about the consequences and what might be better action.