Hamsters cache. Whatever you give one goes under the bedding before it gets eaten, which is why a stick clipped to the bars is a slightly different proposition from food in a bowl — it has to be worked at where it hangs, and that is the entire appeal of the format.

Vitakraft bake these three times, which they say is what gives the stick its texture and its keeping quality as much as its appearance. The composition is cereals, derivatives of vegetable origin, seeds, nuts, vegetables, fruits and honey at 0.3%. The analysis runs 11.5% crude protein, 6.0% crude oil, 5.0% crude fibre, 5.0% crude ash, 12.5% moisture, 1.1% calcium and 0.5% phosphorus — and carbohydrate at 60.0%, which is the number that decides how these are used. There are two sticks in a pack.

• Two sticks per pack
• Honey 0.3%
• Carbohydrate 60.0%
• Crude protein 11.5%, crude oil 6.0%, crude fibre 5.0%
• Calcium 1.1%, phosphorus 0.5%, moisture 12.5%
• Complementary treat, baked three times

Named for the honey, made of the cereal. Honey is 0.3% of this and carbohydrate is 60.0%, so it belongs in the treat column and nowhere near the daily ration — a small hamster on a stick a week is a different animal from one on a stick a day. Vitakraft publish no length or weight per stick and no guidance on how often to give one, so the rationing is entirely your call with no manufacturer figure to work from. The listing's size label is "2PK 25749", which is a pack count with the part number stuck on the end rather than a size.

Who it's for: keepers of a hamster, and anyone whose small animal has stopped bothering with a bowl of mix and needs something that has to be worked at.