There are many fruits and vegetables you can choose to give your hamster, but not all of these are healthy. In fact, some seemingly healthy foods are particularly bad for hamsters, some even outright dangerous. My hamster can be quite fussy with her food. In our feeding series, we look at strawberries and whether they are safe for hamsters to eat.
Is strawberry safe for hamsters? Yes, strawberries are safe for hamsters to eat as part of a healthy balanced diet. As strawberries are a high sugar fruit, it’s best to limit the portions of strawberry you give your hamster. So, give tiny amounts on its own or as part of a hamster salad. The high-water content can also lead to diarrhea in your hamster which in turn can lead to dehydration. Small amounts of strawberry can avoid this from happening while still giving the nutritional benefits.
Is strawberry safe for hamsters?
Can hamsters eat strawberries?
Yes, hamsters can eat strawberries and in fact, most hamsters love strawberries! However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind if you decide to feed strawberries to your hamster.
Strawberries are a healthy popular fruit, with a beautiful red color and a juicy sweetness.
Strawberries can help in the prevention of many illnesses like cancer, high blood pressure, constipation, strokes and diabetes.
It’s also full of vitamins and minerals like Vitamin A and C, folic acid, potassium, calcium and even Iron.
And to top it off, strawberries contain powerful antioxidants which help fight free radicals in your body, which can damage your DNA and cause serious disease.
So, we know strawberries have awesome health benefits for humans, but question is does it have the same benefits for hamsters?
The answer is yes, strawberries are full of vitamins and minerals which can have great health benefits for your hamster too.
Most hamsters love strawberries so offer small strawberry cut offs to your hamster as part of their balanced healthy diet.
How much strawberry can a hamster eat?
Strawberries are a high water and high sugar content food so you will need to avoid giving large amounts of strawberry to your hamster at any given time.
The high-water content can lead to diarrhea in your hamster. While this does not sound to serious, it can lead to dehydration which can be very serious. Diarrhea in hamsters is also called wet tail and if your hamster suffers from diarrhea you will need to contact your veterinarian at once.
The high sugar content means that if you give large portions to your hamster, you will put them at risk of diabetes to which hamsters are prone.
You can give your hamster small amounts of strawberry on its own.
You can also give strawberries as part of a hamster salad. This is a mixture of different fruits and vegetables and possibly some seeds as well.
The salad is no bigger than 1 or 2 teaspoons and can contain as many different food items as you wish. The benefit of hamster salads is that your hamster gets many different foods at the same time and will therefore have more variety of vitamins and minerals in one meal. And as there is a combination of foods, you can balance both the sugar content as well as the water content of the foods included.
If you want to offer strawberries on their own, give a quarter of a small strawberry and place it in your hamster’s cage or give it as a treat when you are petting your hamster. Don’t give this more than once or twice a week.
If you give strawberry as part of a hamster salad you can give it every day if you balance the high-water content of the strawberries with denser foods like carrots and seeds.
You will also need to add low sugar foods to reduce the overall sugar content of the hamster salad.
Hamster salad recipe examples:
| Salad One | Salad Two | Salad Three |
| Strawberry | Strawberry | Strawberry |
| Cucumber | Chicory | Banana |
| Carrot | Blueberry | Cricket |
| Sunflower Seed | Unsalted Peanut pieces | Brown Cooked Rice |
| Apple | Romaine Lettuce | Broccoli |
| Kale | Dandelion leaves | Carrot |
| Romaine Lettuce | Mealworms | Hard Boiled Egg |
The great thing is that you can combine all sorts of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and even meat and cheese into a healthy salad for your hamster.
You can use more or less ingredients and you can choose how much of each ingredient is added to the salad.
Balance sugar content, fat content and water content. So not too much of any of these groups and use mostly natural foods which are thoroughly washed to avoid too many pesticides in your hamster’s food.
What happens if hamsters eat strawberries?
When your hamster eats strawberry, your hamster gets lots of good vitamins like vitamin A and C, as well as lots of minerals like potassium, calcium and folic acid.
Strawberries are a great hamster food as part of a balanced diet and most hamsters love it.
One thing to keep in mind is that your hamster stores food and strawberries are not a good food to store. It goes off quickly and will rot away your hamsters store rapidly. This can pose a health threat to your hamster as the bacteria in the rotting food are bad for your hamster’s health.
It’s therefore advisable to remove any leftover strawberry from the cage after a couple of hours and any food stores holding fresh food to be removed on a weekly basis. While it might seem mean to remove your hamster’s food store, they will soon build another one so don’t feel bad about it. In fact, you are doing your hamster a favor by keeping bacteria at bay.
What do I do if my hamster doesn’t eat strawberry?
If your hamster leaves the strawberry you offer, then don’t sweat it. It could just be that your hamster is not into strawberries and prefers other foods you offer. If you provide a healthy and balanced diet with healthy snacks, then there is absolutely no reason why your hamster needs to eat strawberries.
Stop offering strawberries and try different foods instead. Many fruits have vitamin A and C and are full of nutrients, like mango and raspberries.
You can play with your hamster’s food combinations to find out what your hamster likes and what not. If the staple of your hamster’s diet is high quality pellet food, then your hamster already gets all the vitamins and minerals it needs. Adding fresh fruit and vegetables to this will keep your hamster in great health.
What fruits can hamsters not eat?
There are often 3 parts to any kind of fruit.
The skin, the flesh and the pip(s)/seeds.
Sometimes your hamster can eat all of it, sometimes only the flesh and other times everything but the pips.
The skin of fruit is often problematic due to pesticides. The organic version of the fruit skin would be perfectly fine. Cucumbers and apples are examples of fruit which are best given organic or without the peel.
There are some fruits which are not so good for hamsters. For example, bitter almonds
Common fruit seeds which are no good for hamsters are apple and grape seeds.
None of the citrus fruits are suitable for hamsters.
What fruits are bad for hamsters
Citrus fruits are bad for hamsters and are the only type of fruit which are not suitable for hamsters as a whole fruit group.
Almonds are actually fruit, rather than nuts and many believe almonds to be bad for hamsters. This is partly true. The bitter almond is indeed bad for hamsters. This almond is round shaped and has a distinctive sweet scent. It’s normally used in perfumes and Chinese Medicine and is not the almond we know and eat.
The long and almond-shaped almond we know and love, is completely fine for hamsters to eat.
Can I give my hamster a strawberry?
While you can give your hamster strawberry, it’s not a good idea to give a whole strawberry as it’s a too big a portion for your hamster. Due to the high-water content of the strawberry, there is a big chance the strawberry will affect its digestive system and cause diarrhea.
Diarrhea is a serious illness for hamsters, also known as wet tail. If you notice changes in your hamster’s stool or suspect diarrhea, you need to contact your veterinarian at once as diarrhea can be deadly.
Can Syrian Hamsters eat strawberries?
Yes, while all hamsters are prone to diabetes, syrian hamsters are the least likely to get it compared to other hamster breeds. Dwarf hamsters for example have a bigger chance of becoming diabetic when on an unbalanced diet. However, that doesn’t mean your syrian hamster can just eat anything. Strawberries are full of healthy nutrients and should be a part of all hamster’s diet. Syrian hamsters included.
Same for syrian hamsters as for all other hamsters, don’t give too much strawberry as its high in sugar and water.
Can hamsters eat strawberry tops?
Yes, hamsters can eat strawberry tops and leaves as neither is dangerous or poisonous for your hamster. Question is whether your hamster wants to eat it. But you’ll soon find out after offering it.
I feed my hamster the little leaves often found on top of the strawberry and when added to a little salad, they always get eaten. Happy hamster!
Can dwarf hamsters eat strawberries?
Yes, all hamster breeds can eat strawberries, in small amounts. Dwarf hamsters are more prone to developing diabetes compared to other hamster breeds, however, as you’re only giving small portions of strawberry, there is no problem at all with feeding it to your dwarf hamster.
Leaving a whole strawberry in your hamster’s cage would not be a good idea as there is simply too much sugar and too much water content and this would be bad for all hamster breeds. So, there is no different amount of strawberry you should give your dwarf hamster. Just small portions a couple of times a week.
Can roborovski dwarf hamsters eat strawberries?
Just like all other hamsters, roborovski dwarf hamsters can eat strawberries. Dwarf hamsters are more prone to diabetes, and sugary foods should therefore be kept to a minimum. But small portions of strawberry are recommended for all hamster breeds, so there is no difference there.
Can hamsters eat strawberry leaves?
Yes, hamsters can eat strawberry leaves as they aren’t poisonous or dangerous to your hamster. The question is whether your hamster would like the greens on strawberries. You could cut them small and add them to a hamster salad. Dark green vegetables are particularly good for hamsters so if your hamster is happy to eat strawberry leaves, then all the better.
Related questions:
Can hamsters eat grapes?
Yes, hamsters can eat grapes, however the seeds should be avoided, and the skin should only be offered when the grapes are organic or very thoroughly washed.
Only small portions should be given and not too often either. While most hamsters like grapes and they are good addition to a healthy balanced diet, there are better fruits to offer like apples for example. Many kinds of apple are lower in sugar, and they have a much lower water content as well.
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What fruits can hamsters eat?
Most fruits are suitable for hamsters when given in small quantities. Think about apples, blueberries, mango, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, banana and peach.
You can give these fruits on their own or as part of a hamster salad with vegetables to make the overall dinner less sweet.
Fruits are an important part of a healthy diet and should be included in your hamster’s diet. Make sure you don’t leave fruit rotting in your hamster’s cage though as it goes off very quickly, especially soft fruits.
Hamster stores should also be removed at least once a week to stop bacteria taking over which can make your hamster ill.
Can hamsters eat blueberries?
Blueberries are very healthy for your hamster. Just cut one up into little slices and feed it to your hamster either on its own or as part of a salad.
What fruits can hamsters not eat?
Most fruits are fine for hamsters to eat, though often just in small portions. Bitter almonds are unsuitable (though the almond we eat is fine) and so are citrus fruits.
Conclusion: Is Strawberry Safe for Hamsters?
Strawberries are a safe food for hamsters and it contains very important vitamins like vitamin A and C as well as important nutrients. Adding strawberry to your hamster diet will ensure a healthy balanced diet which will keep your hamster’s health up.
Important to remember though is that strawberries contain a lot of sugar, which is bad if given too often or too much.
The large water content in strawberries can also cause diarrhea which can be dangerous for hamsters.
Solution to both of these is to give your hamster small portions of strawberry once of twice a week.
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