Fruits & Vegetables for Hamsters

Hamsters require a healthy and balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins and minerals. Although the commercial diet you feed your hamsters will provide them with a mix of these nutrients, you should gradually introduce small amounts of fresh foods, such as fruits and vegetables, into their diet. Make sure to thoroughly wash the food before feeding your pets.

  1. Fruits

    • You can feed your hamsters fruits, such as apples, bananas, pears, watermelon, peaches, mangoes, grapes, star fruit and kiwi fruit. Cut the fruit and give a small piece to the hamsters. Berries, such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, also are good. Take care when feeding your pets with plums and cherries. Remove the stones before giving the fruit because it can be dangerous if the hamsters gnaw on them.

    Vegetables

    • Hamsters can eat various vegetables such as cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, alfalfa, green beans and celery. As with fruits, cut the vegetables and feed small pieces to your hamster. With cauliflower or broccoli, a single floret will suffice. Thoroughly cook potatoes and kidney beans before feeding them to your hamster. Certain vegetables, such as cabbage and kale, should be fed in very small quantities as too much can easily cause ill health.

    What to Avoid

    • Not all fruits and vegetables are good for hamsters. Raw kidney beans, uncooked potatoes, and rhubarb should not be fed. Besides, you should also avoid feeding your hamsters leaves of the tomato and rhubarb plants, onion, and potato tops. After you provide your pets with a piece of fruit or vegetable, remove whatever is left uneaten. These foods will rot after a day or two, and hamsters can get sick if they eat rotten food.

    How to Feed

    • Fruits and vegetables if introduced all of a sudden can lead to diarrhea in hamsters. To avoid this, it is best to begin with small pieces of a fruit or vegetable, one or two times a week. As your hamsters get used to this diet, you can increase the quantity to a small piece of fruit or vegetable every day. If your hamsters show signs of diarrhea, stop feeding these foods until they recover. When the diarrhea stops completely, reintroduce these food items gradually, increasing the quantity to the previous levels.