Do Hamsters Like Bananas?

Hamsters are small rodents that are common household pets in the United States of America. In the wild, they are crepuscular and hide in burrows during the daytime to avoid predators -- such as snakes. They are stout-bodied with short tails and thick silky fur. They are short-sighted and colorblind; though they make up for this with acute hearing. They also have a good sense of smell, which they can use to locate food and distinguish gender.

  1. Foods

    • Hamsters are omnivorous and will eat most things. In the wild, they generally eat vegetables, seeds, nuts and fruits. They also eat dried foods, berries and occasionally insects. In captivity, hamsters may also eat alfalfa, yogurt, rice, green vegetables and bread. They will even eat cooked chicken and fish.

    Fruits

    • Hamsters definitely like all kinds of fresh fruits and will most certainly eat bananas. It is best to chop the banana up into small pieces for ease of consumption. As well as bananas, hamsters will eat a great variety of fruits; such as seedless apples, pitted peaches and plums, lychee fruit, strawberries, raspberries, raisins and grapes.

    Pouches

    • Hamsters have pouches in their cheeks which they use to store food. These pouches can be expanded to two to three times their normal size, as the hamster stuffs them with food they do not wish to consume straight away. They will either save the food for consumption at a later date, or they will transport it to their burrows for their mate or offspring.

    Digestion

    • Hamsters have an unusual digestive system -- in that they are hindgut fermenters. This means that they eat their own feces after digestion. They need to do this to gain all the nutrients from their food that were not absorbed during the first digestive process. This is because they do not possess a complex ruminant digestive system. This practice is known as coprophagy.