Most hamsters eat all types of human food. But sometimes human food is not beneficial for their health. So, a question came into your mind, Can Hamsters Eat Bananas?
If they eat, how do they eat 🍌 bananas, why do they eat them, and how feed bananas to hamsters?
So, stay with us, further, we will discuss all of these queries.
Let’s go into a deep dive.
Can Hamsters Eat Bananas? Is It Possible
Absolutely, Yes. All types of hamsters like Syrian (golden), dwarf, and Chinese (gray) can all eat bananas with great pleasure.
So, if you have decided to add bananas to your hamster diet, you first need to know some about 🍌 banana’s benefits and side effects.
Banana and Its Benefits for Hamster
Banana is a rich vitamin source tasty and sweet. There is vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese, biotin, and potassium.
It contains more fiber. There are also 0.4 grams of fat, 1.3 grams of protein, and 27 grams of carbohydrate.
So, it is good to eat bananas for your hamster. Banana contains different vitamins and minerals like:
- Banana has Antioxidant Properties
- A Good Source of Sugar Level
- Perfect Source of Micronutitions
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B7 or Biotin
- Good Source of Manganese
- Perfect Source of Fiber
Can Hamsters Eat Bananas Peel? Is it Possible
Yes, eating banana peel is not an issue for your hamster. But sometimes they don’t eat banana peel, so, don’t wonder.
Banana peel is not as tasty as its pulp. Peel contains low sugar and is not very tasty, there why your hamster may ignore it.
So, feed the banana to the hamster with its peel. If they would like to eat the peel, they eat, otherwise they will scarf out its peel and eat only banana pulp.
Can Hamsters Eat Dried Bananas Chips?
At present, many types of products made from bananas are available in the market. Among these, there are also banana chips.
Banana chips are used in some form or other in almost all the low-quality hamster foods available in the market.
There are some products that are made for human consumption but some preservatives are added to those banana chips so that they remain edible for a long time.
If you feed these chips to your hamster, your hamster may get sick.
Although banana chips can be fed to a hamster, feeding them daily can cause serious problems for the hamster.
You should feed your hamster high-quality food with pellets, seeds, grains, and nuts on a daily basis to provide a high-quality diet.
So that they can get all the nutrients in abundance.
With these, provide them with fresh water from time to time.
Are Feeding Bananas Harmful for Hamsters?
Sometimes, it is harmful for your little buddy to feed a lot of bananas. Bananas are rich in sugar fruit, and a hamster’s digestion system is very small.
So, if a hamster eats extra bananas then it will not digest the extra sugar contained, which will make it sick.
When hamsters eat more than one or two pieces of banana, they develop diarrhea, upset stomach, gas, and bloating.
You need to be very careful about your little buddy’s health and provide him right nutritious diet.
You should avoid feeding your hamster bananas every day, this is because bananas contain a lot of sugar and hamsters don’t need a lot of sugar in their diet.
If hamsters eat too much sugar, it can harm their health and lead to unwanted weight gain.
🐹 Do you know hamsters climb on walls, if don’t read this: Can Hamster Climb Walls?
How Often Should Hamsters Be Fed Bananas?
Often people recommend that hamsters shouldn’t be fed bananas too much, so how often should we feed our hamsters bananas?
Ideally, you should feed bananas and other safe fruits at least, once or twice a week.
Whenever you want to serve your hamster any new type of food, first you give them a little bit of piece and check how your hamster reacts.
Do they accept it or not, If they eat, and don’t face any health problems, then you can feed them, but if they face any problems, like diarrhea or stomach infections, just take your little companion to Vet.
You should include at least 5-10% of your hamster's daily diet as fresh fruits and vegetables, with the remaining 90% made up of exceptional hamster food and hay.
Relation Between Bananas and Hamsters
Most little rodents are hoarders, and hamsters are one of them. If they are not in an eating mood, store this food under their bad or padding.
So, if you feed a whole banana, they don’t eat it, and store it, Due to this, the entire cage turns messy, and bad smells are created.
There are many relations between banana and hamster. Let’s check one by one:
Banana Vitamin B6 And Hamster
Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin. There are 8 vitamins in the B series, and B6 is one of them.
The functions of Vitamin B6 are, to keep the metabolism system healthy, support the brain and immune system healthy, create new cells, and keep them healthy.
The researcher found if a Syrian Hamster is not given a Vitamin B6 Diet, they feel muscular weakness, changes in fur color, and slow body growth.
Vitamin B6 deficiency slows down a hamster’s ability to eat and drink.
🐹 Learn a proper guide on How to Clean Hamster Poop.
Manganese Mineral and Hamster Relation
Manganese is a mineral to recovers fast healing, solid and developed bones, and repairs the metabolism system.
However, the excess quantity of Manganese could be toxic. You need to be very careful and provide it proper balanced supplemental diet.
For this, you can go with alfalfa and timothy hay, which are a perfect combination of nutrition for your pet.
The Biotin and Hamsters Relation
Biotin is known as B7. It is a water-soluble vitamin of the B series. It is important for key metabolic processes and adrenal health.
You may have often noticed that your hamster eats its feces. At that time you start wondering why your hamster is doing this.
But you need to know that there is a good reason for the hamster to eat its feces. The act of a hamster eating its feces is called Coprophagy.
The Coprophagy is a Greek word that means “To Eat Dung.”
You will see this process in rabbits, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, and chinchillas.
When food is digested in a hamster’s stomach, its stomach cannot absorb all the nutrients. Some nutrients pass out with their moles.
So hamsters re-eat the feces to get the remaining nutrients. Biotin is one of them.
Since hamsters do not require biotin in large amounts, they appear to replenish it through their stool. It is natural for hamsters to eat their feces.
Hamsters and Bananas Vitamin C
Vitamin C is also known as Ascorbic Acid. It is also a water-soluble vitamin. Everyone needs it daily because the body does not store it.
Most animals make vitamin C through the intestinal bacterial flora, but hamsters and humans can’t do so.
For this, they have to meet its deficiency from outside sources.
Vitamin C is a very beneficial vitamin that plays a role in controlling infection and healing wounds in the hamster’s body.
It is a powerful antioxidant that can neutralize harmful free radicals.
It is needed to make collagen, a fibrous protein in connective tissue that is woven into various systems in the body: nerve, immune, bone, cartilage, blood, and others.
The vitamin helps make many hormones and chemical messengers used in the brain and nerves.
How to Feed Bananas to Our Hamsters?
It is an easy process to feed bananas to your hamsters.
- Take a parasite-free ripe banana. If you are afraid, your hamster may get parasites to eat, you can wash bananas first.
- Then peel away, and cut it with a knife into small pieces or bites.
- 1 teaspoon of banana, feed for your adult hamster, and 1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon for your small or dwarf buddy.
- When your furry buddy eats it, remove the leftover banana, otherwise 12-24 hours later, it may be caused by odor and dirt.
It is a simple and easy way to feed a banana to your hammie.
If you identify any abnormalities in hamsters’ behavior, immediately consult your Vet for proper treatment.
Final Words
Now you know that hamsters can eat bananas. But they should not be allowed to eat more than one or two spoons only.
So, that they can take nutrients from bananas for a long healthy life.
As we all know eating anything in excess is harmful, similarly if hamsters eat bananas in excess, their health can deteriorate.
One or two spoons is enough.
Also, try to provide a complete diet for your little friend.
