What Fruits Can Hamsters Eat? [Safe & Unsafe Fruit List]

Fruits are one of the important parts of the hamster diet. To get those extra vitamins and minerals, fruits are fantastic for hamsters.

But, as you grow as a better hamster owner, you come to know the hamster diet is critical, so before serving fruits or any other food to your hamsters, you may have a lot of doubts.

Because hamsters are small, a few harmful fruits and other food can harm them. So, What Fruits Can Hamsters Eat?

But that is a short answer; you must read the complete list of safe and unsafe fruits for hamsters that I’ve listed below.

I’ve also mentioned the best way of serving fruits to your hamsters. So without wasting time, let’s feed your hamster fruits… oh sorry, let’s read [haha].

Can You Serve Fruits Daily To Your Hamsters?

NO! Hamsters can not eat fruits daily; fruits have acidic contents and sugar; thus, serving fruits daily to your hamster may cause health problems like diabetes, diarrhea, and more. Diabetes is the main health concern for Dwarf Hybrid and Chinese hamsters, but any hamster can develop diabetes.

So you have to be careful while serving fruits to your hamster. It is advised to serve fruits quite a few times a week. Simply serve fruits 2-3 times a week for Syrian hamsters, and for Dwarf and Chinese hamsters, it is best to serve fruits only once a week.

Moreover, you can serve 2-3 different types of fruits but only tiny pieces. Now, let’s have a look at the fruits.

Safe Fruits For Hamsters

Here are the fruits that are safe for your hamsters, but you must ensure that you feed the sweet fruits to your Dwarf or Chinese hamster only occasionally.

• Apples [no seeds & skin]
• Apricots
• Banana
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Coconut
• Cranberries
• Cantaloupe
• Cherries [no stone]
• Dates
• Elderberries
• Grapes
• Guava
• Lychees
• Mango
• Papaya
• Peaches [no pits]
• Pears
• Plums
• Pomegranate
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Squash
• Watermelon

Unsafe Fruits For Hamsters

• Citrus Fruits – as they are high in acids, they can upset your hamsters’ stomach and cause diarrhea and other issues. Oranges, Lemons, and Grapefruit are a few examples.
• Avocados – contain Persin, a fungicidal toxin, which can cause various health issues for small pets. It is also high in fat.
• Star Fruit – has neurotoxin causing fatal to hamsters.
• Dragon fruit – should not be served to your hamster as the seeds can choke it and have toxic things.

These are the few fruits you should avoid serving to your hamster, and also do proper research before serving any fruits because hamsters are small, and without proper care, they might have serious issues.

Species and Other Things To Consider

Syrian Hamsters	2-3 times/week
Dwarf Hybrid & Chinese Hamsters	Once per week
Overweight Hamster	Once or Twice/month
Hamster With Diabetes	No Fruits at all

Slowly Introduce Fruits To A New Hamster!

If you’ve just brought your new hamster and you’re planning to serve fruits to your hamster, then it is advised to introduce fruits slowly to them and gradually increase the amount and serving limit.

If your hamsters have not eaten fruits before, serving fruits and veggies in good amounts can cause stomach upset, diarrhea, and other health problems.

So it would be better to serve tiny pieces of fruit once a week, and you’ll mostly serve their seed mix as their main source of essential nutrients.

After a few months, you can increase the limit from once a week and increase the amount gradually.

Few Best Ways of Serving Fruits To Your Hamsters

Different owners have different serving styles; thus, there are various ways of serving fruits to your hamster. Here are two popular ways of serving fruits to your hamster;

#As a Treat

Fruits are a great treat for hamsters; they like having fruits. So while taming and playing with your hamster, you can serve a few small pieces of fruit.

In that way, you’re making your hamster happy as well as they are getting vital nutrients from various foods often.

You can serve one or a few different fruits as a treat, maybe once or twice a week. This way is great because serving the same thing can often badly impact your hamster, so you’re reducing the bad impact by serving it occasionally from a particular fruit [like, grapes] that may harm the hamster in the long run.

As well as, hamster love variety and fruits, so if you serve tasty fruit often, they might become a picky eater and would not eat other foods.

#With Vegetables

Many hamster owners prefer serving a few pieces of vegetables regularly besides their main food mix. This provides vital nutrients to your hamster regularly.

So you can often add a few small pieces of fruit to your hamster’s daily vegetable dish. But don’t give fruits daily to your hamster.

It is advised not to repeat the same fruit more than once or twice a week.

Also, remember don’t serve a large quantity; always small pieces of vegetables and fruits. Here is a perfect article on vegetables you can read!