Can Hamsters have Bananas?

Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,

It’s very important to know what your pet can and can’t eat, even if you’ve got one as small as a hamster! Hammies are a pretty hard species to read, so it can be difficult to know if you’re taking good care of them, and unfortunately, a majority of them pass from poor husbandry. So, to bring a bit more awareness to proper hamster care here’s the question I pose this week… Can Hamsters have Bananas?

Short Answer

Yes, but in moderation!

Can all hamsters have bananas or are there some breeds that can’t?

While all hamsters can have bananas some of them are more prone to diabetes so you may want to avoid it. Syrian Hamsters and Roborovski Hamsters should have no problem-consuming bananas once or twice a week, but breeds such as the Winter White Dwarf Hamsters, Chinese Hamsters and Russian Campbell Dwarf Hamsters may develop long-term issues when feeding bananas since there is quite a bit of sugar in bananas. If you are going to choose to feed bananas to these breeds, please make sure to feed even less than once a week!

Serving Size

Bananas should be fed a maximum of twice per week and only a quarter teaspoon per feeding. Make sure you aren’t leaving out any uneaten banana so it doesn’t rot and cause your little hamster friend to get sick! All uneaten food should be disposed of. You should also keep a close eye on your hamster’s cheeks to make sure that they aren’t keeping the banana in there for too long as it can lead to teeth rot and other oral ailments.

Benefits

Bananas have a good amount of fibre, magnesium, potassium as well as lots of vitamin B and C. If you’ve had a hamster, you know how difficult it can be to get these vitamins into them, as hamsters can be picky about what they eat and do. Because of the amount fibre, bananas are a great solution to your hamster constipation problems! Other benefits include the promotion of good heart health, it can minimize the chance of leukaemia and colorectal cancer, and it can reduce blood pressure.

What happens if you overfeed bananas?

Well, as much as bananas can cure constipation, they can also cause diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration and other ailments if you are not someone who often cleans the hamster’s cage. If fed too much, bananas may lead to diseases such as diabetes and may, in fact, cause them to become overweight (causing issues such as joint pain, laziness, heart problems, etc).

Can hamsters eat the banana peel?

Absolutely, and actually, you can eat them too! Banana skin is actually filled with the same benefits as the actual fruit and quite a number of cultures around the world eat them, the only issue is… a lot of them are sprayed with pesticides and other animal repellents which would make it unfit for you to feed to a hamster. It may be smarter to feed your hamster organic banana peels.

I don’t trust feeding my hamster natural human-grade bananas, are there any treats I can feed instead?

Absolutely, here are some of the most popular/highest rated treats in our experience! Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats, Kaytee Fiesta Yogurt Cup Strawberry Banana Flavored Treat, Supreme Tiny Friends Farm Lovelies Hamster Treats, and Banana Bites.