Your furry little hamster pet is an excellent source of joy to you and other pet owners. When it comes to feeding your hamster, there are a few essential things you need to be aware of. If you are pondering on the question ‘can hamsters eat grapes’ then the answer is yes! Hamsters can eat grapes.
However, just like anything else that you can feed your hamster, there are do’s and don’ts that you need to follow when it comes to feeding your hamster grapes. Here is everything you need to know about it.
Grapes are a great choice of fruit for your little hamster; however, they are also high in sugar, so you have to be very careful about the number of grapes that you feed them.
You can give your Syrian Hamsters a quarter teaspoon of grapes once every week. When first introducing grapes into your hamsters’ diet, you should give them just one-eighth of a grape, to begin with, just to see how they react to the taste. You can then slowly increase the quantity.
Campbell’s Dwarf hamsters are one species of dwarf hamsters that you can keep as pets. As for these little hamsters, it is best to give them a quarter teaspoon serving of grape just once in two weeks. Since grapes have high sugar content and these hamsters are much smaller in size, moderation is key when feeding them a fruit like grapes.
Winter white dwarf hamsters are also tiny with a delicate digestive system and a tendency to develop diabetes. You should give them a quarter teaspoon grapes once even two weeks only.
Roborovski hamsters, like Syrian hamsters, are the slightly more abundant species of hamsters. You can give these hamsters a quarter teaspoon of grapes once a week.
Chinese hamsters are also dwarf hamsters, so follow the same guidelines; give them just a quarter teaspoon of grapes once every two weeks.
In the wild, hamsters pick and eat whatever food they can find. They are not too picky and eat food like nuts and seeds, grains, vegetables, fruits, berries, insects, small frogs, and even lizards.
When it comes to feeding your domesticated hamsters a healthy diet, it is best to stick to special hamster feed that you will find in stores. However, just for a change of taste, you can feed your hamsters with small portions of vegetables such as broccoli, kale, carrots, cucumbers, and fruits like apples, peach, bananas, and grapes.
Grapes are small, delicious fruits which are great for both humans as well as their hamster buddies! Not only are these fruits tasty, but they are also packed with nutrients.
Grapes have lots of Vitamin C and Vitamin K in them. While Vitamin C helps to promote healing in hamsters, building strong cell walls and blood vessels, Vitamin K is great for the reproductive health of the hamsters.
Grapes also contain potassium, which helps in reducing high blood pressure, bone problems, heart diseases, and even some types of cancer.
Manganese is another component which you will find in grapes, which helps in improving the bone health of your hamsters as well as reducing the risk of diseases.
Grapes contain high amounts of sugar in them, in fact, just one grape has 0.4 g of sugar in it! As you already know, your little hamsters are quite prone to developing diabetes and obesity, and a diet high in sugar just promotes this. It is essential to feed your little hamsters grapes in moderation to avoid this from happening.
Feeding too many grapes to your hamster can also cause them to have diarrhea. Keep the serving to once or twice a week for Syrian and Roborovski hamsters and once in two weeks for Dwarf hamsters.
Another issue with grapes is the fact that the seeds can be a choking hazard for your little pets. It is best to feed your hamsters seedless grapes and be sure to peel the grapes and cut them in two pieces or in quarter pieces before feeding them to your hamsters.
Dried grapes are just raisins, however, since they are dehydrated, this food item is mostly just sugar and very little water or nutrients. Raisins can also be quite sticky. You might already know what your hamsters have a habit of storing away food in their cheek pockets and away in their cages.
Foods like raisins are quite sweet and sticky, and if hoarded away, can rot and cause oral problems for your hamsters. You should clean the hamsters’ cage every day and remove any uneaten pieces of grapes and raisins from the cage. Also, give dried grapes to your hamster in moderation, just once in a while, like once in two or three weeks.
Remember that one raisin is equal to one grape, so even though raisins look small, you should not feed more than one to your hamster as they are high in sugar.
Both grape seeds, as well as peels, are hazardous for your hamsters. When feeding grapes to your hamster, be sure to give them seedless grapes or remove the seeds before you give them to your hamster. You should also peel the grapes and cut them into half or quarter pieces before feeding your hamsters.
Grapes have high sugar content in them so you should feed them to your hamsters in moderation. As for Syrian and Roborovski hamsters, a quarter teaspoon serving of grapes once a week or twice is week is enough. As for the dwarf hamsters like Campbell’s dwarf hamster, Chinese hamster, and winter white dwarf hamster, a quarter teaspoon serving of grapes once in two weeks is enough.
The best kind of diet that you can put your hamsters on would be a healthy diet of special hamster feed. However, you can always introduce new foods like vegetables and fruits in your hamsters’ diet, very slowly and in moderation! Remember not to overfeed grapes to your hamsters as you do not want them to develop diarrhea, oral problems, obesity, or diabetes!