With each passing day, we watch our beautiful pets grow more prominent and robust. Many hamster enthusiasts try to discover new snacks that can aid their growth process. On that note, the question “Can hamsters eat cookies” naturally rises.
It should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: absolutely NOT.
Just because we enjoy eating cookies from time to time doesn’t mean that hammies can too!
Why is it such a taboo to offer some cookies to hamsters? Are there some ingredients found in cookies that are just too much for hammies to handle? If so, what are the side effects that will occur if hamsters ingest some cookies?
Even a tiny amount will lead to lethal consequences.
Fortunately, many other snacks are much healthier than cookies for hamsters. Discover all the answers to the questions above as you scroll down through the article. Some additional information regarding the hammies diet is also included – don’t be shy and continue reading!
Hamsters’ Daily Activities And Diet
We often don’t like when the sun starts to rise as it associates us with a loud morning alarm, leaving the warm bed and preparing for work. Many people aren’t “early birds,” but the same can’t be said for hamsters!
Every hammy likes to start its day early in the morning – that means more time to play and goof around. They don’t have to worry about the weather; even if it’s raining or snowing, they stay inside, where it’s always warm and dry.
Energetic by nature, they are continually searching for some adventures. Provide them with a spacious cage with lots of toys so that they can play all day long.
There is no doubt in my mind that if hammies could speak, the first thing that they would say in the morning would be – we are hungry! And why wouldn’t they? Hamsters’ daily activities tire them quickly.
For hammies to have the energy to be on the move all day long, they require a balanced diet rich in nutrients. Luckily for us, their regular diet isn’t too complicated to maintain. As long as you follow the rules, nothing bad will occur.
Hamsters’ diet mainly consists of:
Vegetables And Fruits
This is where it all begins. No matter what breed your hammy is, fruits and veggies are the number one source of nutrients. Stuff like apples, carrots, peas, bananas, and cucumbers all aid to the general well-being of hamsters health.
You’d be surprised to find out just how sturdy every single bone of hamsters is. Don’t let them fool you with their soft-shaped bodies; they pack some strong bones underneath them! All veggies and fruits are rich in calcium that maintains the solid state of bones for hammies.
Hay
Hamsters aren’t composed only of bones and blood. Muscles are important as well, as it allows them to stay on top of their game efficiently. With a proper amount of hay, you can be sure that your hamster will get all the proteins it needs daily.
It’s not that big of a secret that hammies like to eat more than they should. Every food piece that is eaten above the limit will be a step closer to becoming fat. There are many tricks on preventing that, the most common being to offer hamsters hay regularly as it has traces of dietary fiber.
You can check the fully detailed list on the link here.
How Do Hamsters Interact With Cookies?
Wild hamsters have limited food sources that they need to balance to ensure a healthy diet properly. They are sometimes left with making risky choices, like eating foods that are rich in water. If only that type of food is on the menu for the day, hamsters’ options are limited:
- Eat that type of food and risk bloating up
- Pass on it and risk being hungry longer than it should
Nevertheless, the safety of their health will always be on the top of the list. Hamsters know what’s best for them; they will never consume any type of potentially lethal food for them. Hammies can thank their keen sense of smell which tells them what is safe and what isn’t!
Let me state something obvious here: cookies don’t grow on trees. So why am I even pointing that out? Well, wild hamsters can potentially stumble upon some cookies outdoors. Some people don’t particularly care for the environment and toss the rubbish wherever they can.
Let’s raise awareness and tell everyone to stop doing that!
Luckily, Mother Nature blessed all hamsters with the ability to deduct whether something is good or bad for them properly. Scientists have run some tests in the past, and it turns out that the high amount of sugar present in cookies triggers an alarm in hammies that forces them not to eat!
That wasn’t the same case for all tested subjects; a few hamsters did try the cookies out. As it turns out, a quarter-size teaspoon of cookies didn’t cause any serious trouble, but scientists believe that any more than that is fatal.
You never know; your hammy might be like some of those goofballs, and try eating some cookies. Never offer conventional cookies to your hamsters. If you let your hammies roam freely around the place, be sure to hide and lock away every bag filled with cookies.
The safest way to do so is to fill a glass jar with your cookies and place it somewhere high, out of reach for hamsters. Although they are strong, fortunately, hammies can’t climb high in the kitchen. By closing cookies in a glass jar, there is less chance of emitting a scent that might interest some hamsters.
I will pinpoint some of the main reasons as to why you shouldn’t offer cookies to hamsters:
Refined Sugar
This condiment is made from raw sugar that has undergone a refining process to remove the molasses. Raw sugar is sucrose which is extracted from sugarcane. While raw sugar is safe for consumption, the refining process removes unwanted tastes and results in refined or white sugar.
Refined sugar is widely used in industrial needs for higher quality. At first glance, this may seem like a nice thing, but it isn’t. Although this process removes unwanted elements and impurities, we are still left behind with an unhealthy product.
Hamsters’ diet needs to be packed with foods that are rich in quality nutrients. Refined sugar just isn’t one of those things as it offers empty and unhealthy calories. One of the main ingredients found in cookies is none other than refined sugar.
If you feel like giving hamsters some sugary product, I highly recommend offering them different snacks, such as strawberries and banana chips. Just remember to limit the amount of how much hammies should eat daily. Any excess sugar will inevitably lead to intestinal problems.
Hydrogenated Fats
Also called trans-fatty acids, hydrogenated fats are manufactured fats created during a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogen units are added to polyunsaturated fatty acids to prevent them from becoming rancid. It also keeps them solid at room temperature.
Have you ever wondered why your tasty cookies are always perfectly maintaining their shape? You can thank the chemists for that, as adding hydrogen to oils while making cookies makes them rigid at all times if left alone.
Unfortunately, not everything that looks nice is healthy. Those oils (mainly cottonseed) are used for profit reasons as they are cheap and inferior in nutritional quality. We humans may tolerate cookies from time to time, but the presence of trans fatty acids in cookies is terrible for hamsters.
Cholesterol
Sadly, cholesterol-related diseases are present regularly in hamsters.
Eating trans fats, found in most commercially baked cookies and crackers, can raise your cholesterol level. Fatigue, nausea, numbness, and coldness of the extremities are symptoms that hammies demonstrate when having high cholesterol.
Feeding hamsters with cookies is a bad idea, as they enhance the potential spike in cholesterol levels in hammies.
Caffeine, theobromine, and low amounts of water; the list just goes on and on. Refrain yourself from offering cookies to your hamsters at all times. There are plenty of alternatives that are overall healthier as a snack for your beloved furball. Safety comes first, don’t forget that!
Can Hamsters Eat Cookies? – To Sum Up
Push yourself always in the right direction. By asking yourself can hamsters eat cookies, you are doing your hammies a big favor. Some snacks are better to stay in the realm of humans, and cookies are one of those.
The presence of sugar in cookies is way beyond what hamsters are capable of properly digesting. Fats of that caliber are also detrimental to hammies’ health as they naturally have a high chance of manifesting cholesterol-related diseases. Don’t try to up the chances of making them sick!
Every once in a while, some animal enthusiasts suggest (not so bright) ideas of what other foods to implement in hamsters’ diet. Thankfully, we have scientists that test some stuff that we don’t have to.
With a properly balanced diet, hammies can live a carefree life. There is just no room for cookies to offer them as snacks to hamsters. Feel free to experiment with some fruits and vegetables; just keep the cookies locked in a jar somewhere high!
