Many hamster owners care deeply for their pets, as making the slightest mistake can potentially have devastating consequences. Whenever they offer their hamsters some fruits, they are cautious when discussing the right amount of fruits for their beloved furballs.
Knowing that most fruits have a high amount of sugar present inside them, people have a dilemma: “Can hamsters eat plums?”. Are they safe for them?
As long as you offer hamsters with a moderate amount of plums, there won’t be any problems!
How many plums exactly can you offer to hamsters? Are there any other issues with plums besides the high amount of sugar? What are the health benefits that hamsters will receive from eating plums? Is there a difference between offering regular and organic plums to hammies?
One thing is certain; you need to properly educate yourself whenever you have an idea to implement something new to hamsters’ diet. Interestingly, not all types of hamsters can tolerate plums. Are you interested in finding out which are those types? Stick around and find out!
Plums In Hamsters’ Diet
Whenever you decide to implement something new into your diet, you should consult your nutritionist if that food is healthy for you. Not many people have the opportunity to see and taste some food, so it’s necessary to educate yourself properly on what can happen to you if you eat something new.
The same can be said for pet owners, especially those who keep hamsters. For them to be able to grow fully, hammies require lots of love and care. Putting them in any kind of a risky situation can prove detrimental to their overall health.
Every time you decide to offer hamsters a new type of food, you should head to your local veterinarian and ask them if hammies can eat that. Many foods, especially fruits, have various nutrients that can affect hamsters in good and bad ways.
Most fruits should be only offered as sweets to hamsters, as fruits have a high dose of sugars present inside them. I won’t bother you with explaining hamsters’ diet – if you want to find out exactly how to feed them properly, you can click on the link here.
Plums are especially fascinating to talk about. It grows on tall trees as a fruit, and they ripe in late summer when they start to manifest a darker color and are softer to the touch. If plums don’t grow in your state by some chance, I guarantee that you will still have them available in most markets!
Look them up in the fruits and vegetable section of your local market. There is a high possibility that you will stumble upon two types of plums; basic plums in small crates and organic plums. There is a massive difference between those two types of plums.
Listen carefully:
- Humans aren’t the only ones that enjoy eating fruits, especially plums. Other species have grown fond of the taste of plums, mainly insects. They tend to ravage plums, shredding them into small pieces and putting larvae inside them.
- Whenever insects do that to fruits, they are effectively rendering them useless for everyday consumption. No one likes to eat rotten plums, especially hamsters. You should only offer fresh food to hammies, as they can’t correctly digest decayed food.
- To ensure that nothing terrible happens to the growing plums, farmers and caretakers usually have no choice but to spray them with various chemicals – the most famous and effective ones being pesticides and insecticides.
- Insects can’t tolerate those toxins, so they avoid trying to eat the sprayed plums in the first place. Although that makes the plums protected from insects, those chemicals aren’t perfect for both animals and humans.
- Even though when fruits are properly washed, the toxins still aren’t entirely removed from the core of the plum – some people are still skeptical towards those fruits. They will more likely buy organic plums.
- Organic fruits are all fruits that haven’t been sprayed with protective chemicals. Some farmers have better conditions to cultivate plums – they don’t need to fear for their plants, as insects don’t attack them.
I like to tell my clients to buy only organic plums – they might be more expensive, but they are safer for hamsters. Keep in mind that the plums that have been sprayed with chemicals are still safe for hamsters, but only after you clean them thoroughly.
Wash The Plums Before You Offer Them To Your Hamsters!
Plums make a great addition to hamsters’ daily diet. Like all other fruits and vegetables, you should wash the plums properly before offering them to hammies! As soon as you get back from shopping, take your plums and put them in the kitchen sink.
It doesn’t matter if they are regular or organic; all plums need to be washed thoroughly, as they will have traces of dirt on them. As I’ve mentioned before, you should only offer fresh and clean fruits to hammies. Blight food isn’t appealing to them!
Although plums might seem soft and easily shreddable, you can release a lot of water from the faucet and directly place the plums under the water. Surprisingly, it won’t damage them in any form. Just make sure that you don’t squeeze them too hard!
No more than a couple of seconds is necessary for the dirt to come off from the plums. After you wash the plums, place them on a kitchen towel and put them in a sun-exposed area in the kitchen so that the excess water can evaporate.
When all plums become dry, you can start to serve them to hamsters.
| As plums have a high amount of sugar in them, offer only a quarter teaspoon-sized chunk of plums to your hammies. Never give them more than a single chunk per week; any more than that can negatively affect their health. |
On a serious note – only Syrian and Robovski hamsters can eat plums. If you own Chinese, Winter dwarfs, or Russian Campbell dwarf hamsters – never offer them plums. These three types of hamsters can’t tolerate that amount of sugar, as they can quickly get diabetes from eating any amount of plums!
Avoid giving dried plums to hamsters. Like all other fruits, when a fruit is dried, the process raises its sugar levels to a much higher point. Plums are already packing more than enough sugars inside them – don’t provide your hamsters with dry plums!
Although most people enjoy drinking plum juice, you should keep that juice only in your glass!
To make juice of some kind of fruit, you need to add some additives to make the juice consumable for a longer period. Those additives are bad for hamsters – avoid giving them any juices, especially plum juice!
Before offering some plums to hamsters, always make sure to separate the meat of the plum from its pit. All seeds, especially plum pits, pose a significant threat to hamsters in the form of a choking hazard. On top of that, plum pits are poisonous to hamsters, so never offer them some!
Why Should You Offer Plums To Hamsters?
Fruits are a necessary component of every hamsters’ diet. It doesn’t matter if they are young or old; hamsters need a reliable source of vitamins that all fruits have, especially plums.
Take a look at the macros of plums:
| Calories | 46 |
| Water | 87 % |
| Sugar | 9.92 g |
| Fiber | 1.4 g |
| Protein | 0.7 g |
| Fat | 0.28 g |
| Vitamin C | 9.5 mg |
| Vitamin E | 0.26 mg |
| Phosphorus | 16 mg |
| Calcium | 6 mg |
Hamsters are energetic pets. They will tend to stay on their feet all day long, always searching for new ways to have fun.
Many people have a habit of letting them roam freely outside their cages. Even though we clean our rooms regularly, unfortunately for hamsters, they will stumble upon some dust from time to time. Hamsters must have a functional immune system at all times.
Diseases are always lurking in every corner of their life, so help them out and offer them some plums. This magnificent fruit has a high amount of Vitamin C that will take care of hamsters’ immune systems, making them resilient to most diseases!
Before hammies go outside their cage to play, they have a terrible habit of eating more food than they should. It’s an instinct of theirs to fill up on supplies so that they don’t have to worry later if they run out of energy.
Overeating can cause them to bloat, resulting in possible diarrhea. Help hammies out by offering them some plums, as it contains dietary fibers that will regulate hamsters’ digestive organs!
Can Hamsters Eat Plums? – To Sum Up
Most people don’t fancy giving new stuff to hamsters before they properly educate themselves, whether it’s a good idea or not. I’m happy that they have those tendencies, as hamsters are gentle creatures that can’t tolerate any mistakes regarding their daily diet.
On that note, many people have their doubts about can hamsters eat plums. Contrary to some beliefs, hamsters will gladly partake in some plums whenever you offer them some.
Remember that not all hamsters can properly tolerate plums, as some have smaller bodies that can’t digest that amount of sugar. Amongst those who can eat plums safely are Robovski and Syrian hamsters. Any other type of hamster should never eat plums.
Those that can eat plums will have a new excellent source of vitamin C that regulates the immune system. On top of that, the dietary fibers present in plums will aid hamsters nicely whenever they eat more food than they should.
Give some plums to your hamsters occasionally, and let them enjoy this great fruit!
