First of all, who are hamsters? There can be people who do not know about hamsters here. Hamsters are rodents who belong to the subfamily of Cricetinae. On the other hand, they are more popular as pet animals all around the world. Many people like to keep them as pets in their homes. There are many species of hamsters. The sources reveal that there are about 19 species of hamsters in the world.Among them, golden or Syrian hamster is the most common and the most popular type of hamster. On the other hand, people keep this type as pets.
Hamsters love to eat fruits, nuts, and vegetables. We can always add these food types to keep their interest in food. On the other hand, pecans can also be included in their diet. Can hamsters eat pecans? Can all hamsters eat pecans? We will find answers for all these and much more vital information through this article.
Different species of hamsters
As you all know, there are many varieties of hamsters around the world. Now, we will look at some of the most common and widespread species of hamsters in detail.
Syrian hamsters
- Can grow up to 7 inches in length
- Love to eat nuts
- Have a relatively larger appetite
Dwarf hamsters
- Smaller in size
- Avoid offering them with nuts like pecan
Robowski hamsters
- Relatively larger
- Have the ability to digest small amounts of salt, sugar, and fat
Things you need to know about pecans
What do you know about pecans? Pecan is a nut that is grown in trees. On the other hand, they are cultivated more in the United States of America and Mexico.
Apart from that, you can see the pecan as the state symbol of many US states too.
Pecans contain essential and essential vitamins like vitamin C and K. On the other hand, they contain nutritious proteins and fiber too.
In addition, some things that are included in pecans are not good for hamsters. Pecans contain so many fats and sugar. If your hamster gets a large number of pecans, it may get too much weight.
On the other hand, it can lead to obesity, diabetes, and arthritis. Can hamsters eat pecan? This is the main question that we are trying to find answers to. Hamsters always love the sugary taste of pecans. So, they tend to get more pecan nuts. This will lead to digestion issues too.
We all know how hamsters store foods for later use. But, pecans can get spoiled after some time. So, they cannot have pecans after keeping for a long time.
On the other hand, there are various pecan types produced for humans with salt and pepper. You should not feed them to your hamster.
Health benefits of pecans for hamsters
Can hamsters eat pecans, and what are the health benefits of having pecans? Now, we will focus on some of the significant health benefits of having pecans for hamsters.
- Vitamin C – Vitamin C will help for the growth and repair of your hamper’s body.
- Vitamin K – Vitamin K will help to build your hamster’s teeth and bones.
- Proteins – Proteins in pecans will build and maintain the lean muscles of your hamster.
- Fiber – This will take care of your hamster’s gastrointestinal system function properly.
Tips for feeding pecans for your hamster
Now, we will provide you with some tips to feed pecans to your hamster safely. Remember my friends. We are on the journey of finding out, can hamsters eat pecans?
Here the most important thing is to identify the type of hamster you have in your home. On the other hand, you also need to confirm whether it is suitable to feed pecans to your hamster.
Here, you can quickly check with your vet about the type of your hamster. On the other hand, you can also check whether you can feed them with pecan.
We always recommend you provide a small amount pecans at the first time. This is to check whether they like pecans. It is not good to provide and feed them with more pecans if they ignore it the first time. On the other hand, providing them with what they do not like will cause illnesses to your pet hamster.
In addition, always wash the pecan nut before you give it to your hamster. You need to wash away all the chemicals there before feeding them to save them from falling ill due to those chemicals.
How many pecans can a hamster eat?
Now is the time to check the number of pecans your hamster can eat. Different types of pecans have different quantities of pecans.
Syrian and Robowski hamsters have about one or two pecans a week. On the other hand, you can break the pecan nut into small quantities before feeding them for easy digestion.
Can hamsters eat pecan shells?
Can hamsters eat pecans? Now we will find out whether hamsters can eat pecan shells.
No, my friend. You should never feed your hamster with pecan shells. Pecan shells do not have nutritional benefits either. The worst part of this happens if your hamster does not manage to break it.
Then, it can damage the internal organs of your pet hamster. So, you need to be mindful when offering pecan nuts. On the other hand, always remember to remove the shell before offering the nut to the hamster.
Types of pecans that hamsters can eat
There are several pecan nuts in the market. Unfortunately, you cannot provide all of them to your pet. On the other hand, some of these nuts are produced for people. Now, we will discuss this in detail.
- Salted pecans – Avoid offering salted pecan nuts to hamsters as they are not suitable for their health.
- Sweet pecans – No, is the answer for this as well. Artificial sweet pecans can cause harm to hamster’s health.
- Roasted pecans – You can offer them after cooling.
Can hamsters eat pecans?
Yes, absolutely yes. You can offer pecans for your pet hamster. But, as described, you need first to identify the type of hamster you have. On the other hand, you need to offer only the types of pecans suitable for them.
Providing pecans of good quality can always add interest to their meals.
Signs to identify that your hamster having trouble digesting pecans
There are some signs that your hamster may show if they have a problem when taking pecan nuts. You need to closely monitor these signs and act accordingly before it gets worsens.
On the other hand, your hamster may not show any dislike about pecan nuts your offer. But, they may not be suitable for their health.
So, it is your responsibility to monitor it when you offer not only pecan nuts, something new for your pet.
01. Appetite issues – Sometimes, your hamster may show signs of losing appetite. It may leave their regular food behind. This is because of some problems with any food that they took. So, you must monitor that and provide the necessary medication to get rid of it.
02. Diarrhea – Loose stools are the best sign of issues in the digestive system. This will happen when you offer pecan nuts for your hamster. You need to stop offering them to your pet after that and wait for a couple of days. If it does not get to normal even after two to three days, you need immediate vet support.
The Bottom line
We have provided some vital information about hamsters in detail. Can hamsters eat pecans? Now, we all know that they love to eat pecans.
On the other hand, we provided information about the type of pecan nuts good for masters. Apart from that, we have also given information about the types of hamsters that we can offer pecan nuts.
In addition, we also provide vital information about the health benefits of pecan nuts in detail. We described how your pet hamster could take health benefits from it. On the other hand, we have also highlighted the health issues that your hamster may experience due to pecan nuts.
Offering pecan nuts will surely increase the appetite and interest in their meal. On the other hand, you should always remember not to provide pecan nuts to Dwarf hamsters.
Apart from that, you should never replace the regular diet of your hamster with pecan nuts. Your pet hamster always needs the essential nutritional values of fresh nuts and vegetables from your normal diet.
So, follow this article and try to offer pecan nuts to your hamster’s meal to add variety and provide them with more nutritional values.
