Your hamster pet will arguably grow healthier and stronger when you feed him a balanced diet with sufficient seeds and grains, as well as vegetables and fresh fruits. But you should also be mindful of what you feed your hamsters as certain foods will be harmful to their health.
But can Hamsters eat tomatoes? Yes, you can give your hamsters a half teaspoon quantity of tomato as an occasional treat. However, tomatoes should be given to your hamster as a rare treat rather than a staple food in their daily diet.
Before you make your hamster eat tomatoes, be sure they like to eat tomatoes fruits. If your hamster does not like tomatoes or seems reluctant to eat them, then leave it out of your hamster’s diet completely.
This post discusses what food to give your hamsters, goes, even more to answer if hamsters can have tomatoes fruit.
Read Also: Do Dwarf Hamsters Like Bananas?
Can Hamsters Eat Tomatoes?
Yes, hamsters can safely eat tomatoes. Fruit and vegetables are good and healthy because they add antioxidants and healthy fats to a diet helping them grow better.
Tomatoes have been a great fruit for your hamster, especially when they’re ripe and fresh.
Nutritional Facts About Tomatoes
To start with, tomato from the plant species; Solanum Lycopersicum is a fruit from the nightshade family native to South America.
Although, despite botanically called a fruit, it’s generally eaten and prepared like a vegetable.
Tomatoes are the major dietary source of the antioxidant lycopene, linked to many health benefits, both to humans and animals, hamsters, included.
Tomatoes are also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K.
Usually red when mature, tomatoes can also come in various colors, including yellow, orange, green, and purple. What’s more, many subspecies of tomatoes exist with different shapes and flavors.
The water content of tomatoes is around 95%. The other 5% consists mainly of carbohydrates and fiber.
Here are the nutrients in a small (100-gram) raw tomato:
- Calories: 18
- Water: 95%
- Protein: 0.9 grams
- Carbs: 3.9 grams
- Sugar: 2.6 grams
- Fiber: 1.2 grams
- Fat: 0.2 grams
Nutritional Benefits of Tomatoes to Hamsters
Fresh tomatoes are low in carbs. The carb content consists mainly of simple sugars and insoluble fibers. These fruits are mostly made up of water.
1. Carbs
Carbs comprise 4% of raw tomatoes, which amounts to fewer than 5 grams of carbs for a medium specimen (123 grams).
Simple sugars, such as glucose and fructose, make up almost 70% of the carb content.
2. Fiber
Tomatoes are a good source of fiber, providing about 1.5 grams per average-sized tomato.
Most of the fibers (87%) in tomatoes are insoluble, in the form of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin (2).
3. Vitamins and minerals
Tomatoes are a good source of several vitamins and minerals:
- Vitamin C: This vitamin is an essential nutrient and antioxidant. One medium-sized tomato can provide about 28% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI).
- Potassium: An essential mineral, potassium is beneficial for blood pressure control and heart disease prevention (3Trusted Source).
- Vitamin K1: Also known as phylloquinone, vitamin K is important for blood clotting and bone health (4, 5Trusted Source).
- Folate (vitamin B9): One of the B vitamins, folate, is important for normal tissue growth and cell function. It’s essential for your hamster’s health.
What Food Can Hamsters Eat?
Hamsters are not so picky with foods, but they don’t enjoy eating leftovers. It is recommended for balanced nutrition to feed hamsters with vegetables, fruits, and a small number of carbohydrates.
They have a voracious appetite on a high variety diet. It is essential to supplement regular food with small fresh fruits and vegetables to make feeding exciting for your hamsters while offering balanced nutrition.
However, fresh fruits mustn’t exceed 20% of the total diet as such a rapid change could make your hamster’s lose appetite for their daily nutritional foods.
The reason has been that fruits and vegetables are not a complete diet but basically serve as great supplementary foods for hamsters.
Do Hamsters Like Tomatoes?
Some hamsters enjoy tomatoes while others really don’t. It is important to know whether or not yours does like and stick to eat.
Feeding a good balance of fruits and vegetables helps you identify properly what foods your hamster prefers and helps maintain a balanced diet.
Baby hamsters should not be given tomatoes, and Adult hamsters are given at most one teaspoon of tomatoes in a week.
How Do I know If my Hamsters Can Eat Tomatoes?
If you wish to test whether your pet rodent has a liking for tomatoes, you can actually start with just a spoonful of it.
It is recommended a maximum of half spoon of the fruit, and it should be given just once weekly.
In other words, it should be fed along with other food items as a choice food item or a treat. Tomatoes should never be included regularly in her diet because of their high acidity.
If you observe that your hamster is not quite keen or enthusiastic about eating the fruit, she obviously doesn’t like it.
You should then completely refrain from feeding this fruit.
Feed them other nutritious food items, including but not limited to carrots, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, turnip, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, buckwheat, and lentils.
How Often Can a Hamster Eat Tomatoes?
You can give your hamster tomato once a week but not more. This doesn’t sound like much, but tomatoes are really acidic, especially the unripe ones.
Too much of it can disrupt your hamster’s digestive system manifesting as health problems.
If your hamster is a new-born and has never had fresh fruit or vegetables, avoid giving them tomato as it might be a sudden shock to their system due to the rapid influx of acid.
Offer a fruit milder like cucumber instead, offering just about a quarter of a slice and watching carefully for diarrhea and other signs of a stomach upset before going further gradually to offer a small amount of something fresh as they grow.
Give your hamster about two weeks to adjust to fresh treats before offering any tomato at all; this will increase their coping ability.
How To Serve Tomatoes To Your Hamster
When you are giving treats, such as tomato, to your hamster, here are a set of things to do;
First, make sure that you wash the tomato before giving it to your hamster. This removes any pesticides that can hurt your pet.
Second, ensure that you don’t feed any of the tomato’s green parts to your hamster. It is known to be hamster and can, therefore, harm your pet.
Third, feed tomato to your hamster as an occasional diet; you can also add treats like pumpkin seeds, cabbage, and carrots.
Is Tomatoes Safe for Hamsters?
Green tomatoes can cause diarrhea and vomiting. Serious stomach pain and constipation can also be a side-effect of serving your hamsters’ unripe tomatoes.
So, it will be easy to notice if something is gone wrong or your hammy is having a bad reaction.
If some of these symptoms appear, then call your veterinarian immediately and ask for advice, or take him directly for examination.
What Are The Dangers Of Tomatoes For Hamsters?
One major symptom of giving your hamster tomatoes is dehydration.
Dehydration is widespread in hamsters already, so eating tomatoes can only increase the risk of it.
This can be best noticed by your hammy’s sunken eyes, loss of appetite, and feeling weak. If your hammies get to eat tomatoes, you should definitely get him hydrated as quickly as possible.
Give your hamsters water immediately, and continually add foods that contain a lot of water, which make up for the water loss.
Can Tomatoes Make My Hamster Sick?
Some researchers believe unripe tomatoes are outright harmful to hamsters, making them sick, even unripe ones when served in high quantity.
Dr. Karen Schachterle, an avian and exotics specialist, said she does not recommend clients offer tomatoes to hamsters due to their toxicity.
She said, there are many safe fruits and vegetables that owners can offer as alternatives to tomatoes, which we will discuss later below.
Can Dwarf Hamsters Eat Tomatoes?
Dwarf hamsters are a smaller version of hamsters. Feeding dwarf hamsters tomatoes will cause digestive issues because tomato is a high acidity fruit.
So, we recommend you choose varieties of other fruits and vegetables safe for dwarf hamsters to eat.
Can Syrian Hamsters Eat Tomatoes?
You can serve a Syrian hamster’s tomatoes fruit; you will only need to do so in a small portion. In fact, if you serve adult hamsters a teaspoon of tomatoes, serve half of it to Syrian hamsters.
Alternatives Food to Tomato in a Hamster’s Diet
Looking for foods to add to your hamster’s diet? These fruits, vegetables, and herbs are all suitable for your hamster. However, make sure you wash them properly, and it is advisable only to feed a small amount each day, that’s if there are to be part of a regular diet.
Some fruits and vegetables listed below are good for a rare treat for hamsters.
Read Also: Is Cheese Good For Dwarf Hamsters?
Good Vegetables for Hamsters
- Red lettuce
- Green beans
- Celery
- Parsnip
- Buttercrunch lettuce
- Winter squash
- Cucumber
- Summer squash
- Watercress
- Sweet potato
- Basil
- Baby corn
- Parsley
- Asparagus
- Beets
- Beet tops
- Mint
- Potato (cooked only)
- Swiss chard
- Rocket
- Bibb lettuce
- Spinach
- Bell pepper
- Escarole
- Pumpkin
- Broccoli
- Broccolini
- Okra
- Zucchini
- Cauliflower
- Bok choy
- Yu Choy
- Artichoke
- Sweet corn
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Carrot tops
- Cilantro
- Romaine
- Arugula
- Sprouts
- Endive
What are Good Fruits for Hamsters?
- Pear
- Peach
- Melon
What are Good Herbs for Hamsters?
- Basil
- Sage
- Parsley
What Fruits Should you Never Give Hamsters?
Hamsters should never be given citrus because citrus contains high acidic content.
Conclusion
In sum, can hamsters eat tomatoes? Hamsters can eat tomatoes but only in small quantities. Some hamsters could react negatively.
If your hammies are not comfortable eating tomatoes, they are good without them. If you must give the fruit to them, offer only a very tiny portion, a half teaspoon to be precise.
