Last updated on January 22nd, 2023 at 07:12 pm
Can hamsters eat tomatoes? Yes, hamsters can eat, but always in moderation. Hamsters eat a variety of foods, although hay, grass, seeds, etc. come first for them, in order to get all the important minerals and vitamins, they need to eat other types of food.
About 10% of the hamsters’ diet should be made up of fruits and vegetables so that they can reap the benefits that will preserve their health and life expectancy. These foods include tomatoes, which are extremely important for your pet.
By consuming them, hamsters will receive vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, lycopene, choline, folic acid, and other nutrients important for their health.
Can hamsters eat tomatoes?
Yes, hamsters can eat tomatoes, after all, they will enjoy and rejoice when you give them tomatoes. Although hamsters generally eat tomatoes, it may happen that some hamsters do not want to eat them, do a test, give them a small piece and you will see if they will eat it or not.
However, hamsters will show signs on their own whether they like tomatoes or not, after all, there are other vegetables they can eat.
You need to wait and 24 hours to see if they will have an allergic reaction to the tomatoes, if all goes well you can continue to include tomatoes in their diet.
Benefits of Tomatoes for Hamsters?
By consuming tomatoes, hamsters will receive vitamins and minerals to maintain their health. Tomatoes contain about 95% water, which is good for maintaining hydration levels in hamsters.
Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, K, potassium, and folate. Hamsters will have much healthier and more radiant skin, as well as a healthier heart.
Tomatoes are also good for weight loss, so you will not have to worry about your pet’s weight. By consuming tomatoes, hamsters will have normal blood pressure levels, and antioxidants will protect them from cancer.
Carotenoids and lycopene are great for eye health in hamsters.
How many tomatoes should hamsters eat?
First of all, you should pay attention to moderation when you decide to start feeding the hamsters with tomatoes, because if you are not careful, they will eat as much as they can and problems will arise, and finally you can end up at the vet with your pet, which of course no one wants.
The size of the tomatoes should be as much as one bite according to their size, once a week.
The Syrian hamster is the largest of the hamsters will certainly be the biggest piece for him, while the dwarf and other small hamsters should eat a much smaller piece of tomato once every two weeks.
How to prepare tomatoes for hamsters?
Before giving them tomatoes, you should prepare them with the following preparation:
- Remove the leaves, the stems because they are poisonous.
- Wash the tomatoes thoroughly so that there are no chemical residues or pests.
- Next, chop the tomato into slices, and then of course into small pieces like cubes.
- Remove the tomato seeds.
- You can give the sliced tomato cube to your pet to eat.
- Put the rest of the tomatoes that are left in an airtight container and put them in the fridge for the next time.
Are Tomatoes Healthy for Hamsters?
Tomatoes are healthy for your pet because of the ingredients they contain, so they should be included in their diet.
Here are the benefits:
- Vitamin C-improves the immunity and overall health of hamsters reduces the risk of anemia and reduces the risk of scurvy
- Lycopene – an antioxidant that helps reduce cell damage, and lower the chances of cancer in your pet
- Folate – helps for better development and growth of hamsters
- Vitamin K – this mineral will help for better blood clotting in hamsters
- Dietary fiber-is great for improving your pet’s digestion and digestive system
- Potassium – one of the most important minerals for the health of hamsters, helps maintain normal blood pressure levels, so they will always be in excellent health and will reduce the chances of developing hypokalemia.
Can baby hamsters eat tomatoes?
While adult hamsters can eat tomatoes, babies should not eat tomatoes because they have a much softer gastrointestinal system.
In general, hamster babies are not allowed to eat any vegetables and fruits until they are 3 months old, except breast milk and foods specially designed for them.
After 3 months, vegetables and fruits should be eaten gradually with caution 24 hours after eating, to avoid any side effects, all this is due to their sensitive digestive system.
read more: Can Hamsters Eat Bananas? 6 Advice How to Eat
Can hamsters eat other parts of tomatoes?
The leaves, stems, flowers, and green parts are harmful to hamsters because they contain an alkaloid chemical known as solanine.
This chemical can create a substance when it is in the gastrointestinal tract and cause problems for hamsters. It causes serious health problems in hamsters and therefore care should be taken.
What tomatoes can hamsters eat?
In principle, hamsters can eat all the tomatoes, of course with certain precautions when consuming them.
It is very important that the tomatoes are ripe enough and preferably with as few pesticides as possible so that their properties can be used to the best of their ability, without harming the health of your pet.
Can hamsters eat processed tomatoes?
Processed tomatoes, ketchup, or something similar is not good for hamster health at all.
Canned and boiled tomatoes have a lot of sugar, as well as possible chemicals, higher acidity and they are harmful to your pets.
So you should not experiment, just give them ripe and clean tomatoes.
Can hamsters eat cherry tomatoes?
Yes, hamsters can eat cherry tomatoes, because these tomatoes, along with other varieties of tomatoes, are good and safe to eat.
Of course, the only thing you need to pay attention to is moderation in the diet with tomatoes, and never eating the green parts of the plant.
Can hamsters have tomato juice?
Under no circumstances should you try to give processed tomato juice, tomato soup, or tomato sauce to your pet.
Such products always contain additional preservatives or chemicals, more sugar, spices, and more.
Only fresh and ripe tomato juice is squeezed at home with virtually no additives and diluted with a little water by you personally as the owner can give to your hamster.
Excessive consumption of tomatoes by hamsters?
Eating tomatoes in moderation will have a great effect on your pets, but if you over-consume them, some of the following adverse health effects may occur:
The choking pieces you give to hamsters should always be the size of a bite, no bigger than that.
Therefore, cut them into small pieces so that you do not have problems such as the occurrence of suffocation of your pet.
Sour tomatoes are acidic foods, which means that too much tomato intake can have a toxic effect on hamsters.
Therefore, again, the most important thing is that the amount of intake is always moderate, nothing more, nothing less than that.
Side effects of eating tomatoes in hamsters?
Pesticides are very dangerous for hamster health because as we said above in the text you need to thoroughly wash the tomatoes before giving them to hamsters to eat.
Make sure tomatoes do not have parasites that can also cause hamster health problems.
Green parts – these parts of tomatoes are harmful to the health of your pet, so above in the text, we said that they should eat only ripe tomatoes, green parts are toxic.
Hamsters should not eat greens, nor should they eat too many ripe tomatoes, as they can get diarrhea and stomach problems.
Because tomatoes have a lot of sugar, care should be taken because they can get diarrhea and digestive problems again.
Nutritional values of tomatoes
When you already plan to add tomatoes to the hamster’s diet you need to know what the composition of tomatoes is and why they are good for hamsters, the composition of a ripe tomato is as follows:
- calories 22
- fiber 5g
- potassium 292 mg
- Vitamin C 6 mg
- manganese 1 mg
Another healthy food as an alternative to tomatoes for hamsters?
In case your hamster does not want to eat tomatoes, do not despair, you can offer him other food such as:
- cucumber
- green beans
- celery
- sweet potato
- beets
- basil
- parsley
- asparagus
- beet tops
- mint
- zucchini
- chastity
- spinach
- pumpkin
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- artichoke
- cabbage
- carrot
Conclusion
Tomatoes are safe to eat and you can freely give them to hamsters to eat. Tomatoes with their ingredients minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, folate, and other ingredients contribute to improving the health of your pet.
Their digestion improves, they will have a healthier heart, fur, less chance of developing cancer, it will increase their life expectancy and in general improve their overall health.
Hamsters should eat 1-2 pieces of tomatoes a week, too much consumption can be harmful to diarrhea, stomach problems, and indigestion.
Processed tomatoes, sauces, and green parts of the plant are harmful and should not be eaten at all.
So give them a moderate amount of healthy and ripe tomatoes that the hamsters will be happy and satisfied with, and you as the owner will enjoy watching them eat tomatoes.
read more: Can Hamsters Eat Strawberries? And How Much Is Safe
