Hamster · Snacks & drinks
Can hamsters eat candy?
No. Sweets offer nothing but sugar, sticky sweets can lodge in the cheek pouches, and chocolate or sugar-free sweets with xylitol add poisoning risks. Dwarf hamsters are also prone to diabetes.
- Dwarf hamsters
- Campbell's, Winter White and their hybrids, and Chinese hamsters, have an inherited tendency to diabetes. Keep all sugary foods away from them.
- Sugar
- 62.9 g / 100 g
If your hamster already ate some
If the sweet contained chocolate or xylitol, or your hamster ate more than a crumb, call your vet or an animal poison helpline straight away. For a lick of a plain sugar sweet, remove the rest, look for sticky pieces in the nest, and watch for diarrhoea, lethargy or a cheek that stays swollen or will not empty, which needs a vet.
Why
Risks. Sugar adds empty calories and is a particular concern for diabetes-prone dwarfs. Chewy sweets, toffee, jelly sweets and gum can cling inside the cheek pouches. Chocolate sweets contain theobromine and caffeine. Xylitol in sugar-free gum and sweets causes dangerous low blood sugar and liver damage in dogs; its effect on hamsters has not been studied, so treat it as dangerous.
Questions owners ask 3
Can hamsters eat sugar-free sweets?
No. Sugar-free sweets and gum often contain xylitol or other sweeteners. Xylitol is known to be dangerous to dogs and its effects on hamsters are unknown, so treat it as unsafe.
Are honey sticks and other sweet hamster treats OK?
Blue Cross advises avoiding sugary, fatty treats, including seed sticks made with molasses or honey. They are best skipped, especially for dwarf hamsters.
What sweet treat can I give instead?
For a Syrian, a tiny piece of fresh fruit now and then is a better choice than any sweet. For dwarf hamsters, a small piece of vegetable or a mealworm is safer.
Candy: nutrition per 100 g
| Water | 1.3 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 394 kcal |
| Sugars | 62.9 g |
| Fat | 0.2 g |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
| Calcium | 3 mg |
| Phosphorus | 3 mg |
| Calcium : phosphorus | 1 : 1 |
| Sodium | 38 mg |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 0 µg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg |
“Candies, hard”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 167990). Public domain.
Sources & method 9
The sources below discuss candy for hamsters (or for pet rodents generally). Confidence: high. Rated on the JOMIZOO Feeding Scale; when good sources disagree we choose the more cautious level.
- Hamster Care — San Diego Humane Society
- Hamster care — Blue Cross
- People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets — ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
- Food Hazards — Merck Veterinary Manual (Pet Owner Version)
- Chocolate Toxicosis in Animals — Merck Veterinary Manual
- Feeding your hamster — PDSA
- Are Dwarf Hamsters Prone to Diabetes? Rodent Health Facts — ExoCare Veterinary Medical Centre (medically reviewed by Dr Asma Fariha)
- Fine structural studies of the islets of Langerhans in the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) (Voss KM, Herberg L, Kern HF, Cell Tissue Res 1978) — Cell and Tissue Research (Springer)
- Abnormal Secretion of Insulin and Glucagon by the In Vitro Perfused Pancreas of the Genetically Diabetic Chinese Hamster (Frankel et al., 1974) — Journal of Clinical Investigation
