Can hamsters eat cookies? Cookies are delicious treats used in desserts or as evening snacks. This sweet biscuit might seem captivating to the little partner sitting beside you. However, can you risk giving cookies to your pets, particularly when you are a hamster owner?
Can hamsters eat cookies? Well, as for cookies, there is a big NO! Cookies are made of ingredients that their tiny bellies cannot get along with them. Keep reading the blog to learn more so you can make your hammy stay away from cookies.
What Are The Ingredients Of Cookies?
Let’s look at the ingredients used to make cookies to decide whether they are safe for hamsters.
- Flour
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Butter
- Oil
- Fats
- Some cookies also contain raisins, chocolate chips, oats, and nuts.
All these ingredients are meant for human consumption, so cookies have nothing to do with hamsters.
Why Are Cookies Not Good For Hamsters?
Can hamsters eat cookies? Unfortunately, they cannot! You might be curious to know the reasons that make cookies unhealthy treats for hamsters. So let’s dig in:
- Refined sugar
During the manufacturing of cookies, raw sugar is refined to remove molasses. Raw sugar is sucrose extracted from sugarcane and is safe for consumption. However, the refining process converts it into white sugar, having some unhealthy products.
Refined sugar is not safe for a hamster as it contains empty or unhealthy calories that only make your hamster diabetic and overweight.
- Hydrogenated fats
Hydrogenated fats, also known as trans-fats, are manufactured during the process of hydrogenation. During cookie formation, hydrogen is added to the oil to prevent it from rancidity and maintain the cookies’ shape.
Hydrogenated oils are terrible for your furry friend as they raise cholesterol levels and make them prone to cardiovascular disorders.
- Caffeine and Theobromine
Cookies are also made up of chocolate chips. Chocolate is toxic as it contains a chemical called theobromine. It is a bitter alkaloid, and hamsters cannot digest it due to their tiny stomach.
Do You Know?
Hamsters can eat a variety of foods, and we have researched lots of them. Check out this One: Can Hamsters Eat Mozzarella Cheese?
Another toxic chemical in chocolate is caffeine which is highly poisonous for your delicate hamsters. Both caffeine and theobromine increase the blood flow in hamsters, making them over-excited and even die.
- Almonds
Cookies are also manufactured by adding almonds which are hard to digest for a hamster. Almonds-made cookies are toxic for your hammy. They might develop liver problems and even die if they eat a lot of almond cookies.
- Peanut butter
Many cookies also contain peanut butter with many unhealthy components unsafe for hamsters, like high-fat content, high sugar, high salt, and xylitol. Your hammy might suffer from extreme dehydration due to its high sodium content.
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener used in peanut butter items. It causes xylitol toxicity in many pets, including hamsters. The initial sign of xylitol toxicity involve extremely low blood sugar levels, and high doses of xylitol may lead to seizures, acute renal failure, and even death.
What Are The Healthy Alternatives For Cookies?
Can hamsters eat cookies? The answer is an absolute NO! As a pet lover, the well-being of your little friend is your main concern. So why not discover some healthy alternatives of cookies that boost the active growth of hamsters?
A healthy balanced diet consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, hay, boiled chicken, or scrambled egg. However, we recommend not giving your hamster any fruit or vegetable with high water content.
Let’s find out the type of food which a hamster can safely eat:
- Fruits
Hamster love to eat the following beneficial fruits:
- Strawberries
- Cucumber
- Grapes without seeds
- Apples without seeds
- Bananas
- Vegetables
Hamster love to eat all green leafy vegetables. Some of them are:
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Bell peppers
- Bok Choy
- Herbs (rosemary, basil, and parsley)
- Grass Hay
Grass hay has many beneficial effects for your hamster partner; for example, it promotes their natural foraging behavior and provides a good portion of soluble fibers. Apart from this, it helps in wearing down of hamster’s teeth.
Suitable grass hay for your hamster includes:
- Orchards hay
- Oat hay
- Meadows hay
- Alfalfa and timothy hay
Final Thoughts – Can hamsters eat cookies?
Can hamsters eat cookies? No, cookies are not meant for a hamster. It includes various ingredients like theobromine and xylitol that are extremely toxic for tiny creatures and may even cause death.
Replace the cookies with a balanced diet for your hammy containing all the fruits and vegetables in definite proportions.
