Most hamsters love fruit, and mango is no exception. The great news is that mangoes are perfectly safe to feed to your hamster, and even good for it – though you should only offer the hamster mango in moderate amounts. Mangoes are a healthy snack, and can be cut into small pieces before being offered to the hamster.
If your hamster is eating the wrong foods, it might not be getting all of the nutrients it needs for healthy living. Make sure your pet has a balanced diet by feeding them some of these safe-to-eat fruits!
Let’s have a look if you should be feeding Mangos to your little friend.
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Will My Hamster Enjoy Mango?
It’s not possible to predict what your hamster will and won’t like, even if you know the little fuzzball very well. The best way to find out if your hamster likes mango is to try offering it a tiny piece of the fruit. If your hamster grabs it and starts to munch, you’ve got your answer.
Remember, though, that if you’re introducing a new kind of food to your hamster, you should do so very slowly. For the trial run, only offer your hamster a very little bit of mango, even if it seems eager for more.
Over the next few days, keep an eye on your hamster and see how it behaves. If it is lethargic or sleepy, or you notice loose stools or diarrhea, you shouldn’t give your hamster more mango; it’s caused an upset stomach. Avoid offering it mango in the future, and find other snacks for it to enjoy.
If your hamster doesn’t suffer from any ill-effects, you can offer it some more mango in a week or so, and hey presto, new food for your buddy to enjoy!
What Makes Mango Good For Your Hamster?
Many fruits are healthy. Mango fruit has quite a lot of different vitamins in it. Vitamin A is good for your hamster’s immune system, and vitamin K helps your hamster’s blood to clot properly, which is good if they accidentally injure themselves.
Vitamin B is good for your hamster’s blood cells, while vitamin E helps to boost skin and eye health. Those are all great things to make sure your hamster is getting! Mango also has antioxidants which can help slow down the aging process.
Why Can’t Hamsters Have A Lot Of Mango?
That sounds great, right? However, don’t feed your hamster large amounts of mango, despite all that; it’s not a good idea. Mangoes are high in sugar, which can lead to obesity and diabetes. It’s also quite acidic, which could upset your little pet’s tummy if it eats too much.
Finally, a hamster that eats a lot of mango may not want to eat its normal foods, which is also a bad thing; your hamster needs the nutrition of its daily mix, and shouldn’t be allowed to just fill up on fruits, no matter how cute it looks while eating then.
If your hamster already eats quite a lot of fruit, you shouldn’t add much mango to its diet. This is also true if you have a small breed of hamster; dwarf hamsters will need even less mango than their larger cousins.
A Syrian hamster, the largest breed, can have a piece of mango about the size of a raisin or smaller, once a week. It might look stingy, but this is plenty for them, and will give them access to all those vitamins without the potential drawbacks. Reduce this amount for smaller hamsters.
Make sure that you balance how much fruit you give to your hamsters, and don’t add fruits without reducing the quantity of the other fruit they eat. You should be giving your hamster 1-2 teaspoons of fruit a week, preferably providing plenty of variation and adding or removing fruits week by week. Don’t give them a whole spoonful of mango!
Can I Give My Hamster Mango Juice Or Dried Mango?
This seems a logical question. Mangoes are very juicy and we all really enjoy mango juice, so why shouldn’t we share a few drops with our fuzzy pals, especially on a hot summer day?
Sadly, you can’t do this. Juice of any sort isn’t good for a hamster. It has very little nutrition and a lot of sugar. It lacks the fiber which the hamster gets when it eats the fruit, making it harder for the hamster to digest the sugars properly.
Dried mango is also out. Often, dried mango is too sticky for hamsters to handle, and it could gum up their mouths and cheeks – especially the smaller breeds. It may also have added sugar to help preserve the mango, which is again not very good for hamsters.
Fresh mango is the way to go; don’t give your hamster alternatives, or mango-flavored foods just because they have mango in the name.
Final Thoughts
Most fruits are perfect for hamsters if you take some precautions. Washing and chopping them into small pieces for example. However, some contain a huge amount of natural sugars so pick your fruits carefully.
We know how greedy our little friends can be. So, small portions as part of a staple balanced diet is the best way to give them a little treat.
