Can Hamsters Eat Papaya?

Papaya is native to Central and northern South America and has become naturalized throughout the Caribbean Islands, Florida and several countries of Africa.

Papayas can be used as a food, a cooking aid and in traditional medicine.

So can hamsters eat papaya?

Let’s take a look at their nutritional data and find out more.

In particular, their water, acidic, fat, calcium, sugar, salt, and phosphorus content is of most interest as far as hamsters are concerned.

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 179 kJ (43 kcal)

Carbohydrates

10.82 g

Sugars 7.82 g

Dietary fiber 1.7 g

Fat 0.26 g

Protein 0.47 g

Vitamins

Vitamin A equiv.

beta-carotene

lutein zeaxanthin

(6%) 47 μg

(3%) 274 μg

89 μg

Thiamine (B1) (2%) 0.023 mg

Riboflavin (B2) (2%) 0.027 mg

Niacin (B3) (2%) 0.357 mg

Pantothenic acid (B5)

(4%) 0.191 mg

Folate (B9) (10%) 38 μg

Vitamin C (75%) 62 mg

Vit E (2%) 0.3 mg

Vitamin K (2%) 2.6 μg

Minerals

Calcium (2%) 20 mg

Iron (2%) 0.25 mg

Magnesium (6%) 21 mg

Manganese (2%) 0.04 mg

Phosphorus (1%) 10 mg

Potassium (4%) 182 mg

Sodium (1%) 8 mg

Zinc (1%) 0.08 mg

Other constituents

Lycopene 1828 µg

source wikipedia

As you can see, papaya contains a hint of phosphorus, calcium, and fat, a lot of acidic content and sugar.

This means that Syrian hamsters and Roborovski’s can eat papaya in small amounts in moderation.

However, other dwarf hamsters such as Winter white dwarf’s, Russian Campbell dwarf’s, and Chinese hamsters can’t eat papaya as it is too sweet for them and should be avoided.

The seeds and skin should also be avoided for all species of hamster.  If you want to find out more foods for your hamster, you can read “Hamster diet chart“

Source: Can Hamsters Eat Papaya?

Hamster Food List February 16, 2018