Hamsters and Chocolate
Can hamsters feed on chocolate? Whether you’re a pet lover or just a caregiver, you should be aware that chocolate should never be fed to hamsters. Dogs are more vulnerable because their sensitivity to chocolate is instantaneous. Despite hamsters being lovers of sugary diets, chocolate should never be an option for them.
Diet recommendations for Your Hamster
When you decide to buy or adopt a hamster, then you should be ready to take good care of it. Some of the things to consider when caring for a hamster are making sure you have the right diet to keep it happy and healthy. It is advisable to buy the professionally prepared foods for your hamsters to keep them in good health.
Supplementing your Hamster’s diet with fruits and vegetables is highly recommended. If you want to keep your Hamster even happier, try adding mealworms and crickets to its meal. You should also give different varieties of food and care to your Hamster to keep it in a steady mood and health.
So, can Hamsters eat chocolate?
As discussed earlier, the reliable answer to this question is “No.”
You could be looking for sugary foods for your beloved hamster pet, but you’ll be much disappointed to discover that the chocolate you see on the shelves of the supermarkets can do a lot of harm to your pet.
Chocolate is a lethal diet to hamsters because it has Theobromine. There is a component in Theobromine that remains inside the animal’s body system for a considerable amount of time.
Theobromine, when found in the system of animals, has harmful and toxic effects, and Hamsters being quite small; even a small size or amount of chocolate would lead to deadly impact due to the escalation of Theobromine.
With this information in mind, you will find that hamsters have a liking for sweet things, but chocolate should never be an option for them. You can feed your Hamster other sugary food but never make a mistake to feed them chocolate. Feed them fruits and vegetables, which can also be supplemented with their meals.
Things you Should Know about chocolate
Chocolate leads to prolonged ingestion of Theobromine that leads to testicular damage. This chemical in chocolate is primarily alkaloid Theobromine is found in bean husks and is mostly used in caffeine processing.
Theobromine is consumed by people from chocolate drinks and other chocolate-based products.
When we talk about caffeine, it leads to the formation of other toxic elements that will typically affect the central nervous system. It also increases heart rate and heart arousals.
Dark chocolate contains 50% more Theobromine compared to milk chocolates. For this reason, dark chocolate is more toxic and harmful. Dark chocolate is widely known as a potent stimulant and can cause hyperactivity in animals.
As for white chocolate, it contains about 6mg of Theobromine per ounce. A quick comparison to dark chocolate, which houses about 22mg per ounce. As for Baker’s chocolate, Theobromine chemical levels can shoot as high as 40mg per ounce.
Putting all this into consideration, any foods that constitute chocolate, may it be cakes to biscuits or any other product of chocolate should never be fed to hamsters.
Risks of feeding chocolate to hamsters
As we said earlier, chocolate is harmful to hamsters. Consumption of chocolates by a human may have a lot of benefits, both health-wise and physical, but not hamsters. Chocolate consumption can, therefore, be considered fatal for hamsters.
The presence of Theobromine in a piece of chocolate is the number one reason why animals shouldn’t eat it. This chemical-Theobromine remains inside the animals’ system for more than 24 hours, which is dangerous and could kill hamsters.
There are different signs and symptoms of theobromine toxicity in hamsters. These include seizures, heart attacks, epilepsy, and hyperactivity, which in many cases, will lead to death, especially to smaller size animals like Hamsters.
For your information, even the smallest amount of Theobromine is harmful to hamsters. In cases of pregnant hamsters, chocolate toxicity passes through breast milk and into placentas, causing death.
What to do when your Hamster consumes chocolate
First and foremost, you should treat this as a severe case of emergency, but the effects and the severity of it depend on the kind of chocolate your Hamster consumed. In the case of dark chocolate, chances are there will be sudden hyperactivity caused by the high levels of toxins.
When this happens, carefully observe the activities of your pet and feed him lots of fresh veggies. The Veggies ensure that chocolate is flushed from the system soonest possible. If your Hamster’s movements are unpredictable or uncontrollable, rush him quickly to a vet practitioner.
Finally, hamsters are very prone to stomach problems. If you notice such an upset, give your Hamster more water and other healthy liquids. You could also provide them with some food to remain in good health. Ensure the pet does not come into contact again with chocolate by storing it away and out of reach.