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As humans, we’re always comparing – and wondering which fast food joint makes the best French fries?
So popular are they that people will drive from one side of town to the other to get their savory treat.
Pet lovers want to share their delicious French fries with their pets.
The flavor and texture of French fries are so good you feel your hamster should share the treat.
Deliciously golden brown and enough to get your hamster’s taste-buds sizzling, it just won’t be right to pop one into your hamster’s cage.
French Fries Are Toxic To Hamsters
You may believe that some of the foods considered healthy for you will be healthy for your hamster.
But in fact, they can be harmful to your hamster.
A hamster lives such a short life that it becomes important to feed him properly.
His allotted two years could become just six months if you feed him junk food.
Hamsters have two stomachs, and when he has a stomach ache, it’s twice as sore.
It can be so bad for a hamster that he can even undergo a personality change.
When he is in pain, he may even bite his owner.
When your hamster stops doing what he normally does, it is likely that he is in pain or ill.
Congestive Heart Failure
If you feed him French fries, you could be leading him toward congestive heart failure.
Congestive heart failure in hamsters can occur because of a few reasons.
One of them is feeding him the wrong foods.
His heart can’t pump blood normally.
His heart rate can escalate to dangerous levels.
You may even find his skin taking on a blue tint.
He trusted you to choose the right foods for him, and you let him down.
If you have been feeding your hamster the wrong food, it is important to change his diet immediately.
It becomes imperative to develop a proper dietary strategy for your ailing furry pet.
You will hear from your vet that salty foods need to be removed from his diet.
Wrong Foods And An Early Death
Feeding your hamster the wrong foods can increase the chance of him experiencing an early death.
The wrong foods can cause diabetes and heart disease in your furry friend.
So can a hamster eat French fries? Definitely not.
Just because you love them doesn’t mean your hamster should as well.
If you have already fed your hamster a few French fries, it’s no reason to panic just yet.
One or two French fries won’t kill your hamster, but a regular diet of fried potatoes will.
You’ll notice, too, that his stools become watery.
Food Allergies
Hamsters can develop food allergies.
If you’ve been giving your hamster regular hamster food, suddenly tossing a French fry his way can cause a severe reaction.
You may notice that he is lethargic and his behavior odd.
French fries are also high in carbohydrates.
We humans can stomach all these carbs and pay the price through weight gain.
But your hamster can’t stomach them.
If you ate French fries every day and your hamster did too, you would find he no longer gets onto his toy wheel.
He can’t be playful as he lacks energy, and he has also become obese.
French fries are high in fat, and these oils are high in trans fats, which are very unhealthy.
French fries can be seriously tough on your hamster’s gut and cause him a whole lot of digestive problems.
Also, if you’re making your own French fries, don’t be tempted to give your hamster a piece of raw potato.
Raw potatoes are extremely toxic for hamsters.
Raw potatoes contain a toxin known as solanine which is toxic to many mammals, even humans.
To steer clear of solanine poisoning, make sure you store your potatoes in a cool dark place.
Food With The Right Balance Of Nutrients
Battling to know how to feed your hamster good, wholesome food?
Remember that pet food manufacturers make hamster food with the right balance of nutrients.
You can always find a pelleted diet for hamsters.
As suggested, a small portion of fresh fruits and vegetables can be part of a healthy diet for your pet hamster.
Also, 12–24% protein and 3-6% fat are the two percentages you should seek in hamster chow.
Buying hamster food with 18–40% protein and 7-9% fat content is recommended for pregnant or young hamsters.
Because they need all that protein to grow, pregnant women and newborns hamsters require more protein.
The majority of a young hamster’s growth occurs in the first month of life; more protein will be helpful.
Whenever in doubt, speak to your veterinarian.
A Hamster’s Diet Is From Nature
Hamsters are omnivores. They eat a mix of plants and insects.
So, in other words, their best diet is one from nature.
They will forage around for their food and store it in their cheek pouches to feed on later.
To make things easier, you can buy commercial hamster pellets at pet stores.
You can also feed your hamster small portions of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Potatoes are vegetables, but it’s the way they are prepared that is so important for hamsters.
You can boil a potato and feed small portions to your hamster.
Plain-boiled potatoes in small quantities can be suitable for your hamster.
The potatoes are packed with protein and other important nutrients that come with health benefits.
For instance, a boiled potato contains a good amount of vitamin A.
This vitamin promotes healthy growth and can help reduce the risk of a certain type of cancer.
Vitamin C in the potato is also an important nutrient for your hamster’s immune system.
Calcium is also found in potatoes and is required to form bones and tissues in the hamster.
Avoid Health Hazards With Too Many Potatoes
Can I give my hamster a lot of potatoes? You’ve got to be careful of potatoes as well.
A quarter of a teaspoon of cooked potato should be the maximum amount that your hamster should consume.
Just as a treat every several weeks or so, your hamster should only be given potato.
It shouldn’t be a regular part of your hamster’s diet.
Too much of a good thing, and it presents your hamster with health hazards.
Female hamsters already battle urinary problems.
The calcium in potatoes can lead to many health problems, such as kidney stones, infections, and pain.
Severe health problems in them.
Overconsumption of calcium can lead to kidney stones, severe pain, and some infections.
A hamster should never eat French fries as they’re oily.
Your hamster’s stomach is used to taking in plants and insects from nature.
Oil can give him digestive problems.
Frying potatoes to make French fries with added spices isn’t suitable for your hamster diet.
Oily Foods Cause Diarrhea
In fact, potato chips aren’t suited for any animals.
They have very little nutritional value and they are too high in salt and fat.
Greasy foods can actually cause vomiting and diarrhea for your hamster as well as other digestive problems.
Also, the rapid change in diet and eating an excessive quantity of fresh fruits or vegetables, particularly those with high water content, such as cucumber, tomato lettuce, orange, and so on cause diarrhea.
Eating too many French fries can have other detrimental outcomes.
It will disturb your hamster’s sleep patterns, and he can slowly become obese.
Yes, in addition to fresh fruits and veggies, hamsters also enjoy some whole-grain bread and protein in the form of boiled eggs.
Variety is important with your hamster, but so is moderation.
Along with this food, he needs a constant source of fresh, cool water.
Conclusion
A hamster leads such a short life.
He needs proper care from you so he can reach two years of age.
To prevent stomach pain and stress, take proper care of him.
Visit your veterinarian for checkups on a regular basis, especially if your hamster is ill if you don’t want to shorten his life.
You must monitor his health on a daily basis and resist the urge to feed him foods that you enjoy.
French fries are delicious, but to a hamster, they can spell an early death for him.
Hamsters can develop severe diseases from eating the wrong foods.
He can become obese and even develop heart disease and leave you long before his time.
A passionate content creator on pet behavior, nutrition choices, and health, Mike is an experienced pet expert. He has been writing on multiple websites to compensate for his passion for cats. Mike grieves around plenty of pets in his parents’ house. At the start of his career, he had a sturdy intention to be a part of pet care by any means.
With his affiliation to Purrfect n’ Pawesome, he found a way to satiate his craving to participate in pet health, wellness, and behavior analysis. He has been a significant part of our team and a major contributor in equipping our site with useful, authentic, and research-backed articles.
“I love pets as much as I love to travel to explore multiple places and lifestyles. I have been attached to this pawsome platform for many years, and my experience regarding pets has enhanced significantly by using various devices to write articles. I believe in writing my thoughts and experiences, so I try to write down the experience and learnings for my readers no matter where I am and what my mood is.”
