When you get a new pet, one of the first questions you must ask is what you can safely feed them. With hamsters, a wide variety of foods are on the table. Hamsters, like humans, are omnivores, meaning they can safely digest meat and plant-based foods.
Hamsters can eat chicken, and in fact, it’s one of the healthiest meats you can provide to your hamster. However, you should avoid giving it undercooked or seasoned chicken because it can make your pet sick.
The picture does get a little more complicated depending on the hamster and the form of the chicken. Read on to learn more about safely feeding chicken to your hamster.
Can Hamsters Eat Chicken Nuggets?
Hamsters cannot eat chicken nuggets without getting sick. Chicken nuggets or other processed chicken may give your pet a stomachache or even make it sick because of the additional ingredients they’re made with, such as wheat and sugar.
Since hamsters have a smaller stomach size, they can’t eat that much at one time, so their food needs to be as nutritious as possible. They eat about 1 tbsp (12 g) of food in a 24-hr period and hide more for later. When you feed chicken nuggets to your hamster, you’re depriving them of the nutrients they need to survive.
Why Hamsters Struggle With Chicken Nuggets
When you buy chicken breast or other lean cuts of chicken, you know what you’re getting, but chicken nuggets are different. They may include white meat, but they can include many other kinds of tissue from the chicken:
- Nervous tissue
- Connective tissue
- Fat
- Bones
- Tendons
Chicken nuggets also include preservatives and fillers that your hamster can have trouble digesting. The whole mess then gets coated in batter and deep-fried, which removes the value your hamster should gain from eating chicken.
The fattiness of chicken nuggets, in particular, causes problems.
An animal as small as a hamster feels the negative effects of consuming fatty foods much more quickly than humans. If you give them junk food, they tend to suffer negative health effects sooner.
Just like humans and most other animals, hamsters can suffer from obesity.
Giving them opportunities for exercise can help, but feeding them too much food or the wrong foods can set their health back. Stick with healthier options, and don’t be afraid to leave their food out so they can graze over the course of the day.
All of this will keep your hamster healthy in the long run.
Better Ways To Provide Chicken
Rather than break up processed foods, stick to plain chicken for your hamster.
Cook the chicken thoroughly so that no pink remains. While you may want seasoning on your chicken, stick to plain, cooked meat for the hamster, as this protects its delicate digestive system from the dangers that chicken nuggets can introduce.
Hamsters need protein, and if you give them only grains, fruits, and vegetables, they won’t build the muscle and strength they need to thrive. When you provide that protein packaged and processed like chicken nuggets are, all the extras can take away from the nutrition you’re trying to provide for your hamster.
Because hamsters are omnivores, you may think of them as being able to eat everything, but it doesn’t work that way. Hamsters are susceptible to sickness and stomach discomfort, and too much food or the wrong kinds of food can hurt them.
Provide a little at a time, and stick with healthier options for your hamster.
Can Dwarf Hamsters Eat Chicken?
Dwarf hamsters can eat chicken, but since they are smaller than normal hamsters, you don’t need to feed them as much at one time. When cooking raw chicken, don’t add spices, as this could make your dwarf hamster very sick.
How To Include Chicken In a Dwarf Hamster’s Diet
Both dwarf hamsters and Syrian hamsters can eat chicken, but a little chicken can go a long way for a dwarf hamster since it is much smaller. They usually do not eat a lot of food in one sitting. You also should be even more careful to avoid spices and other additives.
Here’s how to include chicken in your dwarf hamster’s diet:
- Cook the chicken without spices, seasonings, or sauces, which could harm its digestive system.
- Cut the chicken into small pieces before giving it to your dwarf hamster.
- Give them grains and vegetables to round out their meals.
Dwarf hamsters have almost no tolerance for sweet foods. Candy, syrup, or even carrots can be too sweet to eat without making them very sick, so leave this out of their menu.
If your dwarf hamster has never tried chicken before, you’ll need to introduce it slowly to their diet, or it could make them sick. Sometimes, hamsters might not be able to tolerate a new food and can suffer from indigestion or nausea.
The best way to introduce a new food:
- Give a small piece of chicken with their normal food.
- Observe your hamster for a day to see if they act abnormally.
- If it’s all good, give them another piece with their normal food.
Chicken Should Be an Occasional Treat
Since hamsters can only eat so much at a time, only give a small amount of other food to them. Their commercial food pellets contain everything they need to grow and thrive, so giving extra food should be more of a treat, rather than their main food.
Conclusion
Chicken is safe for your hamster to consume and part of a balanced diet for your new little pet. Balance this with other healthy food options to best care for your hamster’s dietary needs.
Your hamster relies on you to help it stay healthy. Giving the wrong foods or too much food can lead to your hamster becoming obese.
A hamster can digest meats and plants, but it shouldn’t eat all the same foods you do. You should always remember the size of a hamster relative to you and the delicateness of its digestive system.