Can hamsters eat raisins?

[hadla]

Originally Posted by SnuggleHam

I know lol! I felt silly about asking since I read you can give them grapes. but I just wanted to be sure before I offered them a raisin

Ask any questions you have on HC no matter how silly they might seem.. thats our motto!

ha, I've been giving my hamsters/gerbils raisins and they love them. I gave Penelope one last night and the last time I looked, it was lying with her poop corner ew.

[babyboos]

maybe trying to hide it

[Minicooper]

Hammis isnt too keen on raisins. Whenever I give her one, she drops it and hopes I dont notice.

[hadla]

Originally Posted by minicooper106600

Hammis isnt too keen on raisins. Whenever I give her one, she drops it and hopes I dont notice.

lol, you should check to see if she has a big pile of them buried somewhere.

[Minicooper]

Originally Posted by hadla

lol, you should check to see if she has a big pile of them buried somewhere.

Yeah, will do! *laughs*

[lola's mommy]

hi! i wanted to know if any of you have heard about a treat for hamsters which is peanut butter spread on a saran wrap w/ raisins and seeds on top... if i'm wrong please let me know because i'm sure i read about it but can't remember the exact way to do it.

[souffle]

I have not heard of that treat Lolasmummy but it does sound rather rich. I think peanut butter sounds a bit fatty and I would not give a lot of this in case it was stored and went mouldy. Perhaps you could try just one raison with a faint smear on it just to see what she thought. That is enough for a nice treat. Ours love raisons but even more they like half a grape!

[Christine Yule]

Originally Posted by lola's mommy

hi! i wanted to know if any of you have heard about a treat for hamsters which is peanut butter spread on a saran wrap w/ raisins and seeds on top... if i'm wrong please let me know because i'm sure i read about it but can't remember the exact way to do it.

The "spreading on saran wrap" sounds like a bad idea to me. I would be paranoid that the hamster would stuff it in his cheek and end up eating the plastic saran wrap!!!

Peanut butter is very rich and actually quite hard for them to swallow. They smack their jaws up and down and kind of make gagging motions. Also, the sugary peanut butter will stick in the tiny teeth on the roof of their mouths and might cause tooth decay. My hamsters get an unsalted peanut now and again and they love them.

Hamsters will eat almost anything but try to choose foods that are "natural", not processed. For example, a whole peanut is better than peanut butter; dry or cooked oatmeal is better than an oatmeal cookie.

The "hamster cookie recipes" posted here are very healthy and are great treats for them.

Hamstermama

[lola's mommy]

yeah, you're right! i did the pb w/ seeds on a tp roll and lola just ignored it... then i tried giving her one raisin and she ate half & the other half threw it down. haha!! i'll just stick w/ the grapes which i do know she likes and maybe try later the lowfat yogurt, the boiled egg and the oatmeal soaked in skim milk...

oh! and hamstermama, what i'll do is make one of your cookies for lola and "use" it as a "bday cake" that'll be cool too!

[Holly]

I have read recently on other forums that raisins should not be given to hamsters - something about them getting stuck in pouches because they are sticky, I think

However I'll admit that I ignored that advice because I've been giving all of ours the occasional raisin treat since the day we got them with no apparent ill-effects .... and they love them!

The fact that Souffle and the other hamster experts on here feed raisins as well seems to vindicate my decision - just goes to show that not ALL advice given on ALL forums is necessarily accurate.