We see squirrels eating acorns all the time, and since they are rodents like our pet hamster, it is quite normal to believe that a hamster can eat acorns.
But do they? Can your little hamster eat acorns?
This is what I will discuss in this article since acorns as hamster treats are a bit more dangerous than they might look.
Stick around till the end to see some cool homemade toy ideas that you can make for your hamster to chew on or play with. I will talk about this because many people use acorns as a toy for their hamsters to chew on rather than food.
Table of Contents
Can hamsters eat acorns?
Hamsters should not eat acorns because they can have a lot of bacteria, parasites, harmful germs, and even fungal infections.
There are actually two main reasons why you should not feed your hamster acorns:
The first one is the one we talked about, acorns can be bad for your hamster’s health because they are not healthy for its digestive system.
Even if we wash the acorns, we might not get rid of all those problems. I’ve heard there are some people that wash and bake the acorns before giving them to the hamster. This might get rid of most of the bacteria, parasites, and so on, but you still have one more problem.
Acorns are quite sharp and can hurt your hamster’s intestines or cheek pouches if they store them.
Hamsters tend to keep food in their cheek pouches and keeping a sharp object is dangerous since their cheek pouches are sensitive.
Here you can read more about how cheek pouches work and common problems.
So, while a hamster’s diet, especially a pet one, contains mostly seeds and nuts, it is important to know that acorns are still dangerous.
Can a hamster open an acorn?
Yes, hamsters can open acorns and get to the seed, it can take a while, but they will eventually succeed and eating the seed can be dangerous for them.
If you plan on giving your hamster a natural chew toy, you can give him a walnut rather than a acorn since the walnuts are safe to eat for your hamster and it is a better option even as a toy.
You give him a chewing toy, they can chew on walnuts for way longer than they would chew on an acorn, so it is not worth the risk, and there is no reward in giving him an acorn instead.
Squirrels open walnuts pretty fast, have you ever seen one doing it?
They are much stronger than a little hamster, and their digestive system is also different from the hamster one, and that’s why they can eat acorns much easier.
Can hamsters eat acorn squash or pumpkin?
Yes, hamsters can eat acorn squash or pumpkin and also their seeds. However, you should not give a big amount of acorn squash to your hamster even if it is a good source of vitamins and minerals, they don’t need much, and it’s very easy to overestimate how much they can eat.
You can give them a small piece of pumpkin, 1 inch cube should be enough.
If you plan to give the seeds of an acorn squash or pumpkin to your hamster, you should rinse them and dry roast the seeds before giving them to your hamster to make sure they are safe.
If you want to know more about what a hamster can eat, I have an entire article where I included a food list that touches on all the important things you need to know when you feed your hamster. Check it out here.
Also, if you want to give your hamster a healthy pre-made food mix, here is one that I found on Amazon.
The whole bag will last you for a couple of months or more, depending on how much you feed the hamster, and what you supplement alongside. It’s usually much safer to feed your hamster a pre-made mix than trying to come up with a homemade diet for a hamster since it’s quite hard to include all the nutrients they need and also, it’s much cheaper and less time-consuming this way.
What nuts and seeds can a hamster eat?
I don’t want to scare you with this article and make you believe that hamsters are more fragile than they actually are; hamsters can actually eat many nuts and seeds.
When it comes to nuts, they can safely eat unsalted peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, pine nuts, macadamia nuts and pistachios (roasted but unsalted). I hope there is not something I forget here, but you get the idea.
Here is what seeds they can safely eat: Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax, sesame seeds, wheat, corn kernels, and so on.
Sunflower seeds are found in almost all pre-made food mixes for a hamster since they are a great source of fats and vitamins that a hamster needs.
Observation: when you feed your hamster seeds and nuts, make sure they are unsalted or unspiced since they can be dangerous for our little hamster pets.
Hamsters can also eat popcorn if it is plain, so when you buy popcorn, make sure it is not salty, sweet, or spicy. Also, it should not be microwaved since it can be dangerous for hamsters, so it is better to avoid it if you are not sure how that popcorn was made. Even when you decide to feed your hamster popcorn, make sure there are just a few pieces as a treat rather than the actual food.
Seeds and nuts that a hamster should avoid.
Here is a list of dangerous seeds and nuts for hamsters:
-Almonds. They are considered nuts like the other ones, but bitter almonds contain a cyanide compound that can be poisonous for your hamster.
When it comes to toxic seeds for your hamster, the list is a bit bigger:
-Apple seeds
-Pear seeds
-Strawberry seeds
-Cherry pit
Some of those contain cyanogenic acids that can be lethal for a hamster.
Homemade toy ideas for a hamster to chew or play with
It is very important to keep your hamster as active as possible, and chewing toys or homemade puzzles can be a great option.
The main reason why hamster needs to chew on something continuously is that, like many other rodents, their teeth are growing continuously. If they don’t wear down their teeth, it can become dangerous for their health, so chewing toys are not just for fun, they have an actual purpose.
As I said, many people want to give acorns to hamsters to give them something to chew on, but since we’ve established that it can be dangerous, I will give you some other great ideas.
-The first one and the most obvious one is to give a walnut to your hamster. Usually, they tend to chew more if you give them a walnut compared to a store-bought chew toy because they can smell that it is actual food inside that walnut shell, so they have a reason to chew on that other than wear down their continuously growing teeth.
-Cardboard boxes with food inside. Closed cardboard boxes with food inside are a great way to make your hamster exercise for its food.
If you are worrying about your hamster eating cardboard, I have an entire article about that.
-Toilet paper roll puzzle. Cut some strips of a regular toilet roll that are about an inch or 2.5 cm long; these will form large frills at either end of the roll. Fold one end of the roll to secure any food or treats you put inside, then fold the other end to further ensure nothing spills out. To make the puzzle more difficult for your hamster, you can make the frills longer and twist them together. Your hamster will hear and smell the food, motivating him to try to figure out how to open it.
There are also store-bought ones but you need to make sure they are safe for your hamster since some of them are made from pine or cedar wood which can be dangerous for your hamster.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, it is not safe for hamsters to eat acorns, even if you would love to see the little hammy chewing on an acorn like a cute little squirrel.
We can always swap the acorn with walnut. I can promise your hamster will have a lot of work cracking a walnut. Mine chewed for a few weeks on it, and it didn’t crack. So even if it’s not a good food source because they don’t get to eat the walnut, it is a great chew toy.
I hope this article helped you, and now you know what seeds and nuts to give to your hamster and which ones you should avoid.