Can Hamsters Eat Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds are edible, and even humans like to eat them. I personally like them because I like how mildly salty they are. But, can a hamster eat sunflower seeds? Here is the question. Well, yes, hamsters can eat sunflower seeds.

 Hamsters love eating sunflower seeds as their snacks. So you can feed them with these seeds often as their snacks. And these seeds are highly nutritious and have carbohydrates along with healthy fats. 

So, sunflower seeds are a healthy snack for hamsters. Now, before feeding anything to your hamster, you can learn about the background of the food you are going to feed. And, this is what we will discuss about the sunflower seeds. 

Related: Can Hamsters Eat Spinach

What sunflower seeds can a hamster eat? 

As there are two types of sunflower seeds, we can discuss the type that hamsters eat and that is good for them. Now, sunflower seeds come in two types, among which one type is the black and brown striped one. 

These seeds are the easiest ones to find in the markets and are good for hamsters to eat as snacks. And the second type of seeds is the dark black seeds with natural oil on their shells.

 hese are rare and are fed to birds instead of hamsters. So, you can feed striped sunflower seeds to hamsters. Now, let me tell you how many sunflower seeds can you feed your hamsters and when?

Can a hamster eat sunflower seeds with the shell?

Yes, hamsters can eat sunflower seeds with shells. Now, the next question is, are sunflower shells safe for your hamsters? Yes, sunflower shells are also safe to feed the hamsters, and you can feed all the breeds with sunflower seeds packed in shells. 

However, make sure that the sunflower seeds you buy are salt free because the salty sunflower seeds are also in the market. But, these sunflower seeds are harmful because they result in high blood pressure for hamsters. So, this is what you have to take care of. 

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Can hamsters eat bird sunflower seeds? 

Bird sunflower seeds are mostly salty. So, you cannot feed anything to your hamsters that is very salty. However, if somehow, you have birds at home and you feed them less salty seed, you can feed them to your hamsters as well.  

But, if you feed your birds with commercial foods, you can also give them to your hamsters once a week only if you want to. However, beware of caveats in them.  

Can hamsters have salted sunflower seeds? 

No, hamsters cannot eat salted sunflower seeds as I said above. Because these seeds may cause high blood pressure levels in hamsters. So, any food that is salty, is harmful for hamsters. 

How to feed sunflower seeds to hamsters? 

Feeding sunflower seeds to Hamsters is really easy.

• We have to look for striped sunflower seeds in the markets or the grocery stores.
• Make sure the seeds are not salty at all and do not contain oil like black oil sunflower seeds.
•  Now, if you have Syrian Hamsters, you can give four to six pieces to Syrian Hamsters on a daily basis as their snacks.
•  And, if you have Robo Hamsters, you can give them two pieces of striped sunflower seeds once a day as their snacks.
• And for dwarf hamsters, you can feed them one piece of striped sunflower seed once a day. 

So, that’s how hamsters eat sunflower seeds. 

Can hamsters eat raw sunflowers? 

Yes, hamsters can eat raw sunflowers. And, you can give them one petal if it is in raw condition. However, the best thing is to feed hamsters with dried sunflower petals. So, if you think, can a hamster eat sunflower petals? Then yes, they can. And, it is entirely safe for them to have it often as a snack. 

Advantages and disadvantages of sunflower seeds for hamsters 

Even though hamsters can eat sunflower seeds, the following advantages and disadvantages of sunflower for hamsters. 

Advantages 

• When you need hamsters with shelled sunflower seeds, they make the teeth of the hamsters strong. 
• If fed in the right amount, sunflower seeds help hamsters gain good bones. 
• The Vitamin E in the sunflower seeds improves hamsters’ skin and eyes. 

Disadvantages 

• If you feed salted sunflower seeds to hamsters, your hamster will get high blood pressure. 

Conclusion 

Can hamsters eat sunflower seeds? Yes, all breeds of hamsters can eat striped sunflower seeds. So, feed your Syrian hamsters with 4 or 6 sunflower seeds daily. And, for Robo hamsters, you can give them 2 sunflower seeds daily. 

Related: Can Hamsters Eat Pineapple? 

Now, for dwarf hamsters, you can feed them one sunflower seed daily. So, you can feed them sunflower seeds in the given amount above on a daily basis. And, this is the best treat that you can give your hamsters. 

FAQs

How many sunflower seeds can a hamster have a day? 

Now, this is what I will tell you from the vet’s point of view. So, for Syrian hamsters, you can feed 4 sunflower seeds a day. And yes, I’m talking about the sunflower seeds that have stripes on them that you can feed to your hamsters daily. 

Also, for Robo hamsters, you can feed them 2 sunflower seeds every day. Now, as Robo hamsters are smaller than the Syrian hamsters, you can give them 2 pieces of sunflower seeds for that. So, here comes the dwarf hamsters. 

You can feed 1 sunflower seed to a hamster that is a dwarf. So, this is for any dwarf hamster, including Chinese Campbell, Winter White, and Teddy bear hamster. These are like treats that you can feed to hamsters daily to make them happy. 

Can dwarf hamsters eat  flower seeds? 

Now, dwarf hamsters are the tiniest breeds of hamsters that are delicate and have more breeds in them. For instance, as I said above, the bread of dwarf hamsters include Teddy bread hamsters, Chinese Campbell, and Winter White.

 They do look cuter as well. However, their diet is different from the other largest breeds of hamsters like Syrian or Roborovski hamsters. So, you can give one piece of striped sunflower seed to your dwarf hamsters with shells.