A lychee is a small rounded fruit with sweet white scented flesh, a large central stone, and a thin rough skin.
So can hamsters eat lychees?
Let’s take a look at their nutritional data and find out more.
In particular, their acidic, water, sugar, fat, salt, phosphorus, and calcium content is of most interest as far as hamsters are concerned.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 276 kJ (66 kcal)
Carbohydrates
16.53 g
Sugars 15.23 g
Dietary fiber 1.3 g
Fat
0.44 g
Protein
0.83 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1) (1%) 0.011 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (5%) 0.065 mg
Niacin (B3) (4%) 0.603 mg
Vitamin B6 (8%) 0.1 mg
Folate (B9) (4%) 14 μg
Vitamin C (86%) 71.5 mg
Minerals
Calcium (1%) 5 mg
Iron (1%) 0.13 mg
Magnesium (3%) 10 mg
Manganese (3%) 0.055 mg
Phosphorus (4%) 31 mg
Potassium (4%) 171 mg
Sodium (0%) 1 mg
Zinc (1%) 0.07 mg
source wikipedia
As you can see, lychees contain a little phosphorus, a hint of calcium, a little acidic content but the are very sweet.
This means that some hamsters can eat them, but unfortunately others can’t.
Syrian’s and Roborovski hamsters
Syrian’s and Roborovski hamsters can eat them in small amounts and in pieces that they can hold in their paws. It is recommended though that they only eat lychees on an occasional basis due to their high sugar content.
Winter white dwarf’s, Russian Campbell dwarf’s and Chinese hamsters
However, other pet hamsters such as Winter white dwarf’s, Russian Campbell dwarf’s and Chinese hamsters cannot eat them because of their high sugar content. Being prone to diabetes means that lychees will make these species sick.
If you want to find out more foods for your hamster, you can read “Hamster diet chart“
