Papaya is native to Central and northern South America and has become naturalized throughout the Caribbean Islands, Florida and several countries of Africa.
Papayas can be used as a food, a cooking aid and in traditional medicine.
So can hamsters eat papaya?
Let’s take a look at their nutritional data and find out more.
In particular, their water, acidic, fat, calcium, sugar, salt, and phosphorus content is of most interest as far as hamsters are concerned.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 179 kJ (43 kcal)
Carbohydrates
10.82 g
Sugars 7.82 g
Dietary fiber 1.7 g
Fat 0.26 g
Protein 0.47 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.
beta-carotene
lutein zeaxanthin
(6%) 47 μg
(3%) 274 μg
89 μg
Thiamine (B1) (2%) 0.023 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (2%) 0.027 mg
Niacin (B3) (2%) 0.357 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
(4%) 0.191 mg
Folate (B9) (10%) 38 μg
Vitamin C (75%) 62 mg
Vit E (2%) 0.3 mg
Vitamin K (2%) 2.6 μg
Minerals
Calcium (2%) 20 mg
Iron (2%) 0.25 mg
Magnesium (6%) 21 mg
Manganese (2%) 0.04 mg
Phosphorus (1%) 10 mg
Potassium (4%) 182 mg
Sodium (1%) 8 mg
Zinc (1%) 0.08 mg
Other constituents
Lycopene 1828 µg
source wikipedia
As you can see, papaya contains a hint of phosphorus, calcium, and fat, a lot of acidic content and sugar.
This means that Syrian hamsters and Roborovski’s can eat papaya in small amounts in moderation.
However, other dwarf hamsters such as Winter white dwarf’s, Russian Campbell dwarf’s, and Chinese hamsters can’t eat papaya as it is too sweet for them and should be avoided.
The seeds and skin should also be avoided for all species of hamster. If you want to find out more foods for your hamster, you can read “Hamster diet chart“
