A cantaloupe is a small, round melon of a variety with orange flesh and ribbed skin.
So can hamsters eat cantaloupe?
Let’s take a look at their nutritional data and find out more.
In particular, their acidic, water, sugar, fat, salt, calcium and phosphorus content is of most interest as far as hamsters are concerned.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 141 kJ (34 kcal)
Carbohydrates
8.16 g
Sugars 7.86 g
Dietary fiber 0.9 g
Fat
0.19 g
Protein
0.84 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.
beta-carotene
lutein zeaxanthin
(21%) 169 μg
(19%) 2020 μg
26 μg
Thiamine (B1) (4%) 0.041 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (2%) 0.019 mg
Niacin (B3) (5%) 0.734 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5) (2%) 0.105 mg
Vitamin B6 (6%) 0.072 mg
Folate (B9) (5%) 21 μg
Choline (2%) 7.6 mg
Vitamin C (44%) 36.7 mg
Vitamin K (2%) 2.5 μg
Minerals
Calcium (1%) 9 mg
Iron (2%) 0.21 mg
Magnesium (3%) 12 mg
Manganese (2%) 0.041 mg
Phosphorus (2%) 15 mg
Potassium (6%) 267 mg
Sodium (1%) 16 mg
Zinc (2%) 0.18 mg
Other constituents
Water 90.2 g
source wikipedia
As you can see, cantaloupe’s contain a lot of water, a hint of salt, phosphorus and calcium, quite a bit of acidic content, and a lot of sugar.
This means that some hamsters can eat it, but others can’t
Syrian’s and Roborovski hamsters
Yes Syrian’s and Roborovski hamsters can eat it in small amounts on an occasional basis. This is because of the amount of water and acidic content that it contains.
Winter white dwarf, Chinese and Russian Campbell dwarf hamsters
Unfortunately because of the amount of sugar that cantaloupe contains, they cannot eat it because these species are prone to diabetes and it may harm them. A food to avoid feeding them.
You can check more information in our Hamster Diet Chart.
