With hamsters being such a popular pet with their popularity slowly increasing with each year that goes by we constantly see more and more questions from the community about keeping pet hamsters.
Although the majority of the questions about hamsters that we see are based on keeping them happy or what their diet should be made up of, we do see some more peculiar questions.
One of these peculiar questions that we have noticed people asking about time and time again is do hamsters fart or not?
Due to seeing so many people reaching out and asking if hamsters fart as well as a number of other questions relating to hamsters farting, we have decided to publish this dedicated article on the topic.
Our hope is that we will be able to answer all of the common questions that we see people asking about hamsters farting as well as help our readers understand why some hamsters fart more than others.
We have added a table of contents below to make it as a easy as possible to navigate our article to help you get the information you want fast.
Do Hamsters Fart?
Hamsters do fart as a way to release the gas build-up that is the byproduct of digesting their food.
This is totally normal and the amount of gas that is built up will depend on the diet of your hamster with some foods producing more gas than others making your hamster fart on a regular basis.
With hamsters being omnivores, they have evolved to eat both plant based and meat based food products with ease.
The majority of good hamster food products are usually a mix between plant and meat based foods to try and be as nutritionally complete as possible for your pet hamsters.
Some people do try to put their hamster on a vegetarian or vegan diet and although most hamsters are able to survive on these diets, it will make them fart more.
This is due to plant-based foods producing considerably more hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas when they are digested resulting in more excess gas that has to be released.
Is It Normal For Hamsters To Fart?
It is totally normal for hamsters to fart as their stomachs produce excess gas when they digest their good that they then need to naturally pass.
If you have recently changed your hamsters primary food source they you may temporarily notice and increase in your hamster farting while its gut bacteria gets used to the new food ingredients but this is also normal.
With hamsters being omnivores, they will happily eat insects with most types of insects that they would find in the wild being fair game and quickly turned into an easy meal.
Insects tend to release a very small amount of hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas when digested so will cause your hamster to fart much less than plant based food sources.
This is why so many insect based hamster foods have seen a huge spike in their popularity recently.
On top of that, some areas will have problems with weevil bugs in their hamster food too but as we covered in our article on how to deal with bugs in your hamsters food, these are generally just considered an additional food source to your pet hamster.
Do Hamster Farts Smell?
Hamsters farts tend not to smell anywhere near as much as human farts or farts from other pets due to hamsters only releasing a tiny amount of gas at a time.
Most hamsters farts will not smell much either due to their gut bacteria being able to optimise to digest a common food source that they are fed regularly.
The majority of a hamsters fart is made up from the excess hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas that is a bi-product from them digesting their food. All three of these gasses are scentless but hamster farts will also include small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
Some food types, usually beans will cause a spike in the amount of both hydrogen sulfide and ammonia that is produced while digesting them and add a stronger scent to your hamsters farts.
Again though, the amount of gas released is usually too small for humans to small them unless there is a large amount of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia being released at the same time.
Do Hamster Farts Make Noise?
Farts make a noise depending on the amount of gas being released and their resulting pressure. Sometimes a hamster fart will sound like a high pitched squeak but sometimes it will be totally silent.
If you are trying to feed your pet hamster a plant based diet then there is a higher chance of your hamsters farts having a sound when released.
This is due to plants releasing more hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas when they are digested by your pet hamster causing more pressure and increasing the chance of sound.
On the flipside of this, if your hamsters diet is between a third to a half meat based like most good hamster food products, the chances of your hamsters farts being silent increase as less gas is produced.
This means that there is less pressure being built up with a lower chance of there actually being a sound.
How Many Times Does A Hamster Fart A Day?
Hamsters usually fart a minimum of six times a day but the upper limit depends on a large number of variables. Plant based foods increase the amount of gas that needs to be passed and increase the number of times your pet hamsters will fart each day.
If you have recently changed your hamsters diet or added a new treat food then the number of times your hamster will fart each day will also increase.
This is due to they type of bacterial in your hamsters gut that disgust the food having to change a little with excess gas being produced until they optimise for the digesting of the new food.
There are also a number of potential health issues that can cause your hamster to fart more than usually but these do tend to be rare.
If you do suspect that your pet hamster may be having problems with any of these issues then a trip to your local veterinarian’s office is probably the best route to take.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over if hamsters fart or not to a close. We hope that we have been able to answer your questions and give you as much information as possible on why you hamster farts and what can have an effect on the amount of gas that your pet hamster will have to pass each day too. Most of the normal hamster foods on the market are a good blend between plant and animal based food types so should keep the excess gas levels lower than a plant based diet.
