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Pocket pets seem to be increasing in popularity, and more people are welcoming hamsters into their homes. These cute and fluffy rodents are fun and easy to care for, making them the perfect companion for anyone looking for a low-maintenance pet.
Pet owners always want to know everything they can about their pets, and when the questions about what they eat and where to keep them have been answered, you might move onto other queries, like: Do hamsters fart? If so, do their farts smell bad?
The answer is: Yes, hamsters do fart, but no, they’re not very smelly.
Keep on reading to learn more about hamster digestion, including their production of gas.
What Does a Hamster’s Digestive System Look Like?
When a hamster eats a specific food, it enters their oral cavity, where it’s crushed by the hamster’s teeth, specifically the incisors and molars.
- Glandular stomach — This part of a hamster’s stomach is in charge of storing food for a short period and keeping the food moist.
- Non-glandular stomach — The pH value in this part of the hamster’s stomach is higher than in the rest, enabling fermentation and helping the animal digest food more easily.
This stomach organization is a feature shared by all rodents and horses, as well as the inability to vomit or burp.1
The food then travels to the hamster’s small intestine, which is the main organ in charge of digesting food and breaking it down before it passes through the cecum (known as the appendix in humans) and into the large intestine. Their digestive system ends with the rectum and the anus, which is where waste and gas are expelled.
Can Hamsters Fart? Why and How Do They Do It?
Some hamster owners swear blind that they have heard their pet pass gas, whereas others claim that their hamster never has. The reality is that a hamster fart is such a small event that most owners would never notice it occurring.
Like with all mammals, the digestive process of the hamster involves the fermentation and breakdown of food matter, a process that produces gas. And in the case of hamsters that cannot burp, this gas cannot go up, so it must go down.
We all know that some foods create more gas than others, and the same applies to hamsters. When it comes to humans and our more sizable pets, this effect is often quite obvious. When we’re dealing with a tiny pet with an even tinier digestive system, even a significant amount of gas for a hamster is going to be minuscule to us.
Farting is a perfectly natural and normal biological process, but some things can lead to an increase in this gas production that we should be aware of. As we mentioned, certain foods can increase the amount of gas produced during digestion, such as beans, legumes, seeds and cruciferous vegetables (eg. broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower).
Eating too quickly or swallowing air can also lead to the accumulation of gas in the digestive tract. This might just be the result of a particularly hungry hamster, but sometimes it can occur if your pet has a problem with their mouth or teeth.
Do Hamster Farts Smell Bad? Are They Loud?
Hamster farts are typically non-smelly and quiet, if not entirely silent. Hamsters are small animals whose digestive tracts are also small, so even a large fart to them will be barely noticeable to us.
The types of food that hamsters should be eating are fairly low in fiber, and will not ordinarily produce enough gas for their farts to be particularly loud or smelly, so it would be unusual for their farts to be all that obvious.
Excessive farting could be a sign of a gastrointestinal problem in hamsters, which is why it’s important to have your little friend checked by a vet if you notice them expelling too much gas.
Final Thoughts
Hamsters fart, but it is on such a small scale that it’s almost undetectable. Their farts are also usually silent and non-smelly, which is why it may seem as if these little rodents don’t fart at all.
If it seems like your hamster is farting too much or too often, speak with your vet to rule out possible gastrointestinal or dietary problems.
Featured Image Credit: Eric Isselee, Shutterstock
