Hamsters?

[Teri]

I have to admit, I don't like hamsters very much, but when we moved into this flat, the old tenants had left one behind, so "Maisy" is now a part of the family.
Anyway, last weekend, it was squeaking to itself, and making "chittery" noises, when i checked, it's bottom was slightly swollen,and it was trying to avoid sitting on it, or it touching the floor. As it was a sat night, there was nothing i could do, and by Monday morning, when iwas all set to take it 2 the vets, it was fine, and running about as usual. I'd just bought it a new cage, as the one it'd been in was no bigger than a shoebox, and it eats normal hamster food, and bits of cucmber, raisins, apple or grapes(tried a bit of orange and lettuce but refused) and has clean water every day. Could the new cage have caused some kind of infection - to be honest, i never thought about washing it before i put the hamster in - ,or am i doing anything wrong foodwise? It seems fine now anyway, but it was horribleto see it apparently distressed, so i'd like to avoid it in future.
Also does anyone think those plastic balls are cruel? Unfortunately, it doesn't get out as much as it should, with 3 cats (the last tenants kindly left us 2 cats as wel!!!!) it's just not safe... (one of the cats has an evil streak...brings in shrews etc, and leaves them by the hamster cage! do uthink it might be a warning?!).If anyone thinks the balls are cruel, i won't buyone, like i said i don't know anything about hamsters, so i'lljust take any advice i'mgiven!! Thanx

 

[demonmagus]

hmmm I don't know much but I don't think the balls are cruel, they let the hamster get out and about without it being allowed to run off into a crack somewhere.

have you thought about securing a room and letting him/her have some free time where you can see it? and without the cats obviously.


good of you to take them in though

 

[MegTheFish]

When you say "normal hamster food", do you mean lab blocks? If its seed them stop feeding it, its high in fat and they will pick out he seeds they like, they need to be on a staple diet of a high quality lab block.
The swollen belly could be that she's pregnat, has a tumour, or maybe just gas?

 

[Betta_luver]

They hamster is probably a syrian hamster btw

You should not be feeding your ham oranges or any citris fruits as hamsters stomachs cannot handle the acids. The only lettuce that is safe is romain lettuce btw. Not to many veggies as it can cause diarreaha(sp?) only about twice a week. What type of food are you feeding your hamster? What is the name of of the food I mean. The best brand is Hazel or Harry hamster food. You will need to pickout the sunflower seeds though as they are very fattening.

What sized cage did you get? It might still be to small. I do not think that it caused an infection.

Also does your hamster have a wheel? Wheels are needed to keep the hamster active even when you are unabale to play with them. The wheel must be solid surfaced meaning not mesh or wired or it can hurt their feet.

Balls are not cruel but make sure you get the right size and only leave them in for 1/2 hour at the most.

Also what shavings are you using? Pine and cedar shavings are deadly to hamsters. Take a look at www.hamsterhideout.com and www.freewebs.com/hamster_wheel

Any other questiuons feel free to ask me. Oh and about the swollen bottom just watch it carefully alright Oh and keep the cats away from the hamster! It is stressful to have a preditor nearby. Stress can cause illness.

 

[Morquinn]

Are you sure its not a boy??? Males do get... male parts.. which get rather large.. I havent heard of any type of infection to that area alone. I used to breed hamsters years ago, and probably had close to 100 of them at a time (used to sell to stores) but the only infections I ever saw was clouded eyes or skin infections (where the fur would fall out) Unless the previous owner did a horrible job on cleaning the cage, im sure sitting in urine and feces isnt too great for them. I fed mine just normal hamster feed, it has the sunflower seeds, corn, little tiny seeds some wierd looking cheerio looking things.. lol.. made by Kaytee.. I never gave them anything else, except for wood treats to keep their teeth down if need be.. do you think you can get a pic of this area, or the hamster in general?

 

[Betta_luver]

Kaytee food contains an ingrediant called Ethoxyquin which :::

"Ethoxyquin is a controversial preservative. It is found in many low quality feeds (Kaytee, Hartz, etc..) for small and larger animals alike. I recommend not using a feed containing ethoxyquin, to be safe.

Ethoxyquin is not used as a preservative for HUMAN foods with the following exception: . It is permitted to "promote color retention" in paprika and ground chili pepper in a maximum concentration of 100 ppm.

The maximum allowable residue in eggs, meat, poultry, apples, pears, poultry fat and livers for HUMAN use is 0.5 ppm.

In ANIMAL feeds, the maximum allowable concentration of ethoxyquin is 150 ppm.

Being that hamsters and other small animals are more fragile than humans, it seems risky to feed something that is limited for human intake.

In studies I have read on the internet, here is what I have found:

-Chronic feeding studies in rats of 0.2 % of ethoxyquin in the diet caused transient depression in growth rate, At necropsy, damage to kidneys, liver and thyroid gland were seen in many of the male rats but not in the females.

-In another study, diets containing 0.5 % ethoxyquin fed to rats for up to 18 months, produced renal lesions in all of the study animals.

-Continuous administration to rats fed a diet of 0.2 % ethoxyquin, caused tumors in some of the animals.

With this information, I believe it is a good idea to stay away from ethoxyquin. It is found in many animal feeds, including dogs, cats, birds, and small animals. Just food for thought."

Origianlly From

I highly suggest still feeding fresh foods as it is very healthy for them and is unhealthy for them not to. But just more moderate.

Morquinn is right it could be 'male parts'.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What is the hamsters poop like- is it dry and well formed, or wet/squishy and diahorea-like etc? Does the hamster have a wet bum/is it urinating properly? Is the hamster itching itself a lot and is its fur in good condition (soft, full and clean)? Do you know the age of this hamster roughly and are you certain of the gender?

Maintenance of the cage should include;
a. Clean cage bedding out once a week and wipe cage clean
b. Wash out and re-fill water bottle once a week, top it up during that time until then
c. Clean out hamster house and replace bedding (tissue paper/bum roll makes good bedding as its soft and absorbant and hamsters enjoy tearing it up)
d. Clean out food bowl once a week and replace food- you should top up its food as nesarsary until then. Hamsters often only eat the foods they like or need at that moment in time, so you should replace the new food every week to make sure its food options are varied in its bowl.

Make sure its hamster wheel is of a suitable size, and if it doesn't have one you should definately get one. Many wheels sold for hamsters are actually for dwarf hamsters, not syrian ones (which is most likely what you have)- dwarf hamsters grow a lot smaller than syrian ones. If the wheel is too small the hamster will stop using it so you should make sure its more than big enough for the hamster, as hamsters will excercise on a daily basis in their wheels.
Old hamsters can get a bit malnutritioned so you should start giving it special hamster mineral/vitamin supliments once it is a year or more old.
They are not the most sociable of rodents, but you should aim to have it out for at least half an hour a day- because they are primarily nocturnal animals, taking them out at night is much better than in the morning etc. They will thoroughly enjoy being able to run around outside of a ball, but just make sure you properly supervise it if you do let it do this. Don't wake it up to take it out- if its asleep and you want it out, put some food or something in its cage and it'll wake up on its own accord pretty soon- if you just grab it out of its house though while its still asleep it can make them pretty grumpy and it won't enjoy it.
Make sure the cage is situated in a quiet area of your home so its sleep isn't too disturbed during the day by loud music, noisy machines like tumble driers, microwaves, washing machines etc during the day.
They enjoy vegetables, but ones low in sugar and citric acid are by far the best as hamsters are prone to things like diabete's from being fed too many sugar or digestion problems from acidic foods. Raw brocali is particularly good for hamsters as it is low in sugars and citric acid and they thoroughly enjoy it- because of this you can also feed it on a more regular basis. If you want to feed it sugary foods, grapes are ok but should be kept to very occasional treats- IMHO, raw carrot makes a better sweat food for them as it is more nutritional and natural for them and less messy. They'll also enjoy things like dried pasta and noodles and old stale pizza crusts too .

 

[Teri]

I never knew hamsters were so complicated!!

I'm not sure how to sex a hamster, but he / she / it is definately not pregnant, unless the gestation period is more than 6 months! It does get a run around in the hall, but that is only 1bout 2ft x 2ft, not a great deal of space, but its the only really secure area, trouble is our flat is really old,and there are too many little gaps for small rodents to disappear into!!
Food - it is just bags from the pet shop, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc. Also round chew shaped things, think they're held together with honey. Only tried her with lettuce and citrus once, she refused to eat it, so never tried again!
New cage is about 50 x 30cm base, but very tall with lots of levels, ladders and tunnels and things, which she seemsto enjoy scampering about in. old cage was about 30 x 20 cm, with no levels. (had a wheel)
Bedding - i usually buy some weirdstuff don't know what its called, looks like masticated egg boxes, it clumps together when it gets wet, so dirty bedding can be taken out regularly. That and toilet roll (but we use bleachfree recycled stuff anyway, so i guess its ok for hammy)
Age - haven't got a clue!!!Eyesight doesn't seem too good, when climbing down ladders etc, can't seem to seewhere she's going, and falls off. strangely enough has no probs climbing up things though.
has a wheel, seems to use it constantly from around 3 am onwards.
Its fur seems fine, poo normal (tiny hard lumpy), and it urinates ok.
She's left prettymuch undisturbed, cage is in my daughters bedroom, which isn't used much anyway, exceptfor sleeping in because its so small.
Its a lovely little creature really, only when it seemed ill was she really unsociable.

 

[demonmagus]

could you not make a hamster playpen? just pieces of wood arranged so it's secure

 

[Teri]

could you not make a hamster playpen? just pieces of wood arranged so it's secure

Ah. Why didn't i think of that? She had the box the fish tank came in, but chewed her way out of that. But maybe wood would last longer..........

 

[guineapigqueen]

Something along these lines will be good...

http/www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showp...oto/909/cat/531

http/www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showp...to/4922/cat/531

Emma x

 

[Morquinn]

Ok so your saying you dont know the sex of the hamster... one way to tell is look, and this "swollen" area may just well be the "balls" of a male hamster.. they would sort of look like any other type of male part that you'd see on animals, their would be a slight indentation to make them look almost seperated... umm.. really weird to talk about lol

On the Kaytee subject.. I didnt know about that.. although my hamsters and mice both lived for years.. and I know the average lifespan is what 3 years??

 

[Betta_luver]

Here is a link to check the gender

Hamster Gender

And for taming if it is needed

Hamster Taming

The bedding should be safe , cages sounds fine, hamsters are almost blind anyways so just make sure that there is a soft landing for when s/he falls, and all sounds good

 

[MegTheFish]

I never knew hamsters were so complicated!!

I'm not sure how to sex a hamster, but he / she / it is definately not pregnant, unless the gestation period is more than 6 months! It does get a run around in the hall, but that is only 1bout 2ft x 2ft, not a great deal of space, but its the only really secure area, trouble is our flat is really old,and there are too many little gaps for small rodents to disappear into!!
Food - it is just bags from the pet shop, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc. Also round chew shaped things, think they're held together with honey. Only tried her with lettuce and citrus once, she refused to eat it, so never tried again!
New cage is about 50 x 30cm base, but very tall with lots of levels, ladders and tunnels and things, which she seemsto enjoy scampering about in. old cage was about 30 x 20 cm, with no levels. (had a wheel)
Bedding - i usually buy some weirdstuff don't know what its called, looks like masticated egg boxes, it clumps together when it gets wet, so dirty bedding can be taken out regularly. That and toilet roll (but we use bleachfree recycled stuff anyway, so i guess its ok for hammy)
Age - haven't got a clue!!!Eyesight doesn't seem too good, when climbing down ladders etc, can't seem to seewhere she's going, and falls off. strangely enough has no probs climbing up things though.
has a wheel, seems to use it constantly from around 3 am onwards.
Its fur seems fine, poo normal (tiny hard lumpy), and it urinates ok.
She's left prettymuch undisturbed, cage is in my daughters bedroom, which isn't used much anyway, exceptfor sleeping in because its so small.
Its a lovely little creature really, only when it seemed ill was she really unsociable.

You need to switch its food, seed mixes (especially ones with sunflower seeds and peanuts) are very bad for hamsters and should only be fed as a treat. A good quality lab block should be their staple food, while supplimenting their diet with what other people on here have mentioned. It would be comparable to humans eating greasy fattening fast-food everyday of our lives, sure we could live off it but we would develop many complications because of it and have a shortened life span.
The bedding sounds like a product called "CareFresh" or atleast something similar to it, which is excellent for hamsters.

 

[Betta_luver]

Yes please try the harry or hazel hamster food. You will only need to pick out the sunflower seeds. Lab blocks day after day Bluck. Seed mixes are great and it isn't hard to pick out sunflower seeds You just pick them out as you feed the mix to your ham.