Well I was biting my nails ( I know it's gross but I wasnt really noticing wat I was doing at the moment) and then I forgot I was a little sick and I touched my hamster and I also forgot to wash my hands. She bit me but it wasn't hard, it didn't hurt at all, so now I'm worried she'll catch my cold. Will she catch a cold? Do I really need to take her to the vet or can I cure her myself?
Soon To Be Sick Hamster. :,(
- Thread starter Jv777j
- Start date
It's very, very unlikely that your hamster will catch your cold, so I wouldn't worry.
friendlyfishy777
Fish Fanatic
She won't catch your cold, I promise! 
I have had many rodents over the years and carried on handling pets even when I had a cold and none suffered any ill effects.
Hamsters don't get regular human colds, that is not to say we shouldn't give them the best hygeine standards. Hamsters, mice and gerbils can get respartary infections but this is caused by damp bedding and dirty sawdust, and being in tanks with poor venterlation.
I have had many rodents over the years and carried on handling pets even when I had a cold and none suffered any ill effects.
Hamsters don't get regular human colds, that is not to say we shouldn't give them the best hygeine standards. Hamsters, mice and gerbils can get respartary infections but this is caused by damp bedding and dirty sawdust, and being in tanks with poor venterlation.
The only animal that I know that can catch a human cold is a cat, so i wouldn't worry too much about your hamsters. He should be just fine.
Actually thats not true, hamsters can suffer from humans colds, takes little research to find out, but i know this anyway, my vets confirmed it.
I doubt however its passed by such obscure contact, or rather, the chances are much lower than had you sneezed on your hammy!
If you have a cold, dont handle the hammy for a few days, get someone else to do it, dont be tempted to use gloves, will only scare the hamster and confuse them. They can happily go a few days without being handled.
Generally, by the time you are symptomatic with the cold, it doesnt spread so much as before you had real symptoms, but better safe than sorry. Dont think i know any hamsters thats died from it, they just spend more time in bed (if thats possible!) and sneeze a lot. Kinda like me to be honest!!
My current hamster has probably caught my cold once or twice, hard to remember! He's over 4 years old now, spends most of his time in bed and he has 'cancer' its really obvious through his baldy thin fur now *sigh* poor Smojo
I doubt however its passed by such obscure contact, or rather, the chances are much lower than had you sneezed on your hammy!
If you have a cold, dont handle the hammy for a few days, get someone else to do it, dont be tempted to use gloves, will only scare the hamster and confuse them. They can happily go a few days without being handled.
Generally, by the time you are symptomatic with the cold, it doesnt spread so much as before you had real symptoms, but better safe than sorry. Dont think i know any hamsters thats died from it, they just spend more time in bed (if thats possible!) and sneeze a lot. Kinda like me to be honest!!
My current hamster has probably caught my cold once or twice, hard to remember! He's over 4 years old now, spends most of his time in bed and he has 'cancer'
its really obvious through his baldy thin fur now *sigh* poor Smojo
Sorry to hear about your sick hammyActually thats not true, hamsters can suffer from humans colds, takes little research to find out, but i know this anyway, my vets confirmed it.
I doubt however its passed by such obscure contact, or rather, the chances are much lower than had you sneezed on your hammy!
If you have a cold, dont handle the hammy for a few days, get someone else to do it, dont be tempted to use gloves, will only scare the hamster and confuse them. They can happily go a few days without being handled.
Generally, by the time you are symptomatic with the cold, it doesnt spread so much as before you had real symptoms, but better safe than sorry. Dont think i know any hamsters thats died from it, they just spend more time in bed (if thats possible!) and sneeze a lot. Kinda like me to be honest!!
My current hamster has probably caught my cold once or twice, hard to remember! He's over 4 years old now, spends most of his time in bed and he has 'cancer'
But 4 year is an old lil hamster! I know cats can catch colds as well. I learned this from my vet. When my kitty Chub Chub was 6 months old, he caught my cold, and almost died from it $600 in vet visits and my lil boy got better. Up until then, I never knew that animals could catch our viruses.
The term you are looking for is Reverse Zoonosis or "anthroponosis". It obviously exists, look at H1N1, swine flu, a variety of influenza which is still a human disease.
Another example is that human White Pox Disease has wiped out 90% of the Elkhorn coral in the Carribean thanks to people dumping sewage...
There is actually a huge ammount of really interesting information on zoonotic and reverse zoonotic diseases out there, lots of scientific papers, though for once, wikipedia has the most information in one place LOL.
... implies that if the common cold didnt start in humans... it certainly isn't found just in humans.
---------
That aside, my poor Smojo is one of the oldest and most...crispy hamsters lol but by no means the eldest hamster i have owned, had a beautiful silver grey named Echo who was definately over 5, possibly closer to 6.
Ironically found that the hamsters bred by the big named breeders wer much shorter lived and a lot of them had fertility problems. Though we were going by breed standards set by the National Hamster Council (UK), we started from much poorer stock and ended up with much longer lived animals. (was breeding on a decent scale with my housemate).
I wasnt ever going to show as I hate the NHC for being so full of themselves bt they doubted us all the time so after only breeding ourselves for a year or two i entered 5 hamsters into a show and got 1st in the cream class (the biggest with over 30 hamsters), 2nd and 3rd in Any Other Colour males... Best new breeder and best in show.
Pretty much a finger up at them. Never felt the need to show again either lol. They all hate my guts, if i go near a show, if they talk to me at all its all glares and cold stares following me.
If i keep rodents again, it will probably be mice, they are amazing!
EDIT: Did we feel a little pleased with ourselves? You bet we did LOL
Mr Squishy
Tango
Another example is that human White Pox Disease has wiped out 90% of the Elkhorn coral in the Carribean thanks to people dumping sewage...
There is actually a huge ammount of really interesting information on zoonotic and reverse zoonotic diseases out there, lots of scientific papers, though for once, wikipedia has the most information in one place LOL.
... implies that if the common cold didnt start in humans... it certainly isn't found just in humans.
---------
That aside, my poor Smojo is one of the oldest and most...crispy hamsters lol but by no means the eldest hamster i have owned, had a beautiful silver grey named Echo who was definately over 5, possibly closer to 6.
Ironically found that the hamsters bred by the big named breeders wer much shorter lived and a lot of them had fertility problems. Though we were going by breed standards set by the National Hamster Council (UK), we started from much poorer stock and ended up with much longer lived animals. (was breeding on a decent scale with my housemate).
I wasnt ever going to show as I hate the NHC for being so full of themselves
bt they doubted us all the time so after only breeding ourselves for a year or two i entered 5 hamsters into a show and got 1st in the cream class (the biggest with over 30 hamsters), 2nd and 3rd in Any Other Colour males... Best new breeder and best in show.Pretty much a finger up at them. Never felt the need to show again either lol. They all hate my guts, if i go near a show, if they talk to me at all its all glares and cold stares following me.
If i keep rodents again, it will probably be mice, they are amazing!
EDIT: Did we feel a little pleased with ourselves? You bet we did LOL
Mr Squishy
Tango
How cute!!! I haven't owned hamsters in years. I owned Gerbils when I was in middle school. I have kept cats all my life. Never got into the whole showmanship aspect of the pet world. I tend to get most of my pets from the local shelter. I have found that some of the best, well mannered sweetest kitties are the ones putting on shows for you beggin you to take them home lol.
Devilish Angelfish
Fish Fanatic
Just to add a related point: Chimps and Gorillas (and other primates) can catch human viruses (colds, etc) which is why if you have a cold, its kinder not to visit zoos or places which keep such animals when you're sick (though usually good ones have glass panels, not just wire, and for this exact reason) so you don't spread your cold to the primates
......just sayin....
......just sayin....
I have to admit until now I did not know hamsters could catch human colds but some internet research shows this to be true. so in that respect I have learnt something new.
however I wish you a speedy recovery with your cold and I am sure your hamster will be fine as most vet sites say they need prolonged contact to get it and sneezing directly over them.
get well soon xxx
however I wish you a speedy recovery with your cold and I am sure your hamster will be fine as most vet sites say they need prolonged contact to get it and sneezing directly over them.
get well soon xxx
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