Hi everyone,

My daughter has a hamster who is not doing well.  She is sleeping alot at night.  She is not as active as she used to be for the past 3 days.  Any suggestions.

What kind of hamster is she? How old is she? Does she feel cold to the touch. Can you hear her breathing, is it raspy or weazy? What about the colour of her tongue. A bluish cast to her mouth could indicate heart trouble.

I would check her teeth. If there is a dental problem then she would not be able to eat or drink and wouild get weak very soon.

Make sure she gets fluids. I would recommend peeled mashed grapes. You could also put a little water/juice in her mouth with an eye dropper. Be careful to give a small amount each time. You could try a little baby food (homemade is fine), carrots would be good. You could offer a taste of peanut butter or some mashed boiled egg.
Sometimes just sitting with and holding a hamster will help. Animals all respond to touch. Good luck with her.  

Hi Denise  and welcome to the forum.
I'm sorry to hear your daughter's hamsters is not so well. like Catherine says a little more info would be helpful and on top of what she has asked, any diarrhoea?
Hamsters deteriorate very rapidly when they are sick so I would try all of the things Catherine says and of course if she is not picking up withing hours I would take her to a vet.

Hi

I am really needing help with my hamster. I can hear he's breathing and sometimes my hamster sneezes. It's best if i dont have to take him to the vet but I am willing to do so if there are no other solutions. Please help, I can't afford to lose him!

It may just be a cold or flu, they do get these just like us. So if he is eating, drinking ok and generally lively enough in himself he should be ok. If very weak and not eating I would take to a vet straight away.
A bit more info would be helpful too, e.g what type of hamster, how old, what bedding etc.

Yes, hamsters can catch colds of humans quite easy. Maybe if you put him in a warmer room and maybe put a teatowel over his cage in the day. Colds dont last to long so soon the hamster will be ok.


Denise:
What breed and how old is she. If she has been in contact with another hamster less than about 18 days ago she may be pregnant. Is she looking a little larger than usual? Has she started gathering bedding as if to make a nest? If she isn't pregnant then is she up much in the day? Have you seen her eating/drinking less?

Thanks for the advice. My hamster is a mixed breed of a campbell and winter white. i use aspen bedding for him. im not quite sure how old he is but possibly 4-5 months. i had him for a month now. thanks

Quoted from Hammielover8

My hamster is a mixed breed of a campbell and winter white.

A picture of your hamster wouild be lovely.  We were unsure as to the genetic makeup of our dad hamster, Sunny and it is possible that he is the same mixed breed that you describe.

Does he have similar colouring?

I hope your hamster is getting better.  Do keep us posted

Oooo, hi Denise and hammielover8! Welcomeee!!! =) I like getting new members

Yes, my three hamsters died of wetail A very sad disease. Check for diarrhea, first i think one of mine had a cold, and I guess at the beggininng i did something I really shouldn't have done...

but yea then they got stresed, and the sad thing is me and my mom spent $200!!! at the vet on the 2 of them and then that night one of them died, i had one left that seemed to have pulled through. I think I should have disenfected the cage, but I was a begginer and didn't know better. She got better but then died randomly. Very sad, good to have said all that. Yes, very sad.

That is a sad story Bekah and must have been awful for you. You are trying really hard and obviously care about your animals a lot. By learning all of the time the best way, which is  by experience, you are going to become a real animal expert  

Thank John =)

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My daughter has a hamster who is not doing well.  She is sleeping alot at night.  She is not as active as she used to be for the past 3 days

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im not quite sure how old he is but possibly 4-5 months

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My hamster is a mixed breed of a campbell and winter white]

Now we know it is not a syrian hamster we can eliminate concerns about wet-tail. Dwarfies don't get it. I know that syrians can catch colds from us(or so I have heard), but dwarfies do not seem to catch colds. I have had some very bad colds over the years and my dwarfies have never caught one.

I would check the hamsters teeth. If they are too long or not lining up right then they need to be cut. Ask yourself the question "Can she eat with her teeth the way they are?" If they are the problem they will need to be cut. You just snip them off level with a pair of nail clippers. No it isn't easy, but it is urgent. Is she very thin. Does she feel weak when you hold her. Does she feel cold. It is hard to tell  dwarfie age, she could be older than you think. Could her lack of activety be in response to the weather. Does she have any red areas or swellings. They can get abscesses and do get cancer. An abscess can be drained, but if she has a tumor you can just keep her comfortable and fed and she will last a bit longer. They are too small for surgery.

Whatever the cause you need to get her to drink and eat a little. There is very little a vet can do for a dwarfie except cut her teeth if you can't do it. If she is older than you think it could be her heart is getting weak. Be supportive and make sure she eats and drinks something. I would try holding her in your hand. They respond to touch. She will feel comforted by the warmth of your hand. When they live in groups they snuggle so they are used to sharing warmth. Let us know how it goes.

THanks for the advice. i try to hold and handle him less as he seems to be having sneezes and i can hear him breathing. i heard that hamsters can get worse when there is stress. thanks!

Since i can't seem to find a forum that is suitable for my question, i decided maybe its just better to post it here. i read in websites that you should check your hamster's cheek pouches and teeth. im not quite sure how to do it. can anyone give me some solutions?

i cant seem to post the pics on so maybe i should describe what rasky looks like for Diane. He has less of a bullet shaped body as a winter white should be and has the color change in fur as a campbell cannot change to. ill try again with the pics

And by the way, my hammie has almost recovered fully! thanks to all the great advice i got! thanks to everyone!

Read the advice in the picture instruction section hammielover as it would be great to see some pics after hearing so much about your hamster.

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i read in websites that you should check your hamster's cheek pouches and teeth. im not quite sure how to do it. can anyone give me some solutions?

Hamster cheek pouches are on either side of the face, from the cheek to just past the ear. Dwarfies often fill their pouches. They like to take a snack to bed. If you touch the pouch it should feel like a bag of seeds(that should be what it is). It shouldn't stay continuously full. The pouch should not feel like a hard mass. If it does your dwarfie has got something in their that is causing trouble. An impacted pouch can infect and be very painful and even cause death. I push the stuff out of the pouch, because the hamster can't do it if it is a solid lump.
Hold the hamster in place on the counter(or table) and with the other hand use your thumb and index finger to push forward and down towards the mouth. The stuff is going to come out the mouth so be prepared to help pull it out. Think of squeasing toothpaste out of a tube. It is a similar feeling. The stuff will be messy and it will smell very bad. Be gentle when you do it, but be firm. It will help the hamster to feel more comfortable when it is done.
Wash your hands and the work area very carefully. It really smells.


Teeth! There are two top incisors and two bottom incisors. They meet and rub against each other. This keeps them sharp. They grow continuously from birth so they also wear each other down. If anything makes the teeth uneven or if one breaks, its partner will continue to grow unchecked. They bottom one will grow up and curve and grow back into the tongue. The top one will curve and grow up into the roof of the mouth. The first side effect of dental trouble is that the hamster can't eat. The teeth block food from entering the hamsters mouth. Water is also blocked. Sudden weight loss is usually caused by dental trouble. It must be fixed immediately(if not sooner) The hamster will die of dehydration and starvation without help.
The teeth must be cut. Use straight toe nail clippers, the ones where the two blades meet like hamster teeth. You just have to line them up on the teeth and snip them. I suggest holding the hamster by the back of the neck. Use your other hand to open the mouth and expose the teeth. Use your third hand to clip the teeth.(I do it alone, but I need magnifying lenses on my glasses). Do it quickly without hesitation. It does not hurt the hamster. If you do not do it the hamster will die miserably.

It is not easy to do either procedure, but I learned when I realized that my hamster was in danger of death. I had a female with something in her cheek pouch that was blocking her breathing. Think of it as the "hamster  Heimlich manoeuvre". In an emegency you can do anything you have to. Dental trouble is an emergency. You have to do something quickly. I hope this helps. Please ask questions if what I said is not clear.   This all applies to dwarf hamsters. The teeth clipping would probably work for any rodent, but I have not had to do it for the guinea pigs(so far).

Wow did you write all that Catherine? You write alot, how that must have tooken forever!

Great post Catherine that is extremely helpful, I am making it sticky (permanently at the top).

Thanks Catherine, thats really helpful. Hammielover8, I am glad your hamster is ok again.

Cheek pouches and dental care are one of the things you need to learn to do if you have multiple hamsters. Can you imagine what it would cost me if I didn't do it myself. Also as I said sometimes it is an emergency. With most Dwarfie health problems, if you can't fix it with "first aid" the hamster will be gone before you can get it to a vet.

Great advice , Catherine.

It would probably be a good idea to get used to examining your hamsters teeth on a regular basis so that you can detect any early signs of dental problems before they become an emergency.  You will then feel comfortable and more confident knowing what is normal for your hamster and what isn't. By pulling the fur behind the neck so that your hamster "smiles", will reveal their teeth for you to see.

If it is starting to look like your hamster is prone to misaligned teeth and you don't feel too confident about clipping them yourself at first, you could ask your vet for a mini tutorial.  Hamsters that are prone to wonky teeth are more likely to need them trimming quite regularly.  Once you have seen your vet do it once, you'll be more confident in doing it yourself - and save some expense too!!

I do a little medical check each time I clean the cage. I just look each hamster over. I even make notes if I want to be sure and check something again or soon. By looking your hamster over each time you will know what looks right. Then if someting is wrong you will know.  It takes practice, but I can tell all I need to know when the hamster sits on my bare hand. It feels good or it feels off some how and I look for the problem. It is a very good habit to get into.

Sometimes a problem can be fixed, but it waited too long and now the hamster is too weak to survive. I call them preventable deaths. Yes I have them. I miss things, I make mistakes or I didn't check in time. I try to not let such things happen. It is hard to take a loss that you know you could have and should have prevented. It is worth the time to check regularly and your hamster will thank you.

Ya that's waht i used to do...until they died