If you are concerned that one of your pet hamsters might be sick, you probably already have a good feeling something might be wrong. By closely observing your pet’s behavior and physical appearance, you can determine if you have a sick hamster on your hands. Once you determine there is a problem, you can go about treating a sick hamster. Treatments can include things you can do yourself or if your hamsters are sick to the point the need special medication, you will need to go to the vet. Of course you can help avoid having to do this by learning how to prevent illnesses.
Signs and Symptoms
Change in Your Hamster’s Behavior: Good care involves observing your hamster often to see how it acts on a good day. Understand what a typical day is for your little pets. Watch the wake up routine; does the pet in question stretch and yawn like it usually does? Is your hamster eating and drinking the usual amount per day? Has the interaction it has among other hamsters roommates changed in any way? If you answered yes to any of these, it’s possible your little guy or gal is under the weather, injured or sick.
Interaction Between You and Your Hamster: Next observe how they interact with you. When you open the cage door, are your hamsters responsive? A normal reaction would be for it to perk its ears up and look towards your direction. A sick hamster might be completely out of it and not have any reaction when you open the cage. It might also cower or get nippy as it might feel vulnerable when it is sick or injured. Of course if your hamster is new, it might be a bit shy until it gets familiar with being handled.
Coat and Fur: A healthy one with a satin coat should have a sleek coat or fur. If it looks dull or wet, it might be a sign that it is sick. If a coat that is normally rex, now has a ruffled or dried out coat appearance, it can also be a sign of illnesses.
Eyes: Healthy eyes are bright and alert without redness. There should be no discharge or crusty parts; the should not be dull or sunken in appearance. Some hamster breeds have reddish eyes to begin with so it’s important to observe what the eyes of this hamster normally look like.
Nose: The nose should be dry and not runny. A runny nose can be a sign of a cold or some other virus.
Tail: A wet hamster tail is not a good sign. This is wetness can either be fecal matter or urine. If you notice your sick hamster not moving away from where it just did it’s business, this is a strong indicator that there is a real health issue going on.
For more specific illnesses and injuries and the possible treatments, see the the hamster illnesses section of this care guide.
Author: Tim Winter
I’m getting a hamster and I’m scared it will get sick and I won’t notice! What should I do? Help! I’m scared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you feed it well and keep the cage clean, you should be able to keep the little guy from getting sick. Also, observe it everyday to see if you notice any changes in behavior.
But I’m scared your advive won’t work! ;(
OMG!! my hamster’s back leg is injured i think……it’s like crippled……..wad should i do now???????????wad should i do now????!!!
I hope your hamster’s legs are better. There are many reasons their back legs stop working. An injury, old age or a lack of exercise to name a few. You can help treat some of these with a change in diet and more exercise options. In terms of an injury, you can either go to the vet or try to make your hamster feel more comfortable as it tries to heal. A vet might not be able to do much other than prescribe some pain medication. Surgery and casts on such a small pet is often impossible and many vets won’t. Follow some of the advice in this post and you can improve your chances of it getting better.
My hamster has been very sick a few days now. Very lethargic and weak. We actually thought he had passed the other day but has not. He’s not eating/drinking either. He does have a yellow discharge that seems to have dried up underneath him. It’s a boy…is that his penis? I don’t know whats wrong with him but I believe it’s immenent that he’ll be passing away. My children are upset. Do you know what could be wrong? He’s a dwarf hamster.
Yeah, it’s likely dried up urine. It’s hard to tell what it might be. Is the hamster an older hamster, does it have any other symptoms like respiratory problems, runny nose? You should take a water dropper and make the hamster drink water since hamsters can become dehydrated quickly. I’d almost call a vet and tell them your situation; the vet might be able to give you some advice over the phone.
My hamster hasnt been it self latley, it now and the sneezes and just sleeps all day, only getting up for 2 hours during the night. i was wondering if hamsters can have allergies since its spring right now, or do you recommend i see a vet?
Hamsters do sleep a lot but it sounds like your hamster might have a cold or is allergic to something in the cage. If it’s a cold, take a look at this post on hamster colds. If it’s not that, try looking at this post on allergy free hamster bedding.
Do hamsters get a period, if so how long does it last and how often does it come.
Yeah they do in a sense but it’s not often they bleed. It lasts a few days.