Maia Update

[Nienna Valar]

I'm happy to report that when I was at work, my husband called me up about 6:30-7:00pm to let me know that Maia had woken up, eaten, drank and was running like mad on her wheel. Needless to say I jumped up and down for joy, taking this as a very good sign. I came home and she perked up when I walked into my office (where she stays) and ran around and stood on her hind legs. I was able to give her the meds a little easier this time and checked out her bum which was drier than it has been. Her poos are still a little wet but are starting to take some shape. Overall, she seems to be doing so much better!



Thanks so much for your support! It's awesome to be connected to so many other hamster lovers!



Here's a picture of Maia going crazy on her wheel!



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/Angelic413/MaiainWheel.jpg

[SnuggleHam]

I'm so glad that Maia is doing better. It's great that she's both eating and drinking, but being active as well is even better! So what did the vet conclude?

[Nienna Valar]

The vet concluded it was "wet tail", gave me the baytril and told me to start the meds immediatelly. She was a very nice lady and seemed very confident in her diagnosis.

[SnuggleHam]

I’m glad. It seems like there are many vets out there that aren’t experienced in treating small rodents. In fact I’ve called vet offices that told me they didn’t treat small animals at all!



So I’m glad that you found a great vet!

[babyboos]

Though I would say 99% that she was not suffering from "Wet Tail". Which is a little concerning to be honest, I do wonder just how knowledgable your vet is about small animals such as hamsters. Many see a runny poo and say "Wet Tail" without realising this is actually a very specific illness with marked symptoms. Antibiotics given without good reason can be more harmful than they realise. Glad the Baytril did the trick though. Make sure to feed some good quality plain bio-live yogurt, or preferably a prebiotic supplement such as Avi-Pro Plus available by mail order from Vet-Ark to help her gut recover from the antibiotic treatment. Do you use Harry Hamster food? It has added probiotics which will be beneficial to her on an ongoing basis.

[Emma]

Good to hear that Maia is feeling better. Is she living in a tank or does she keep a sword in her cage?!? That pic looks funny :)



Off topic but the type of wheel that she has means that her feet could get caught in the mesh - we should only use completely solid wheels. You could solve the problem by wrapping the wheel in a strip of cardboard or similar.

[Nienna Valar]

Yes, I do know I need to replace the wheel. I saw a solid one with teal that I want but I have to wait till I get paid again before I can afford it. But thanks a bunch for the cardboard tip till I can get that wheel!



As for the sword in the background...well, that's actually mine (Hadhafang: A Lord of the Rings replica) and it's living there on the windowsill till I can get a sturdy enough shelf to put it on. (I'm in the middle of rearranging my office) Again, money is an issue. :P Luckily it's really ok sitting there and won't fall over!

[pophammy]

A really good wheel we find is the Samvic Jumbo Rolly rat & large hamster wheel. It is big so your ham won't become too big for it and it doesn't make mch noise! :lol:

[SnuggleHam]

Is the a sword in the background?

[Nienna Valar]

A really good wheel we find is the Samvic Jumbo Rolly rat & large hamster wheel. It is big so your ham won't become too big for it and it doesn't make mch noise! :lol:



Thanks! I will definetelly remember that when I can go buy one!

[Nienna Valar]

Is the a sword in the background?



Yes, actually it is. It's a replica of Arwen's sword Hadhafang from Lord of the Rings. Even though it's ok and won't move where it's at, the sword is actually getting moved soon to it's own shelf mainly because now I have Maia, I'm concerned that one of these days, my hubby or even myself might knock it into Maia's tank when trying to open the window. Problem right now is there is no where to put it till I get a shelf.

[Nienna Valar]

Good to hear that Maia is feeling better. Is she living in a tank or does she keep a sword in her cage?!? That pic looks funny :)



Sorry I didn't answer this-Yes, Maia lives in a tank right now but I'm going to be building her own bin cage as soon as I can afford it!

[sarah]

Glad to hear Maia is getting better :) It must be such a relief!!



By the way that is a very cool sword you have there in the background!!!!

[Nienna Valar]

Thanks, it was a wedding gift from my husband! :D And yes, it is nice to have some relief now Maia is getting better. Thanks for your support!

[babyboos]

I never even noticed it until Emma brought it up - it is a lovely sword. Hope it gets a pride of place soon, maybe for Christmas?

Candace had a wheel similiar and maybe will be able to show you how she managed to make it more solid for you to use in the meantime until you can get hold of an 8" solid Comfort wheel. The Rody Savic Jumbo wheel is very good and if you are making your own bin cage eventually you will be able to incorporate it in the design.

[SnuggleHam]

I still have the same wheels; in fact I have three like it, two for both gerbils bins and one for Gerald. They are the only wheels I have found not to make a sound. Eventually they squeak but that can be easily fixed with a bit of vegetable oil.



I haven’t made any changes to my wheels. I've watched my rodents run on them and they can manage them just fine. I've not seen any problems with them, and it doesn’t appear that the animals have any difficulty finding their footing. In my personal opinion they seem fine. They are much better then the regular wheels. Comforts wheels rattle and all three of my Silent Spinners broke besides the one my Roborovski uses.



Certainly if you are worried you could line it with cardboard. :D

[Nienna Valar]

I appreciate everyone's input, it's been really helpful :D

[Emma]

I would line it with cardboard at the least. I know millions of animals have used these wheels for years and many of them were fine - but I have seen really horrible injuries with this type of wheel, requiring major operations or even euthanasia, I don't think it's worth the risk.

[babyboos]

I must agre Emma I have also seen the results - they have been running happily on that wheel for months and then bang - multiple breakages, mangled leg, and amputation, that is if the hamster doesn't pass over from the pain and blood loss. These wire mesh wheels are just as bad as open wire bar wheels, in fact they can be worse as the hamsters foot is not as easily recovered from the gap as it is with a wide wire space. If a hamster wrong foots into one of these it cannot easily recover resulting in more injury than would be sustained by a open wire wheel. Hamsters look sure footed running for hours but just imagine some noise suddenly spooked them can you start to see the potential for a foot to slip? It is not unknown for them to panic with their trapped broken foot and self amputate. I really feel strongly about this so sorry if I am shocking anyone but until you have to deal with these issues in person I don't think you can fully appreciate just how dangerous some hamster accessories are. At the end of the day these are your hamsters and you are free to give them what wheel you want, all I can hope to do is impress on you that they are lethal foot traps just waiting to catch your little ones out, and sincerely hope you take Emma and Pophammy's advice on board and start lining them with cardboard outside the running surface, or use corrugated card inside. It needn't cost much, cereal box cardboard is fine, and use double sided sticky tape or a good glue with no free edge for the hamster to chew on. Run it totally inside the router unning surface of the wheel.