Bizarre behaviour, help?

[applecaek]

My Russian Dwarf hamster, Tyra, keeps standing up on her hind legs, staring at me for a minute or so, then falling on her back, and either spinning herself around or moving and a bizarre way, looks like she's trying to scratch her back. It's really weird and worrying me, I treat her well, clean her twice a week, I don't know what is wrong with her.
can anyone help?

[loyal_tree]

Have you checked her for parasites? Maybe she really does have an itch on her back and is desperately trying to scratch it!

I don't know the extent of it based on your description, sounds like maybe a neurological thing. Did it start suddenly? How long has this been going on?

Have you changed her to a different kind of bedding that might be causing a reaction? Anything near her cage that is toxic she might have come in contact with?

Is there something in her cage she could fall off of and possibly hit her head? Has she escaped from her cage and possibly had that happen?

I know that I am responding with questions instead of answers, because I can't say that I know why, but perhaps you can relate her behavior to a possible answer to one of my questions. You know your hamster the best and can disregard anything you know can't be it.

[applecaek]

Have you checked her for parasites? Maybe she really does have an itch on her back and is desperately trying to scratch it! No, she doesnt have any parasites, I checked her thoroughly

I don't know the extent of it based on your description, sounds like maybe a neurological thing. Did it start suddenly? How long has this been going on? It started when she went to my boyfriends for a week when I was on holiday, but it was when I had gotten back, so it was sudden, one day she just did it, and I see her do it once a day since at least.

Have you changed her to a different kind of bedding that might be causing a reaction? Anything near her cage that is toxic she might have come in contact with?For that reason I have always used the same bedding, incase anything hurt her

Is there something in her cage she could fall off of and possibly hit her head? Has she escaped from her cage and possibly had that happen? She used to get on her bars,at the top of her cage (I still have no idea how) and had to jump off them, but I don't think she could have seriously hurt herself, neither has she escaped, as I make sure that it is an inpenetrable fortress everytime I take her out!

I know that I am responding with questions instead of answers, because I can't say that I know why, but perhaps you can relate her behavior to a possible answer to one of my questions. You know your hamster the best and can disregard anything you know can't be it.

[loyal_tree]

At least you have run through and eliminated some areas that may be a concern. I wish I could be of more help to you on this! Hopefully someone else comes along that may be of more assistance.

[souffle]

It does sound as if she has some sort of neurological disorder. This is not uncommonly seen in dwarfs particulatly the hybrid dwarfs and the degree of spinning and problems the animal encounters vary. Some are very bad and cannot sleep properly or drink without the spinning however many live a long and fulfilling life with their disability.
It could be a stroke has caused the problem or quite possibly an ear infection. This would upset the delicate balance system in the inner ear.If she has just recently started it ,an ear infection is highly possible so you should see the vet for some Baytril. If she responds to this then you can assume that is what it was.
I hope she gets well soon

[applecaek]

It turns out that because I hadn't cleaned her cage for 8 days (a full clean I mean, I spot clean every day) she was getting stressed. bizarre.

[ellisyellis]

ow so maybe it was behavioral then???? i can see how stress would make them do something odd like that. the only thing i could think of was maybe she was fainting from standing on her back legs and standing still for a while. i wonder if hamsters can faint??????

[Bunsey]

i never clean my hamsters out more often than every 2 weeks and neither do most breeders or keepers of large numbers. This won't have been the cause of the problem.

Sounds like classic neurological problems in hybrids to me, which means it will happen again and you shouldn't blame yourself for your care. it's not anything you did, it's just uneducated breeding.

[rebel]

Based on your description, my dwarf hamster does the exact same thing. She has done this for over two and a half years and she's perfectly healthy (although quite old and frail now). She'll come over to the side of her cage, stand on her hind legs, fall backwards, and twist and spin around until she flips herself back onto her feet. Before her age caught up with her, she would do this everytime she saw me near her cage. I've figured out that when she stands on her hind legs by the side of her cage, she really just wants my attention and some cuddle time (Whenever I open the cage door while she's doing this, she'll climb right into my hand). However, she hasn't quite figured out how to lower herself back down onto her feet, which is why she falls backwards (kind of like a baby learning to walk) and then has to twist and spin to get her footing back. She does look like she is scratching her back when she does this.... but it seems as though that is just the hamster way (or at least her way) of regaining footing. I had my other dwarf out today and I had to turn him over to check something on his belly, and he did the exact same twisting motion in my hand, trying to turn himself right-side up. So, if this sounds like what Tyra is doing, my guess would be that it's just one of those wacky things hamsters do. But, that's just based on my own hamster observations. Still, I hope this helps and I hope Tyra is doing ok!