My Hamster has been lying down around his cage

BrittanyTheFox · 03-30-2017, 01:09 PM

I have a Syrian Hamster called Lunar who has been acting quite strange recently. He is usually extremely active; I would even consider him to be over active as he is the most active Hamster I have had (out of 7). He is always running around his cage and he is even awake and running around sometimes in the day. He is very friendly and loves attention. Recently, Lunar has been lying down in random parts of his cage as if he is 'resting'. But afterwards he is running around like normal again. He has been doing this more recently and he has been scenting the sides of his cage more. He also bar bites near the entrance to get out when I'm there. I get him out and play with him, and when I put him back is when he usually begins randomly lying down. Sometimes he even shuts his eyes for a minute or so. Another thing to mention, I have recently noticed a small hard lump on his upper belly area - it feels like a small bone sticking out (I know it's not but it's the best way I can describe it). I have read on some websites about his lying down behaviour and I've heard that he could be sick which is why I'm worried

. I've noticed he has gained a little bit of weight too (I'm not sure if that would have something to do with this behaviour). I recently found out that I have been giving him more food than he should have, and once a week I had been giving him a larger portion of veg than he should have - so tonight I have restricted his diet to a tablespoon of food a day. Lunar has a lot of chews and toys and a decent sized cage, although I am getting him a bigger one shortly, and he is always out of the cage and handled every day. I'm not sure if that small hard lump on his upper belly area would have anything to do with this behaviour too. He isn't too old either, he has just turned 1 today (happy birthday to him!

. If anyone has any idea on what could be wrong with him or if this is normal, please tell me your thoughts on what I should do or any suggestions you may have. Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a good day/night

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dreamtree1234 · 03-30-2017, 07:53 PM

BrittanyTheFox, I am sorry that Lunar is acting strangely lately. Because of this and the hard lump on his upper belly area, I would suggest taking him to the vet to make sure that he gets a thorough checkup just to know what exactly may be the cause. I believe that often when hamsters have a drastic change in behavior, there is some underlying health issue that is the culprit. Also, the hard lump is quite concerning to me. I would definitely keep an eye on him and take him to the vet as soon as possible. It is better to be safe since hamsters can go from being totally healthy and then take a sudden turn for the worse. I will definitely be praying that Lunar will be back to his usual active self again soon and that he will get a clean bill of health.

On a lighter note, Happy Birthday, Lunar! May you both have many more years of fun together.

Please keep us updated on how things are going whenever you have chance. Take care and know that my heart goes out to you.

cypher · 03-30-2017, 10:57 PM

Any kind of lump needs to be investigated so I would get Lunar to the vet as soon as you can to find out what that is, it may or may not be related to the change in behaviour but your vet should be able to tell you about that too.

Happy birthday Lunar

BrittanyTheFox · 03-31-2017, 05:24 AM

Thank you for your reply, yes I have rang the vets today and I am going to be taking him in sometime this week. Thank you for wishing him a happy birthday and thank you for the advice! Wishing you well.

BrittanyTheFox · 03-31-2017, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Any kind of lump needs to be investigated so I would get Lunar to the vet as soon as you can to find out what that is, it may or may not be related to the change in behaviour but your vet should be able to tell you about that too.

Happy birthday Lunar

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I have rang up the vets and I am going to be taking him in sometime next week for a check up. Thank you for the advice and I'll keep you updated. Have a good day.