Peeing Posture-I know this is a weird topic but bear with me...

ChocoMintAnswersSincere · 04-14-2017, 02:47 PM

Hi, I woke up this morning and saw Wasabi drinking... I went to her cage to take some bedding from her pee corner so I could put it in her clean cage (I'm cleaning her cage this weekend.) but Wasabi went to her pee corner and she started trying to prop her back half of her body up against the wall of her bin cage. I waited to see what the heck she was doing but her butt kept slipping so I was there for like 5 minutes.

Just letting you know: This was not for fun, I just took Wasabi to the vet a couple of days ago and if there was something wrong with her I wanted to know so I wouldn't have to spend as much as I would if I took care of it since last time I waited and it was over $200 last time, and I would prefer to not be watching if I wasn't so worried about her. Also: this is my 1st hamster so I'm not exactly sure what's normal and what's not.

So she finally got the back half of her body propped against the side of the bin cage and, I was laying down at this point and was falling asleep, this clearish thing was coming from her area that kind of looked like minute maid lemonade.

I know this is a terrible description and I'm sorry...

Then she shook her bum and walked off. And that's when her cage started smelling like pee and I realized she had just peed...

And so I was wondering...Is this normal or should I be worried?

souffle · 04-14-2017, 02:52 PM

This sounds normal to me. They like to get the pee as high as possible though it is more common for males to raise their butts that high.
Hamster pee is not like human pee. It is quite thick and opaque looking almost chalky and can stain the corner with crystals. It is meant to be like that because they are desert animals and the kidneys are designed to produce concentrated urine. As hamsters age it does tend to get more dilute as the kidneys weaken.

AmityvilleHams · 04-14-2017, 02:52 PM

It's perfectly normal in my experience

It scared me too at first,but my female Syrian is always doing it as well.

Drago · 04-14-2017, 02:53 PM

It sounds pretty normal to me. Most hamsters will pee by propping their back ends up (some simply lifting them, others putting both legs up on the glass) so this isn't unusual. The color you describe is also normal as well, this is the color of most hamster urine. What species is Wasabi again?

ChocoMintAnswersSincere · 04-15-2017, 11:14 AM

Thank you all so much. I went to go tell Wasabi the news (I know this makes me sound weird) and she's like, "What's going on?"

She's completely clueless of what's going on outside of her cage.

JLPrairie · 04-15-2017, 07:46 PM

Aw...Wasabi's too cute! I'm sure everyone talks to their hamster on their forum, me included.

souffle · 04-16-2017, 12:44 AM

That is a cute pic
I think you need to check the gender of your hamster chocomint because Wasabi has a very long coat for a girl hamster and that and the peeing stance makes me think that maybe the pet store has given you a boy hamster?
Wasabi is a fine name for a boy or a girl though

ChocoMintAnswersSincere · 04-17-2017, 06:36 AM

How would I know if she's a boy or a girl?

Drago · 04-17-2017, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChocoMintAnswersSincere

How would I know if she's a boy or a girl?

It's generally very easy to tell the gender, refer to this guide (left is female, right is male)

https://hamsterdiaries.files.wordpre...boyorgirl2.jpg

If you need help, you can always post a picture. We would all be willing to help

souffle · 04-17-2017, 06:45 AM

There are some helpful pictures here too
https://hamsters-uk.org/content/view/68/48/