disorientated and changed sleeping habit

[natanya20]

Hi Everyone - thank you for accepting and welcoming me! i need some help and hope someone can shed some light - I have had my Dwarf hamster for +- 2 years now, we always fed it normal pet store hamster food and fresh veggies such as broccoli and cauliflower - we recently brought in meal worms into his diet(i think we gave a little too much to start with as per recommended on other forums however cannot find the side affects of too much protein/meal worms) so i cannot be sure if the following is related - hammy got diarrhea(NOT wet tail) in the last week and it seemed to have stopped now however hammy seems to walk a little hunched or in pain and is wobbly and disorientated falling over or rolling over or falling off his wheel or other elevated places, he now started sleeping standing it seems on top of his wooden toy Plane (photo attached) its strange as he doesn't climb on top of his wooden toys now he suddenly climbs on top of everything with little balance and sleeps there as he always sleeps hidden not in the open, he seems restless and is out during the day more- he seems to still be eating normally however he is more calm or weaker as i can now hold him and turn him over (however he did bite me to bleed for the first time) my question is, is it a stroke, old age or due to too much protein/meal worms? should i wait and see? i know its not wet tail as its been a week now and he would have died already if it was...so i dont want to take him to the vet if not necessary...Feeling worried - Thank you

[CMB]

It sound like old age to me, as you said he is over 2 years old. You may need to adjust his cage and toys, so he doesn’t climb up things as much. The train could be laid on it’s side.

Having deep substrate will cushion falls, but press it down a bit to make walking easier.

[cypher]

It does seem unlikely that the mealworms would cause diarrhoea unless he had a large amount of them (how many did he have?) is he drinking ok? It's possible he could have become dehydrated after the diarrhoea so do make sure he's drinking enough.
The symptoms to sound like old age although the initial diarrhoea is a concern as it may be a symptom of something else being wrong with him.
Although I doubt they're the cause now is not a good time to be introducing new additional protein foods, it's generally best to reduce protein a little as they get older as too much puts a strain on their kidneys & can cause problems particularly in older males.
Dwatf hams don't get wet tail so you don't need to be concerned about that.

[natanya20]

Thank you for the advise, I think you are correct, we introduced the meal worm to late and he couldn't get enough so I believe we over fed and he got diarrhea from it. sadly he died yesterday afternoon

[cypher]

I'm so sorry, he was a very good age so it may just have been his time to pass.
I'm sure he had a great life with you so try to focus on that & cherish the memories now.

[CMB]

Sorry for your loss.