Melody, my Chinesey hammy :) - Page 4

CMB · 07-01-2017, 07:51 AM

Yay. Well done both of you. Hopefully Melody will keep progressing nicely.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 07-01-2017, 03:29 PM

I'm a little concerned cause Melody drinks more water than all of my other hamsters, except Heaven (Syrian).

Somethings going on with Dakota diabetes possibly yet Melody, that tiny little hamster out drinks everyone? The bottle doesn't leak. None of their bottles leak thankfully. I can't test her urine as she is in beginning taming stages. Maybe I'll get lucky & she'll pee on her wheel? Or in the carrier during her 1st cage clean in a couple weeks? I see so much diabetes around here its out of control. Pet stores don't care. I even heard a customer say that diabetes doesn't bother them?

CMB · 07-02-2017, 06:05 AM

Keeping my fingers crossed that Melody and Dakota don't have diabetes.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 07-02-2017, 02:42 PM

Thanks CMB, me too!

Drago · 07-02-2017, 02:59 PM

My vet has always said that to test for diabetes, they just keep a ham in a jar or critter keeper until they urinate. This typically isn't long for a hamster who is truly diabetic. Why not try this out? Sometimes it seems like hamsters are drinking a ton, when in reality it's nothing to worry about. All my rodents drink for what seems like several minutes, but none are diabetic. Just my thoughts on the matter...

It's a shame the petstore doesn't care, but they're typically not educated on this stuff anyways. Fingers crossed Melody is just fine

**Cinnamon Bear** · 07-02-2017, 03:27 PM

I dont want to take her out of her cage for 2-3 more weeks. There isn't any hurry to test her right away. I'll just wait it out & curb her diet now. I'm just going by the water levels in their bottles. Melody doesn't drink during the day so that is a good sign that she's not diabetic.

Edit, a couple exotic vets by me cut one of their nails a bit short & test their blood vs urine. Problem is that the glucose levels fluctuate throughout the day/night. So another exotic vet admits them to their animal hospital & tests them every 1-2 hrs for one day. Can't remember exactly & I don't know if they are testing urine (I'd hope) or blood. & that process is expensive. So you need to test at various times during the day/ night if your using Keto-Diastix strips at home.

Drago · 07-02-2017, 05:44 PM

If you don't wish to test now, that's totally your choice. The urine of a hamster should never have glucose nor ketones in their urine at any point. If they do, it would indicate that they in fact do have diabetes. Ketodiastix can tell they have diabetes in that way- traces of either things in the urine would indicate diabetes

At least, this is what my vets have always told me, and it's mentioned on the pipsqueakery's site as well (which has good info for handling diabetic hams btw)

Diabetes in Dwarf Hamsters | The Pipsqueakery

I hope melody is okay! Keep us posted

Thin Lizzy · 07-03-2017, 01:30 AM

Aww lovely progress with Melody.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 07-03-2017, 07:40 AM

Thanks Drago and Lizzy, As some of you know I've had several hams that have had diabetes so I'm not a newcomer, re: diabetes in hamsters

**Cinnamon Bear** · 07-03-2017, 07:50 PM

Update: Melody ate all the seeds out of my hand tonight. She pouched them in her cheeks, then ran for the tube 2 eat. I left my hand in the tank with no treats & she didn't nip or bite

I only gave her about 4 sunflower seeds