Weird Behaviour Problem

EthanL62 · 09-18-2011, 12:51 PM

I was told my hamster has problems.. I'm sure this is really serious though... My hamster (Pippy) tends to fall on his back a lot either when reaching out for something or running up to the cage. I have no idea what the problem is, if it is health related. If you know please would you tell me?

Here is the problem.. This is a very short clip just to show what he always does.

Weird falling - YouTube

StarlightSerenity · 09-18-2011, 01:05 PM

Have you taken him to the vet? Havent watched the vid (watching Spooks) but it could be an inner ear infection if he's having balance problems.

EthanL62 · 09-18-2011, 01:11 PM

No I haven't had time to. It could possibly be a balance problem. I got told he is a Hybrid though, does anyone know side effects? I would really like to know what is causing it. Yes so am I

StarlightSerenity · 09-18-2011, 01:50 PM

Well no one on here can give you a difinative answer so it would be best to take him to the vets - both for diagnosis and treatment if thats necessary. Sooner the better too.

MzWiz0915 · 09-18-2011, 03:28 PM

Watched the video, I can't say what may be the reason for the falling, but he looks almost panicked when it happens and twitches his arms erratically which I find a little odd. I'm not sure if he always does the twitching thing, but it's a little alarming to me.

My hamsters fall over all the time when they're being hyper and climbing about, but it's never quite like that.

I hope your little Pippy is okay! He is very very cute!

Ankali · 09-18-2011, 04:04 PM

It almost looks like a seizure of sorts. Very odd.

One of the problems with hybrids is that the Campbell sized brain is much to large for a Winter White sized skull. This could be affecting his balance control, among other things.

**Hamtastic** · 09-18-2011, 04:14 PM

Hrm... I'm also thinking a vet visit would be good for a better diagnosis. At first I thought it was some neurological disorder where a hamster spins or leaps backwards or similar, but it could be seisures or some sort of an inner ear problem or something else. If you've had him for a while and this behavior only started recently, I'd hope he can recover. If he was born like this, I'd suspect it as a birth defect due to poor breeding (hybrid). A [good] vet would be more qualified to tell though.

EthanL62 · 09-19-2011, 12:34 AM

Thank you for trying to answering my question. I also think the best thing is to take him to the vets. It does look like he is suffering from stress. Maybe because he is a hybrid, but there is no obvious reasons.

souffle · 09-19-2011, 01:25 AM

As we only saw one flip it could just be that he fell however if he is doing this all the time it sounds like a neurological disorder associated with poor and hybrid breeding. This is a genetic neurological and compulsive disorder.
Sometimes you see circling, pacing, or back flipping. Back flipping is where the hamster repeatedly does a partial or full back flip. These problems usually start to show when the hamster is about 2 or 3 months old. Has he always done this?
It is worth checking for an ear infection but if it is genetic then there is no cure for this problem. It is a good idea to give these hamsters alternative things to do and they must have wheels. They need to have an outlet for the flipping so never try and stop it as they can't help it.

EthanL62 · 09-19-2011, 05:54 AM

Yes he has always been like this since I bought him. He seems to chew on everything he sees (including me). He tends to run up the side of the cage and fall on his back (as you saw) and now he has started to stand up and fall on his back. But mentioning his anger problems, it has just led me to remember... He used to be kept with my other hamster, Mike. He had to be separated because of the bullying towards Mike.