Diarrhea or wet tail?

[peanutthehamster4]

Hello, I have a young winter white Russian dwarf hamster whom I've had for about 4 months now, and he's quite young, although they didn't give me an exact age when I bought him. Recently, for the past week or so, I have been giving him a new food mix, which lead to him having diarrhea for the past couple days. His behavior is normal; he drinks enough water, runs on his wheel, has a good appetite, and doesn't seem to be bothered by the diarrhea. I clean his cage weekly, so I don't think it has to do with a dirty cage, but I don't know if I should try to wait it out or bring him to a vet! I'm nervous it could be wet tail, since he is still a young hamster, but I'm not sure.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC.

Russian hamsters don't get wet tail so you don't need to worry about that.
Any change of food or introduction of new foods should be done very gradually, if you use a new mix then you should just add a little to the old mix gradually increasing the amount of the new mix over a couple of weeks until you are just using the new mix.
It sounds as though either the new mix didn't suit him or you changed too suddenly for his digestive system to be able to adapt to the new food.
What are you feeding him & is he still having problems now?
If he continues to have problems then keep him on the old mix if he was ok with that & then if you're not happy with the old mix try very gradually introducing some new food again.
If he continues to have a problem then it would be a good idea to give him a probiotic for a while.
Are you sure he's a winter white & not a Russian hybrid? If he is a hybrid (all russian hams sold in pet shops are hybrids) you will also need to take care to give him a sugar free diet, no treats with sugars or honey, no dried fruit in his food, fresh fruit only very rarely & not too many of the sweeter veg.

You don't need to clean his cage every week, this can be very stressful for them & that in itself can cause problems.
Just spot clean any areas where he pees (they will often pee in chinchilla sand if you provide a tray & will often pee in the sand bath too) other than that just do partial cleans every few weeks if it needs it, they don't really need much cleaning at all & never a full cage clean.
If you clean his nest area be sure to put back some of the old nest material & the same with the food hoard.

[SimonandSyril]

The dwarf species are immune to wet tail so it is most likely a dietary problem. Its hard to tell with campbells and winter whites to tell if they're hybrid or not. Just in case try to limit the sugar intake as hybrids do develop diabetes. If I were you I would get the old food mix and use it for a while, slowly mix in some of the new food mix more and more each time you fill the bowl. Do the same with vegetables. Start off with a small amount and slowly increase. Sudden changes to food and diet can cause bowel problems.

[peanutthehamster4]

I was first feeding him Vitakraft Vitasmart, which he had no issues with. Then, here comes my mistake. I switched him to a food that I found at Walmart. Now, it seemed like a decent food, I made sure to check the ingredients before I bought it. But, it did have some foods like dried corn and peas, which I then discovered are high in sugar. I guess those were the culprit for the diarrhea. I am buying more of his old food, Vitakraft Vitasmart, tomorrow morning. I will introduce it to him more gradually, which I also did not do before. The only thing I am confused about is how he was fine with the new food for the first week or so, and then he began to have diarrhea. Anyways, I hope switching back to the old food resolves the issue.

Also, I did buy him from a pet store, so he is a Russian Hybrid. I will make sure to avoid foods with sugar as best as I can.

Thank you all so much for helping me, I'm new to hamsters so It really helps having someone with experience.

[Pebbles82]

What Cypher said

[AmityvilleHams]

I'd just get Higgins Vita Garden rather than switch back to Vitasmart.Vitasmart isn't diabetes friendly(therefore not suitable for a hybrid)and is loaded with artificial dyes as well as containing menadione(aka synthetic vitamin K,not a very healthy ingredient though).Higgins Vita Garden is a much better food,and it's diabetes friendly(no ingredients from China either which is ideal,however some Higgins products use Chinese sourced ingredients which are pumpkin seeds,dried sweet peppers,and mung beans however the regulations of China are quite poor

Protein boosting treats would be Pure Bites freeze dried shrimp or a high quality dried mealworm(look for the human grade ones online to avoid Chinese sources,pet grade ones are almost always from China though).

A source of human grade dried insects not from China:
https://www.eatgrub.co.uk/product/edible-mealworms/ (Ships internationally!)

It does cost more to get higher quality dried insects,so if you'd rather go with the less expensive option(without sacrificing higher standards and therefore a safer product)then freeze dried high quality shrimp(such as Pure Bites)would work just fine

[cypher]

Peas & corn are unlikely to cause diarrhoea, they are fairly high in sugar yes but also contain good amounts of fibre so the sugars are absorbed slowly as well as protein, vitamins & minerals so they're ok as part of a mix.
It could have been something else in the mix or something else altogether but still best to make any changes gradually now.

Mealworms are a great treat in moderation, high in protein but also fat so not too many, every ham I've had loves them.
Amity has her own concerns about foods sourced from China but seriously any pet shop mealworms will be ok if you want to try them.

[Pebbles82]

I would suggest for now, that you gradually reintroduce the food she was on before, that she was ok with, even if it isn't the best possible mix. Get her stabilisied and then think about gradually changing to a mix that has less sugars. Whatever you do, don't go picking out the peas and corn as the nutrition is then unbalanced.

[peanutthehamster4]

Still no changes I went to a pet store and I couldn't find Higgins Vita Garden or Vitasmart, unfortunately. However, I found Vitakraft Vita Prima Sunscription Dwarf Hamster Formula, which had good reviews, probiotics, and also had a very low amount of sugar. But, it was lacking enough protein, so I bought some freeze dried shrimp to add protein. How often should I feed him the freeze-dried shrimp? I will make sure to introduce this food very gradually to avoid any further issues. I will update if Peanut starts to feel better. If he still isn't better after I change, (gradually), his food, I will go to the vet and see what they can do.

[AmityvilleHams]

The dwarf food still has artificial dyes,menadione,and isn't diabetes friendly either I wouldn't feed that food.

Could you go to a different pet store or order the food online?Petsupermarket for example should have Higgins Vita Garden.