Hamster acting strange..

[kazyrock]

Hello all! I just joined this forum to get some opinions from other hamster owners.
My name is Maggie, I have a long haired syrian hamster named Honey who I purchased in August as a baby.
Honey lives alone in a 38 gallon tank enclosure. He has an 11inch wodent wheel and plenty of chews, toys and places to hide. He is on Carefresh bedding with lots of room to burrow. The room he is in is warm, dimly lit, low traffic, and quiet for the majority of the day. Honey eats a blend of three of the top rated hamster foods, and gets a small slice of fruit and a few dried mealworms every week. He is well hydrated and has a varied diet. I think it is safe to say that is life is generally stress-free.
Honey is normally very active and social, and will often run on his wheel all night long. He loves to eat, and runs out of his igloo whenever he hears me rummaging for a treat.
However, I have noticed that this past week, honey has not been running on his wheel or eating much of his food (which he has previously never hesitated to do).
Overall, he seems quite lethargic, and sleeps a lot more than in past months. He has not been running on his wheel, and when he does, it is at a very slow hobbling pace. I have also noticed that he has quite smelly and messy poop. (imagine the smell of a gross chain pet store) It sticks to him and requires me to clean him off daily so that it does not get out of control. I am familiar with wet tail, but Honey does not have any stressors in his life that I am aware of.
I booked Honey a vet appointment, but I am just so worried that it is wet tail. I have no clue what would have caused it -- he is full grown and is well-adjusted to his home.
Please, if you have had a similar experience- let me know how it turned out for you. it is so hard seeing my hamster act this way when I have taken all the precautions to try and prevent it.
Thank you.

[SKB_Hamsters]

Hello and Welcome to Hamster Central!
I'm sorry to hear that Honey hasn't been himself lately. Its wonderful that you have a vet appointment booked and I'm really hoping everything will turn out well. Finger crossed that Honey hasn't got wet tail - I myself have experienced this and it was so sad seeing my Toffee so unwell until she passed away from it.
I would recommend due to Honey poops not being normal to reduce the amount of fruit you are giving until things return to normal.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC.
Really sorry to hear Honey isn't doing so well, I hope it isn't wet tail & that the vet can help I would agree that not giving fruit for a while would be a good idea, giving some probiotics would be helpful too.
Good luck at the vet, let us know how you get on.