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Old 03-18-2018, 06:48 AM   #1
ArmaniHammi
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Default Is he sick ?

I noticed in the past 3 weeks that my hammie weight is declining. He was 154 g , then last week he weighed 145g and today he weighed 134g. He is a male and about 1 year old. I still feed him the same diet I've always fed him, and I give him some other foods like fruit,veggies, egg,etc about 2 times a week with the occasional treat. He still acts normal and happy, although his fur is looking a little shabby and wet all the time. I tried to give him a little cheese last week, maybe he didn't take it well.
What do you guys think ?
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Old 03-18-2018, 06:53 AM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

Losing that much weight is definitely a cause for concern especially as he is still quite young & it won't be age related.
Have you checked his teeth & his food hoard to see if he's actually eating properly & not just stashing food he may be unable to eat?
When you say he's wet do you mean all over or in specific areas?
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Old 03-18-2018, 07:14 AM   #3
ArmaniHammi
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

His teeth seem fine , his top one is tiny and the bottom is big , Idk if that's normal or not. He seems to be eating his food but only tonight will I be able to get in there and really see. He is wet in between is ears and down his spine, it's not gland related , I actually haven't seen his glands oily in a long time.
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Old 03-18-2018, 07:32 AM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

Does he sit under his water bottle by any chance? I can't think why else he would be wet there.
It's hard to say without seeing his teeth but it's possible his bottom teeth may be overgrown, have a check on how much food he's stashed & how much he's been eating when you can & that might help give us a better idea of what might be going on.
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Old 03-18-2018, 02:46 PM   #5
ArmaniHammi
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

I don't think he sits by his bottle. I've never seen him do that.
I've just checked his cage and I've looked through all the possible stashing places and I can't find his food, there are no traces of his food, I've maybe found one or two pellets but nothing else. I don't know how that can be because I fed him his two spoons yesterday. It's improbable he has already eaten it all.
I've included pictures of his feeding spoon. I've tried to take a picture of his teeth but I couldn't do it.
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Old 03-18-2018, 03:05 PM   #6
ArmaniHammi
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

Something I've also noticed is that he is always rubbing up against something. Irk , that could be just to spread his scent.
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Old 03-18-2018, 03:08 PM   #7
ArmaniHammi
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

Also, how often do you think I should feed him? I normally do it every 3 days and that's always worked out but now that I can't find any food I gave him just yesterday and the bit of egg I gave him today, I'm starting to think he might need it more often ( or even one more spoon)
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Old 03-18-2018, 10:56 PM   #8
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

It does sound as though you may not have been feeding him enough, he probably needs about one of those spoons a day plus a bit extra so he can make a stash.
I would feed him daily for a while & give him more than he would normally need as if insufficient food is the problem he'll need to put that weight back on so should eat more.
Monitor both his weight & food intake for a while, if he doesn't begin to gain weight again there may be something else going on.
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Old 03-19-2018, 02:58 AM   #9
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

I am wondering if you are cleaning him out a lot and throwing away his hoard? They need their hoard their to eat from regularly and will hoard most of the food you put out. I would suggest putting two tablespoons of food out in a bowl so there is plenty in there. They should take most of that for hoarding over a couple of days. After two days I discard anything that's left in the bowl and then refill it.

If he's scent marking a lot that also suggests maybe cleaning out too much. It can really stress them as it removes all their familiar scent so they can then start producing a lot from their scent glands and rubbing against things.

Although pet shops tell you to clean out each week, it isn't necessary. You do better having deeper substrate (ie more of it) and just "spot cleaning" and can do that for 2 months or more, especially if they also use a litter tray. If you put a litter tray in the area he chooses as a pee area (often a corner of the cage) with chinchilla bathing sand in, they tend to use it and then the cage stays dry and you just empty the litter tray every 5 days or so.

Spot cleaning is just removing the odd handful of soiled substrate and adding a new handful and mixing it in a bit. Don't worry about poops - they aren't dirty or smelly - they're like little hard black seeds and they will also eat them sometimes - they have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients and vitamins from the poops - they sometimes have a little stash or hoard of poops as emergency supplies! So if you discard the hoard and poops when cleaning out, your hammy has no emergency supplies.

They usually only eat from their hoard. Most of the food from the bowl, they pouch and take to the hoard and eat later.

When you clean out also, leave any hoard - unless it's pee'd on - if it's dry you can leave it. Eventually it will start taking over a bit and you might need to remove some but never remove all of it, and if you have to remove the hoard because it's pee'd on then always put more food back in exactly the same place - ie replace the hoard. Likewise it's best to leave the nest unless pee'd in.

Their hoard and nest are their two most important things.

If their bottom teeth get too long they can't eat properly and can starve. These teeth constantly grow which is why they need something to chew on like a chew stick, and hard hamster food, to keep the teeth trim and shortened.

It might be worth having a vet visit just to get him checked over and the vet can check if his teeth have overgrown, and trim them at the same time if necessary.
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Old 03-19-2018, 02:59 AM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Is he sick ?

Better to overfeed than underfeed. So fill his food bowl every couple of days and leave his hoard I would also give fresh veg every day.
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