Weird poop from syrian male hamster?

[jperez]

Hi All!

My male long-haired syrian hamster Pancake has been having weird poops for a few days or so now. It is a bit lighter in color, almost greenish, and soft and smells bad when it's wet. Sometimes it comes out in long strands, but it is not watery like diarrhea. It sticks to his long hair sometimes and is sticky, hard to get out. It happens every now and then, and he has also still has some regular poop pellets that are dark and small.

He is active, bright-eyed, drinking a bit more water than normal. I checked and his bum doesn't seem wet like wet tail symptoms, just sometimes has the poop sticking to his fur. I've taken him off fresh veggies (which are usually just carrots and broccoli) and still see the weird poop. He is on Oxbow pellets and Kaytee fiesta seed mix for now. He is about 6 months or so, got him back in April.

I'll try to post pictures if that'll help, but any advice on what is causing this?

Thank you so much!

[WinnieTheHam]

Hamsters have two different types of poop, there's the hard, dark ones and then there's the soft lighter coloured ones which can be quite sticky and wet looking. The reason for this is because sometimes they don't completely digest and absorb all of the nutrients, the wet ones are the ones that still contain some nutrients, they will actually eat their softer poops to ensure they're getting all the nutrients from their diet. So don't worry if you see him eating his poop!

From what I have read, I know that Oxbow isn't a good food. I'm not knowledgeable on feeds other than the ones in the UK so hopefully someone more knowledgeable on the feeds in your area comes along. I just know that a lab block and muesli mix is essential (I just don't know which ones!)

[Pebbles82]

Agree - Oxbow isn't that good for hamsters - it has a lot of roughage and hay, which is good for guinea pigs but not really for hamsters. He may be getting too much roughage.

Is the Kaytee mix this one? If so, quite a bit of fruit and sugar in it which may not help either

https://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Fiesta...70_&dpSrc=srch

I would just get Hazel Hamster - it has everything in that a Syrian needs and the right amount of protein, nutrients and vitamins and is sugar free. Plus a very small piece of veg every day. You can supplement the protein a bit but it really is fine - it's the same as Harry Hamster in the Uk. Giving your hammy half a walnut or brazil nut weekly or a couple of mealworms a week or freeze dried chicken as a weekly treat, will help with added protein and they do love fresh treats

When changing a hamster mix though it needs to be done gradually, or it can upset their stomachs and cause diarrhoea or loose poops. So add a bit of the new mix for a few days then half and half old and new mix and by the end of week two fully moved over to the new mix.