Help me

Izzy67834 · 08-14-2018, 09:13 AM

My year old winter white hamster is in need of help. When I clean her wheel there is excess hair. Her fur is unclean and she is barely eating. When I hand feed her her food she grabs it from me like she hasn’t eaten in months. She drinks no water. I never see her during the day. She still plays on her wheel. Is she dying of old age? If so how long will I have her?

Hammy992 · 08-14-2018, 10:07 AM

Hello Izzy,

How long has your hamster been behaving this way? If she is not eating, drinking or grooming properly something is definitely not right. Because they are so small and good at hiding their illnesses they can go downhill quite fast. One year is not that old for a hamster it's not quite middle age for them.
If she does not want to eat her teeth may be sore or overgrown. You can check them by gently scruffing the loose skin on the back of the hamster's neck which makes them open up their mouth.
To monitor her hydration levels you can do the tent test by gently lifting the skin from the back of the neck/shoulder area and then let it go. The skin should settle back quickly. If it doesn't then she is dehydrated. You could try slowly syringing water to her through the side of her mouth behind her front teeth, or offer some water on a spoon for her to lap up. If she doesn't go for that you could offer her small pieces of cucumber to eat as it has a high water content (if she will eat). To encourage her to eat something you can give some savoury baby food on a spoon like chicken and veg or vegetable flavour without any onions, tomato, citrus or spices in it. Hamsters usually like this.

Most importantly a vet visit as soon as possible would be a great of idea to rule out any serious health conditions or infections which may be making her feel unwell. I'm not sure where you are located but if you let us know there may be someone on the forum who can recommend a good vet in your area.

I hope your little one feels better soon.

Izzy67834 · 08-14-2018, 03:10 PM

Thank You. One think I forgot to add is I got her from Pet smart since I do not live close to any breeders. They say she is a Winter White, but from her coat colors I think she might be a hybrid could that effect her lifespan. I read that it can give them genetic problems.

cypher · 08-14-2018, 11:00 PM

Your ham will be a hybrid if she came from Pet Smart Izzy, they can be prone to some health problems especially diabetes so diet is important but still a year isn't that old for a hybrid.
If she's eating the food you hand feed her then it doesn't sound as though her teeth are the problem unless she's just pouching it & stashing it? Has she lost weight?
Losing her fur could be a nutritional problem, what are you feeding her?
Does she have a sand bath with chinchilla sand (not dust) to help keep her coat clean & in good condition?
They really do drink very little water, one way to tell if you're worried is to weigh the water bottle when you fill it then again when you change the water to see how much has gone.

Izzy67834 · 08-15-2018, 04:27 AM

So I should just look into her diet and keep giving her a sand bath? Sounds easy enough. I just gave her a new kind of food so maybe I should go back to the older one. Thank you

cypher · 08-15-2018, 09:54 PM

It may not just be that Izzy, those are some things to think about but you can't rule out some other underlying problem, try that & see if there's any improvement, if some of the changes occurred after a change in diet then it may be the new food or it could be that you changed the food too quickly, any change in diet should be very gradual over a week or so at least depending on how different the new food is.