My Syrians weird drinking and eating habits

Caity · 12-29-2018, 01:03 PM

Bear is about 6 months old and until recently he's been eating and drinking fine. About a month ago I noticed he has been losing weight and becoming more hunched over/frail which I've never seen before in a younger hamster. He's gradually lost more weight despite me increasing his food intake. He takes the food back to his den but after that I'm unsure if he's eating it at all. He seems to be drinking more water as well. I'm unsure what could be wrong with him but he's lost so much weight his spine can be felt easily.

His personality hasn't changed and he's still confident and friendly but I'm worried he's not doing well.

Any suggestions are welcome, thanks for reading.

HamsterLife77 · 12-29-2018, 01:54 PM

Maybe try and change his food gradually and see if he like another type if that doesn't work you should probably take him to the vet. I hope he gets better!

cypher · 12-29-2018, 02:10 PM

Have you checked his teeth at all? That's one of the first things to check with otherwise unexplained weight loss.
If he's taking his food has his hoard got a lot bigger as it would if he isn't eating the food?
If his teeth are ok & there's no other obvious explanation I would get your vet to check him over.

Caity · 12-29-2018, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Have you checked his teeth at all? That's one of the first things to check with otherwise unexplained weight loss.
If he's taking his food has his hoard got a lot bigger as it would if he isn't eating the food?
If his teeth are ok & there's no other obvious explanation I would get your vet to check him over.

Not really sure what i should be looking for with teeth problems. I generally don't have a reference for the size of his hoard as I have never really disrupted it.

I'll definitely check his teeth tho and I'll try to take pictures.

Caity · 12-29-2018, 02:26 PM

Here's what I took of his teeth. They look fine to me but then again I'm not sure what I'm looking for

cypher · 12-29-2018, 10:59 PM

They seem to be ok but it's hard to see the length of the bottom teeth in that photo, if they're not overgrown & his upper teeth are straight & his mouth generally looks healthy then the teeth probably aren't the issue.

mangoandmimi · 12-30-2018, 07:24 AM

Are the bottom teeth uneven? Can't really tell. If they are it can cause eating difficulties but it does depend on how bad they are.
I'd just get her to the vets, they should be able to sort something out.