Worried I hurt my hammy!

[catherinet94]

So I got a new hamster recently. I'm a first time hamster owner so was a little nervous but did a lot of research. Made a bin cage, bought a large wheel, got lots of safe nesting material and have pretty much stalked these forums for advice. So I've had my hamster for about a week now and have been working on taming him and it had been going really really well. He seems to love running up to me for sunflower seeds and standing in my hand. I've never picked him up before but decided today I'd do 'bathtub bonding' which I've read is a good way to get your hamster used to you. So I tried it out for the first time today. I put a blanket in the tub, put my hamster in a box and transported him to the tub and let him run free. He was doing well and running over me and it was all fine until I got out of the tub to get his box and put him away. He started trying to bury under the blanket which I didn't think much of until I realised he'd pushed the blanket away to get to the plug hole.



I freaked out, because I was already super nervous about the whole bathtub thing, worried I was going to drop him or squish him so reached forward to try and grab him and pull him away (in my head he was going to go down the plug hole or something) instead he got his teeth stuck in it (I think?) He was scrabbling and couldn't get away and had his face stuck in the hole and I presume he had got his teeth stuck. he was making the most awful sound and I was grabbing at him trying to pull him back and he was weeing and pooing and clearly so distressed. It lasted about 20-30 seconds (maybe shorter, it's so hard to tell but I don't think was over 30 secs) before he got himself loose and I quickly put him back in his cage. I wasn't squeezing him for the whole time, I grabbed him and tried to pull him away but couldn't and jumped away to let my boyfriend take over who was much more calm (I was crying and freaking out a lot) and tried also to pull him away before he got himself loose.



He seems absolutely fine now. As soon as I put him back in his cage he calmed down. He was scurrying around and didn't seem injured. I looked at his face best I could and there was no blood and just now when he's in his bed I saw him sniffing out and got a view of his teeth and they seemed fine. The thing I'm really worried about is me grabbing him. I'm so scared I've hurt him somehow, I'm not sure how hard I squeezed I was so freaked out. I'm worried I might've squeezed too hard and given him internal injuries or something. It was so awful when I think back it's difficult to remember how hard I squeezed - I don't think it was super hard but it's difficult to remember and I'm in a bit of a panic.



The good thing is he still doesn't seem scared of me, he still took sunflower seeds from my hand and a bit of broccoli but had gone to bed now.



So although I can't see anything wrong I'm absolute terrified that I've hurt him. I feel so awful. I really wanted to make him happy and give him a good home and I feel like I've hurt him and done something really bad. I'm not sure if I should be worried about him or if he'll be ok? I just need advice on what to do next? Do I need to take him to a vet asap? Should I call an emergency vet? I'm not sure if I'm over reacting or if he's going to be really hurt.



Sorry this is so long, or doesn't make sense. I'm still in a bit of a panic to be honest and don't know what I need to do.

[xJincks]

If you haven't already, I would take him to the vet to be checked over just to be safe. My concern would be that he has hurt his mouth after having it stuck.

Sounds like that would have been quite traumatic for him so even if he seems fine now he might have a delayed reaction to the stress, and if he does have an internal injury then it would save an emergency appointment later. Having a vet look at him will put your mind at ease too.

I remember I grabbed my dwarf by accident when I was fixing his bedding, he is really timid as he is a rescue and was attacked when he was little so I didn't think he would be out and about. But no, I didn't notice he came out and I grabbed him thinking it was bedding and as soon as I felt his soft fur I threw him down out of pure panic. He ran away and hid for a while and I felt absolutely awful, thinking I had hurt him and completely lost his trust. A few days later and he was back to his usual self and runs to sit on my hand whenever I put it near him.

Accidents happen, especially with tiny animals. And it's much better that he's in his cage and not down a plug hole.
I hope everything's okay!

[Shannonmcn]

Originally Posted by catherinet94

So although I can't see anything wrong I'm absolute terrified that I've hurt him. I feel so awful. I really wanted to make him happy and give him a good home and I feel like I've hurt him and done something really bad. I'm not sure if I should be worried about him or if he'll be ok? I just need advice on what to do next? Do I need to take him to a vet asap? Should I call an emergency vet? I'm not sure if I'm over reacting or if he's going to be really hurt.



Sorry this is so long, or doesn't make sense. I'm still in a bit of a panic to be honest and don't know what I need to do.

Whether or not you take him to the vet kinda depends on what your vet is like. If they are just a standard dogs-and-cats vet then they won't be able to do much more than check him over and you can do as much yourself. If you can find a vet who has hamster experience then it may be worth a visit. Internal injuries would either show mostly as symptoms (swelling, lethargy, lack of appetite etc) or would require an x-ray which your standard vet might not be able to do.

Do check his teeth regularly from now on either way, damage to the root will take a while to show up. They might grow unevenly or might fall out in the next days or weeks. Watch how he eats his normal food and maybe give him chewable treats, things like peanuts in the shell so you can monitor how he manages.

Most importantly though, recognise that you made a mistake here in not having the plug in the bath. You could probably have predicted he might get under the towel, so it's important to make sure you think these things through before you start free roaming him again. That doesn't mean you're not giving him a good home or that you can't make him happy, it just means you've learned an important lesson the hard way. Tiny rodents are fast and unpredictable and often very very stupid, you really can't leave anything to "I'm sure it'll be fine" because you can guarantee they'll find a way to get themselves into it.