Hello! I am new and have one hamster

[chubbysuperhero]

Hello! I am Drake and I have one hamster, a dwarf (Campbell I think) named Hildebert. I have had two other hamsters, Hamo and Hambone, who were brothers, but they both died very quickly, according to the vet from a stomach parasite. But Hildebert has lived for over a year and a half and is very good and we love him he is our hammie king. I will be leaving for college, and thankfully the school allows one caged pet per student, so Hildebert will be my roommate this year. I'm wondering, how should I help take care of him in his old age? He is becoming a lot more lethargic and less social or exploratory than before. He loves peanuts, and I give him one unsalted peanut a day along with his normal food (mixed grains, seeds, and nuts) and I of course clean his cage regularly and give him water. I want to know how to keep him healthy for as long as possible, because it would be great to see him through my freshman year at least, and I have read that Hamsters of his breed can live up to 2 1/2 years to 3. Thanks for you help!

[PrimroseandElla]

It sounds like you are already doing a great job at taking care of him and there's not much else you can do if he is unsteady on his feet I would suggest taking any tall toys and platforms out and make his cage all on one level if it's not already and try not to clean the cage fully to often if you have a small wire cage from a pet shop I would suggest spot cleaning every couple of days and doing a full clean every 2-3 weeks but if u have a big cage such as a tank then you only really need to spot clean once or twice a week and do a full clean every 3-4 weeks this reduces stress for the hamster as they can become very stressed during cleaning times some may be fine with getting a clean cage like my baby and get stressed in the process or some may be fine during the process and stressed once they are back in there cage that no longer smells like them and is clean

Hope this helps just keep doing what your doing