Worried - Page 2

Arraminta · 06-18-2012, 07:02 AM

I know animals in captivity not exposed to the outside world still molt their fur... And animals are in tune with their environment and probably react to differences in air pressure!!
Cinnamon has an everest of food stashed..
What I do is when I clean her out.. If the food is dry and fine I collect a lot of it into a zip lock bag and then put it in the forrage area so basically I'm recycling her food hahahaha.. Like I said tho.. Only if it's totally dry :0)
Both hammies very restless when they are out!
Hammy hugs
Arraminta x

Nush · 06-21-2012, 06:31 AM

Hi Pinkneon, I read in another of your threads of a hamster who's drinking a lot (or am I mixing posts!). Is this the same hamster?

It could be diabetes. It's rare in syrians but it can happen. You can find some of the symptoms on the wiki link Do you think your hamster is diabetic? - Hamster Central WIKI

My hamster has been lethargic in the evenings too - waking up later and looking squity eyed. The vet said it could be diabetes although we need to get a urine sample to confirm that it is.

pinkneon · 06-21-2012, 10:52 AM

Hi. Same Hamster, only have 1 at the moment lol. Yesterday when I cleaned out her cage and gave her fresh water she drank for ages! But since that thread she's not been drinking as much so I think it was probably to do with the hot weather as now it's suddenly cold again! She's still been quite sleepy though has been better recently. I gave her a new house to sleep in last night and I think she likes it a lot as she spends lots of time in it lol. She also spent about 2 hours straight on her wheel last night, stopping only for a quick drink

Nush · 06-21-2012, 12:19 PM

She does sound active. Could it really be the weather? Spinny, my hammy, has also been exhibiting similar signs of lethargy and extra drinking. My vet was a bit surprised because when I took her in yesterday, she was very energetic!! I thought it was because of the new diet but may be you're right. May be it's the weather. I hope so because that would mean she doesn't have diabetes but I'll still do a urine test to check.

pinkneon · 06-21-2012, 01:44 PM

How would you go about doing a urine test on a hamster? Surely that's as difficult as trying to get a urine sample from an infant?! (And trust me, that is NOT easy!) ... She's on her wheel now and has been for th past half hour non stop! She doesn't eat very well so we're constantly at the vets so I'll mention it to them next time I'm there ... Oh now she's drinking AGAIN! That's about the 10th time in the past hour!

Nush · 06-22-2012, 01:52 AM

The direction my vet gave me about water intake is 10ml a day per 100g of weight. So if you weight your hamster then calculate how much she's drinking on a daily basis, you should know whether it's a problem or not. E.g if your hamster is 170g, her daily water intake should not be more than 17ml. It doesn't mean that if your hamster is drinking 17ml there are no medical issues. If your hamster was drinking 5ml then it increased to 17ml, I'd still point it to the vet.

Tell me about urine tests! Spinny is being very difficult. Generally the way to do it is to put her in a carrier or plastic box without substrate. Give her access to food and water and wait for her to pee. Most people wait for 20 mins and if the hamster hasn't peed, they put them back in the cage and try again. I did that for 2 and a half hours over 3 days and still no pee!

pinkneon · 06-22-2012, 02:19 AM

Belle now refuses to pee anywhere except her sandpit!