Fred has started `spinning`..

[racinghamster]

Just this morning, my little robo Fred (was told he`s about two years and two months of age) has started spinning like a mad little top, moreso during the night when I`m not there to stop him but I can hear him running around as he`s in my room. I know this is due to neurological issues and there is no cure, so it will be a matter of monitoring his behaviour. He`s just been out and he has taken a small piece of apple drop and had a drink and has walked well considering he still tends to go around to the left in a circle a few times before toddling back to his nest.

I have Baytril already stored but I know this isn`t an ear infection as he isn`t falling over or tilting. he does tend to slightly `lean` to the left while sitting, but that`s all. I don`t want to put Baytril in his drinking water for a suspected infection when the likelihood is this is neurological because it`s intermittent behaviour, not a constant rolling or falling over. Those would be signs of an inner ear balancing problem and he isn`t doing that.

He`s actually just ran in his wheel and then stopped, half closed his eyes as if stopping due to feeling something and then ran back to his nest wide eyed. So apart from the manic spinning and circling he`s doing during the night, he does seem to know where everything is, eats, drinks and can walk straight and sit still when he wants to, so as long as he can do all those things, I can keep a close eye on him and if the spinning worsens where he can`t control himself, then I will need to call it a day, but I would only do that if his symptoms worsened.

Poor wee man. He was a sweetie when I first rehomed him but not long after, he started to attack me (cage territorial-like behaviour) so I`m wondering if this may have been where the change started if it is neurological? Behaviour change and then mobility change?

Fred is a normal eye-browed robo. He`s been and still is a nutty little man and I hope this doesn`t mean the beginning of the end for him. He seems fine behaving like this for now, but I can`t say whether it will stabalise or worsen at this point. And here was me thinking he would just grow old gracefully without any real issues. It seems nowadays our hamsters seem more prone to illness than they did years ago. It`s very sad.

[DrKMcK]

Poor little Fred. I really hope he can manage for a while more. I get nervous around the 2 year mark with my hams because that seems to be when a significant amount of hammies start showing strong signs of aging. My Patches turns 2 this month. Hang in there little Fred.

[Clairealex]

Aw poor wee Fred

It does sound like the behaviour change could have been the start of some neurological issues and the physical problems are a later manifestation. He's very lucky to have someone so experienced looking after him just now. It's definitely what he needs and you'll know what's best for him.

hope he's able to continue his hamstery ways for a good while yet

[racinghamster]

Thanks DrKMcK. I will post updates on how Fred is doing. Since I first posted, he has been out again for food and ate a small piece of fresh sweetcorn I left him and then he had his spinning behaviour for about ten minutes and then started acting normally again. He`s drank fine (manages to drink with no balance issues at all) and sits in his low sided food dish okay as well. So it`s just the spinning. I know there is no real answer to this and if I could do something physically to `put right` the behaviour, I would, but I know there is no point to it. He lives in a Gabber Rex tank, so the same size as the ZZ1. His two ended platforms are low as are his ramps and he can manage those fine, so I won`t remove anything for now as I fear it could just add to his behaviour.

Would be happy to hear from anyone who has/had a roborovski exhibit this spinning behaviour, what they did and whether it made any difference.

[racinghamster]

Thanks Claire. x

[Pearl]

Hi racinghamster having read about your robo hamster started having spinning episodes, may I ask what wheel is your robo using? The reason why I am asking is because my robo did exactly the same as yours with the spinning. What I noticed was when she was in her 6" silent spinner she would still do her spinning inside the wheel, to me this did'nt look right, plus as she was getting stressed out with the wheel. We put in for her an 8" wodent wheel to make her feel more secure when running it worked she is much more happier now. Yes the spinning is still there, but she's not too stressed out now. Maybe it's worth a try for your robo I do hope so. Pearl

[racinghamster]

Hi Pearl, thanks for your reply. Fred has a `fake` silent spinner wheel which he loves, but hasn`t been using much over the past few days, only seen him in his wheel for a quick run and then he`s out again. When I took Fred on, he had a wheel in his duna cage that was stuck fast and was more of an ornament than a wheel, so I`m wondering if he ever had access to a decent wheel in the first place and now that he has one, could it have cause any stress issues for him? I really can`t be sure. But he did have a flying saucer wheel taken away about a week after having one as it DID make him start to `spin` around when walking. I noticed this right away and immediately removed the flying saucer wheel and it did the trick.

I don`t want to remove his wheel altogether, but if he doesn`t show it much attention, I may just do that. I only seen him for a few minutes this morning and he ate his sweet corn and treat and wasn`t madly spinning out of control as he was yesterday, so I was happy to see that. But I will watch him closely today and see if this behaviour is on going or if it seems to have slowed down a bit. I`m hoping h`s just gotten himself into a tizz of over excitement and this spinning will slowly stop. But it`s early days yet.

[racinghamster]

This cut and pasted page seems to sum up variations of spinning behaviour in general:

Dwarf Hamster Running in Circles (Neurological Problem?) - Ailments & Injuries - Hamster Hideout Forum

One of the posters mentions allowing much more space (as apposed to having too many toys or cramped/limited running room) as this may allow the robo to act more normally, rather than reduce the cage size. I did notice that Fred would use a toilet roll tube or another accessory to `run around` in circles, which is why I removed them from his cage. His space is all open in the centre of the cage now with just his small wooden ramps and egg box which lies against the cage wall, so he can`t use it to spin around!

He still has his wheel but I have angled this now. It does seem from what I have read thus far that it`s a manageable condition as long as the robo doesn`t get to severe. So it will be a case of take each day/week as it comes and monitor the situation.

[racinghamster]

A little update on Fred for those who have been interested. I decided to start Fred on Baytril as I have half a bottle here that would have otherwise not been used, so I felt I had nothing to lose really but go for it and see if it makes any difference at all. I`m just placing it in his drinking water as he cannot be handled. He has a small mouse sized Classic bottle so it`s ideal.

He was still spinning all night but he does seem to come out of it when he wants to, to eat and drink and sit inside his egg box to have a wash.

I just can`t understand why this would just happen when he was fine. The only slight symptoms I noticed before this spinning started, was that when he sat still, there was a slight tendency for him to favour leaning to his left, but apart from this, he didn`t have any other apparent symptoms.

I will update again if Fred shows any improvement on Baytril, but I`m sceptical if I`m honest.

[DrKMcK]

I wonder if he may have had a small stroke racinghamster? I hope he recovers.