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Old 05-20-2012, 09:58 AM   #1
Puchiko
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Default Crazy Hamster?

I think someone posted about seeing a hamster in a petstore pacing back and forth nonstop and someone mentioned they might be brain damaged. Well I saw the darnest thing at Petsmart today. A dwarf russian doing backflips nonstop. I walked by his cage earlier and he wasn't doing it but I came back a bit later and he was doing it in front of a mom and her daughter.

Do you think he was doing it for attention? I told the mom that he was probably brain damaged. Either way it looked cute.


Hamster backflips - YouTube
The colony of 6 robos in the background were so cute I wanted to adopt them all.
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Old 05-20-2012, 10:24 AM   #2
Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

Sadly this is one of the more severe forms of neurological damage seen in Hybrids, its incredibly stressful for the hamster as it is not physically able to stop or control it's actions (it is a form of obsessive compulsive disorder).

I know some people see it as 'cute' but I struggle to watch videos of hybrids suffering from obsessive behaviour as I myself have OCD and it is the most distressing form of anxiety as you have no choice in your actions and trying to resist them results in incredibly high feelings of anxiety, panic attacks and the feeling that you are going to physically die. Sadly as hams have a lower cognitive ability than humans they can't even make the decision not to carry out a compulsion. To put it another way, imagine if you were walking along the street one day and suddenly back-flipped without wanting too, and then did it again and again every single day of your life so that you were unable to function properly and you would be exhausted and still back-flipping. That is the easiest way to explain what these hammies go through

Being humanely euthanized is often the kindest thing to do for hamsters who have severe compulsions, those who only perform the compulsions in stressful situations or once or twice a week can usually live perfectly normal lives they just need extra special care

I hope whoever homes that hammie understands the importance of their role in that hamsters future, sadly there still aren't that many people aware that these behaviours are a problem and often the hammie will never see a vet for the condition as the owner believes it to be just a quirky part of their personality
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Old 05-20-2012, 10:39 AM   #3
Van Diemen
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but if that hamster is doing back flips due to brain damage then surely it shouldn't be for sale?

Not because it's unfair on whoever buys it (I think it is unfair on whoever buys it but that's besides the point), but because if being put to sleep is the kindest option for it, then surely the pet store have that obligation?
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Old 05-20-2012, 10:45 AM   #4
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

I highly suspect the staff in the stores don't realise, and the managers/corporate/people in charge don't care.
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Old 05-20-2012, 10:51 AM   #5
Van Diemen
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

That's awful

Would the really knowingly sell it in that condition just for the pittance someone will pay for it....
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Old 05-20-2012, 10:58 AM   #6
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

No disrespect to the OP but they thought it was 'cute' so someone else might too and go ahead buy the 'cute' summersaulting hamster. I haven't seen a hamster do this but I can imagine it's just like watching a wild animal pacing up and down in a cage in a zoo - painful to watch
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Old 05-20-2012, 11:28 AM   #7
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

Oh that poor thing. Seeing that absolutely breaks my heart.
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Old 05-20-2012, 11:54 AM   #8
Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

Van Diemen, yes annoyingly they still get sold usually because the staff have no idea that the hamster has a problem and of course if the staff have no idea it is very unlikely that the customers will think anything is wrong or report the odd behaviour. To be fair to the shops it has only been in recent years that hamster enthusiast have actually started looking into the behaviours of hybrids suffering neurological damage and you can kind of see why it has taken this long since most of the people who are really interested in hamsters and their genetics/behaviours/etc do not tend to go for hybrids as the only way to really research them in depth is to breed them further (so its incredibly risky and controversial research that most people would not want to take on as it would result in many hamsters needing to be PTS for the sake of facts and figures) hybrid research does happen, but safely without requiring the hamsters to breed but this does mean it is taking a lot longer to get accurate data.

The only way you can stop this kind of thing is if you see a hamster back-flipping, spinning or 'star-gazing' to report it to a member of staff and demand that the animal is removed from the shop floor (or if you are able to try and convince the shop to give the hamster to you so that you can take it to a vet yourself)
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Old 05-20-2012, 02:26 PM   #9
Puchiko
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelhamster View Post
No disrespect to the OP but they thought it was 'cute' so someone else might too and go ahead buy the 'cute' summersaulting hamster. I haven't seen a hamster do this but I can imagine it's just like watching a wild animal pacing up and down in a cage in a zoo - painful to watch
I never said i thought it was okay. I just never seen it before and it looked cute because I thought it might be doing for attention like when a dog begs for treats.

I will refrain from calling anything cute ever again
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Old 05-20-2012, 02:55 PM   #10
Angelhamster
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Default Re: Crazy Hamster?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Puchiko View Post
Do you think he was doing it for attention? I told the mom that he was probably brain damaged. Either way it looked cute.
This implies to me that what you said was if it's for attention or it's brain damaged, it looks cute - just reading what you wrote - you're entitled to your opinion.
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