7 week old female constantly smells like she's in heat.

[hamsterhelper]

My wee tweed (commonly referred to as, tweedle bunch or tweety pie!) is 7 weeks old. My friend runs a shelter and I offered to look after her pregnant mum. Her mum and her brothers rehomed through the shelter, but I kept tweed. She constantly has that 'heat' smell, we all know and hate (oj)!! She doesn't put her tail up or anything, she is just constantly smelling like she is in heat. I have done a full health check, and she is very healthy, and very active, she is so hyper! I don't mind the smell, I just want to make sure she's not ill. Thanks

[souffle]

Sometimes young females can be a bit hormonally odd when they are just maturing. Is she by any chance a cinnamon? This colour for some reason seems to smell much more strongly than other colours and can reatain the smell between heats.

[hamsterhelper]

Originally Posted by souffle

Sometimes young females can be a bit hormonally odd when they are just maturing. Is she by any chance a cinnamon? This colour for some reason seems to smell much more strongly than other colours and can reatain the smell between heats.

Nope she is black with a cream nose and a white stripe down her chin. Mum, 2 brothers and her went back to the rescue at 4 weeks, and I agreed to keep any that weren't rehomed as I didn't want the thought of them being in a rescue- even though they weren't mine. I know for a fact that her and her brothers were kept together until a week ago (about 6 1/2 weeks old). Could she have gotten pregnant? Some of my females in the past have smelt while pregnant and her mum did. This is a 24/7 smell, And worse when you hold her. Would she have gotten pregnant?

(Please note I seperate my babies by sex at 4 weeks, but these weren't mine and I was only helping out for the shelter.)

[hamsterhelper]

Would a female be sexually mature at that age? I'm really worried now.

[souffle]

Our females come in to heat first time around 5 1/2 weeks so yes she would be mature enough to get pregnant. Is there any discharge?
I'd treat her as possible pregnant and see how she goes till day 16. I doubt it but it is possible.
The other possability is a pyometra Watch her closely for a foul smelling discharge and drinking a lot. It will be hard to tell if her abdomen is swollen if she might be pregnant however the smell of pyo is different from a heat smell I find.

[hamsterhelper]

Originally Posted by souffle

Our females come in to heat first time around 5 1/2 weeks so yes she would be mature enough to get pregnant. Is there any discharge?
I'd treat her as possible pregnant and see how she goes till day 16. I doubt it but it is possible.
The other possability is a pyometra Watch her closely for a foul smelling discharge and drinking a lot. It will be hard to tell if her abdomen is swollen if she might be pregnant however the smell of pyo is different from a heat smell I find.

The smell is slightly different from heat, similar but not the same. She hasn't had any discharge that I've noticed. And she defiantly isn't drinking THAT much more than usual.

Her belly is a bit lumpy, but she doesn't have the trademark 'bulges', although I suppose if it was still early on?

She is really hyper and doesn't sleep at all hardly. Not during the night at all (night cam) and for about an hour during the day. She is very restless.

She has made a nest in the last two days, which she hasn't before, and she is nipping a bit.

I breed sometimes, once or twice a year, but the age I like to do it at is about 4 and a half months, not 7 weeks

She is still quite small, maybe half of what a fully grown syrian hamster would look like.

What are the implications if she is pregnant? Will she survive? What are the symptoms of pyometra?

This has never been an issue for me as I always seperate my litters by sex at 4 weeks. I sepereted her from her two brothers, but the shelter put her back as she was taking up too much room and she could still be with others

[souffle]

If she is pregnant her body will cope if it can. Teenage mums normally do quite well though there is a higher incidence of culling the litter. Feed a bit more protein but not too much as you don't want any pups growing so large they will be hard to deliver for her small frame.
Pyo usually presents as drinking more, lethargy, swollen abdomen and discharge if the neck of the womb is still open. It usually smells foul and can cause a tummy upset and diaorhoea. There can be no discharge with a closed pyo.

[hamsterhelper]

Originally Posted by souffle

If she is pregnant her body will cope if it can. Teenage mums normally do quite well though there is a higher incidence of culling the litter. Feed a bit more protein but not too much as you don't want any pups growing so large they will be hard to deliver for her small frame.
Pyo usually presents as drinking more, lethargy, swollen abdomen and discharge if the neck of the womb is still open. It usually smells foul and can cause a tummy upset and diaorhoea. There can be no discharge with a closed pyo.

She is definitely not lethargic, that's for sure, and I haven't seen any discharge. She eats like a horse, and has solid poos, never had diarrhoea in her life (well with me.)

Her tummy is a bit lumpy, nearer the bottom though. It does like a bit bulgy, although it's not really obvious.

I will give her some egg and some 0% fat milk soaked in bread. I am really angry at the shelter for putting her back in.

She is still a wee baby herself and I hate that the shelter could allow this to happen.

I will keep you posted, and I will monitor her closely.

Thanks Souffle.

[hamsterhelper]

souffle, I'm wondering if you can help. I have been watching her very carefully and put a night cam on her at 3am-4am last night. I have also fully examined her. I have noticed these signs, do you think my tweedy bunch is pregnant? Also is there anything I can do when she has the babies to try to stop her culling. With my own litters with mums 4 or 5 months old, I just leave them in piece and give some egg and food daily. But anything extra I can do for her?

Okay these are the symptoms/signs that she is showing

-lumpy belly
-very active and restless
-nippy when she usually isn't
-nipples showing and look like they are swollen
-underneath arms seem to be swollen a bit
-built a nest
-looks like the start of two bulges on her back

Thanks souffle x

[souffle]

It certainly sounds highly suspect that she is with those indications. Prepare her for a litter. If she is showing slight bulges it is likely to be 2-5 days till they are due I'd imagine though smaller hamsters may show earlier.
Good luck x