Leg got stuck, should i take her too the vet?

Penguin · 06-26-2015, 11:26 AM

So Kiki just had her leg stuck between a pole and a ramp in her house. I called on help from my neighbor as I couldn't get the leg free myself and my tiny hammie was very stressed and needed a solution immediately.
He broke the house and got her free, she seems chocked, of course, but otherwise fine. She doesn't to go on my hand and doesn't really want treats all that much either. She did pouch a few mealworms but didn't eat them. (I'm aware that it's because she is stressed though)

I removed the house and gave her a 2 minutes before I picked her up to try to give her a health check. She seems to be walking just fine, and she is able to move/kick with the leg that was stuck. Should I bring her to the vet on monday to get her checked? Or do you believe she is fine? There's no trace of blood or hairloss so I don't think she bit herself at all.

I did phone the emergency vet and he told me that if she walked normally and was eating and drinking on monday he wouldn't worry about it.

Piebald · 06-26-2015, 11:38 AM

I'd keep an eye on her but leave her some quiet time to de-stress. Her leg and/or hip may get sore later if it starts to bruise. Keep an eye out for swelling; however I don't know how one would ice a hamster leg. . . .
She may be off her feed a bit due to stress but if it keeps up it could indicate pain so try to keep track of her eating. Be sure she has easy to reach water as a sore leg may make reaching her water more difficult depending on the set up. You might give her some small pieces of cucumber if you think she's not drinking. So basically I agree with the vet but trust your instincts about her condition. You know her best and as prey animals Hamsters will hide injuries as much as they can. You know her best. xx

Penguin · 06-26-2015, 11:57 AM

Thank you so much for the quick reply. I will keep an eye on her, luckily I will be home the entire weekend. I will put her waterbottle down a bit to make sure it's easy to reach.
She somehow got into her coconut and she's sleeping now. I'll give her some cucumber as well and see if she will nib at it.

I'm just really scared that anything would happen to her. With her leg stuck she screeched a lot and flailed around a lot.
Im just happy that it happened now and not later. I will go on a holiday soon and the tiny thing will be alone all day besides when my auntie comes by to feed her. I can just imagine how terrible I would feel if she had injured herself further because nobody was around. I really had no clue that the house could be dangerous :/

RubyDG · 06-26-2015, 12:09 PM

That situation would have completely freaked me out, I'm glad that she seems to be okay though. I think Piebald has covered everything so I don't personally have anything to add to that. Would you mind saying what house it was? I think it would be good for others who have the same one to be aware of the safety concerns with it.

Penguin · 06-26-2015, 12:21 PM

Gladly! I would not want anyone to get as scared as I got! We should make a tread with houses/toys/cages that we have had bad experiences with. I dont know if i feel worse about giving her a house that could have harmed her or removing it from her now that she used it so much.

The house was called 'Treehouse Hilton':

Pebbles82 · 06-26-2015, 01:17 PM

I see what you mean. I think a lot of houses have problems - I've heard of people finding nails sticking out and all sorts. I bought a fairly square 'no nail' plain box house. All they need is somewhere nice and dark to build a nest in. Have you got a shoe box you could make a door in and turn into a house for now? They're quite happy with cardboard houses. Rodipet also make good nail-free houses (German website but the post to the Uk) and the Ferplast Sin range is good too (4 or 5 different sizes). They all have flat roofs that double up as a platform and lift off. Hams can get caught in things very easily so we have to watch out for things. I'm ultra cautious about equipment and toys but Charlie still got his leg caught between his Wobust wheel and it's stand - I've had to hang it upside down now.

Penguin · 06-26-2015, 04:04 PM

Serendipity: She does have her coconut and a cup to sleep in, so she will be alright until I get her a new and actually safe house. Thanks for the suggestions, especially about Rodipet! I will look it up straight away.

Pebbles82 · 06-26-2015, 04:22 PM

Fatal looking up Rodipet - sorry! It just makes me want to buy everything when I go on that site but generally I just window shop lol

Here'e the Ferplast Sin house - I'm thinking of getting the guinea pig sized one to replace Charlie's current guinea pig sized one which is about the same size but the roof lifts off on the Ferplast Sin and I keep wishing I had a roof that lifted off! It would be much easier to empty his potty without disturbing everything else in the house (it's a big house but a potty fits in it as well). It's the 26cm one which actually says Rabbit house on this page but it's the guinea pig sized one, the rabbit one is even bigger at about 35cm. The Hamster sized one is quite small at 15cm x 10cm but probably ok for an average sized Syrian. I like the bigger one because it doubles up as a shelf and he has loads of room in it to make big nest but it does take up space in the cage.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...s=Ferplast+Sin

Penguin · 06-26-2015, 05:01 PM

That one is gorgeous! I'll definitely see if it fits in my cage. It might be a problem getting it home though, as amazon isnt happy about shipping pet stuff to my country :q

ham888 · 06-27-2015, 12:32 AM

I guess the Treehouse Hilton is the danger of making a house that looks human rather than functional - I can imagine a ham running headlong under those ramps.

Biscuit has a climbing 'thing', well made but it had rungs sticking out the side of two legs that the previous owner had been gnawing resulting in a set of spikes - all of which I cut off before Biscuit got it. It has a 'log' on top with holes in that are exactly average Syrian size, but not for a larger Syrian that may well get stuck, potentially with its back legs in the air.