Too many sneezes!

[katiekay]

I've had my hammy for about 2 weeks now and since the 2nd or 3rd night that I had her, she has been sneezing a lot. I was worried it was a cold or respiratory issue at first but she has shown no other signs of being sick. Her eyes and ears are alert and clear, she's not cold or hot to the touch and she's extremely active. She sneezes a few times, then goes to bed for an hour or two and when she wakes up she sneezes a ton, almost constantly. But it doesn't happen that much the first time she wakes up for the night. I took all the carefresh bedding out yesterday and now it is all kaytee clean and cozy. I've heard that carefresh can be particularly dusty.

Should I take her to the vet? Or maybe try a different bag of clean and cozy? It does seem dusty or should I change her food? She is a syrian, somewhere around 5-7 months old. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This is a video I uploaded on YouTube of her sneezes or hiccups or whatever it may be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFQ-...ature=youtu.be

[AmityvilleHams]

It does seem strange that Clean and Cozy would be dusty.It has almost no dust every time I've used it and everyone I've heard from that uses it has had the same experience of very little dust.

Food could be dusty,which would be more likely than Clean and Cozy being dusty.You may also have some dusty residue in the cage from the Carefresh that got left behind which is hard to fix with everything inside a cage

Even with high quality food I get a little dust,and that's because there are smaller seeds and such in most mixes which end up getting ground into dust.I feed my Syrian a mixed diet including Higgins Sunburst which does as mentioned have a bit of dust but that isn't a big problem in my experience.My Syrian's food is a mix of 1 tablespoon of Carefresh Complete hamster & gerbil food(not enough variety on its own),1/2 tablespoon(1.5 teaspoons)Higgins Sunburst(not enough protein on its own or mixed with just Carefresh),about a pinch of flax seed,and at least one piece of freeze dried chicken.That mix ends up giving adequate nutrition,good variety,and provides necessary animal protein

[Juliebrei]

My syrian sneezes too. I have him in paper bedding and that has reduced it slightly, but he still does it.
I have had him at the vets and he didn't find anything. He also acts normal and looks healthy and happy.
It's apparently just part of his charm

But that doesn't mean it is the same necessarily.

[katiekay]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

It does seem strange that Clean and Cozy would be dusty.It has almost no dust every time I've used it and everyone I've heard from that uses it has had the same experience of very little dust.

Food could be dusty,which would be more likely than Clean and Cozy being dusty.You may also have some dusty residue in the cage from the Carefresh that got left behind which is hard to fix with everything inside a cage

Even with high quality food I get a little dust,and that's because there are smaller seeds and such in most mixes which end up getting ground into dust.I feed my Syrian a mixed diet including Higgins Sunburst which does as mentioned have a bit of dust but that isn't a big problem in my experience.My Syrian's food is a mix of 1 tablespoon of Carefresh Complete hamster & gerbil food(not enough variety on its own),1/2 tablespoon(1.5 teaspoons)Higgins Sunburst(not enough protein on its own or mixed with just Carefresh),about a pinch of flax seed,and at least one piece of freeze dried chicken.That mix ends up giving adequate nutrition,good variety,and provides necessary animal protein

Yes maybe there is residual dust from the Carefresh? I only had about 20% Carefresh and 80% of the Clean & Cozy. I ordered the Clean & Cozy because as you stated it is supposed to be pretty dust free and in general a good bedding, but I ordered it off of Amazon from Kaytee so maybe it is an older bag or was sitting in the warehouse or something too long? I can see dust in the tank and I just changed the bedding yesterday so should I wait a few days or a week to completely clean the tank as to not stress her out too much since she's still pretty new to me?

I use Higgins Sunburst as well! I'll try mixing in chicken and another variety of food for her as well. I have given her some fruit over the time I've had her to help with that. (:

It's weird to me though that the 2nd time she wakes up at night her sneezes are a lot worse? She usually wakes up around 7 pm and doesn't sneeze a ton, but then goes back to bed around 2 am ish and when she wakes up after a short nap she is sneezing much more. I wonder if she is just eating more the 2nd time being wake and therefore sneezing more?

[katiekay]

Originally Posted by Juliebrei

My syrian sneezes too. I have him in paper bedding and that has reduced it slightly, but he still does it.
I have had him at the vets and he didn't find anything. He also acts normal and looks healthy and happy.
It's apparently just part of his charm

But that doesn't mean it is the same necessarily.

Hmmm, I wonder if some syrians are just prone to sneeze attacks? What paper bedding do you use?

[Juliebrei]

I haven't heard og others before, but maybe.
I use boxo

[katiekay]

Originally Posted by Juliebrei

I haven't heard og others before, but maybe.
I use boxo

Have you seen a noticeable difference in your hammy with the sneezes since using that bedding?

[Juliebrei]

I would say so, yes.
It's mainly just wake up sneezes now, unless he sticks his nose in his sand, which does happen.
I would think he would have learned by now, but No.
I often wonder if it could be more of a hiccup than a sneeze. They sound very similar to me.

[AmityvilleHams]

I don't think hiccups are too strange of an idea!I know that cats can get hiccups,and in my experience that was usually picking them up after they ate,but hamsters could definitely be different.

[katiekay]

Originally Posted by Juliebrei

I would say so, yes.
It's mainly just wake up sneezes now, unless he sticks his nose in his sand, which does happen.
I would think he would have learned by now, but No.
I often wonder if it could be more of a hiccup than a sneeze. They sound very similar to me.

Hmm. I wonder if my hammy has the hiccups instead of sneezes sometimes?

How often can they get hiccups?

She just sneezes way too much and I'm not sure what to do.