Hamster on antibiotics, help please

[Debbiesd]

Hi, this is my first post on here and I'm wondering if anyone could advise me please.

We got Timmy our Syrian hamster 4 weeks ago from the pet shop so he's still a baby, 2 days ago we noticed blood in his cage and after observing him we found he was bleeding when he pee'd. Due to the lockdown we were only able to have a consultation with the vet over the phone and he prescribed baytil for Timmy, 0.1ml twice a day. After trying to give him the the first 2 doses he was very reluctant so tonight I mixed it in with a small amount of baby food (a fruit one mixed up, I double checked there was no harmful ingredients for hamsters) and he ate the lot fine! I'm finding him to be really sleepy and lethargic and not really interested in his food. He also snapped today and bit my finger which he has NEVER done. Is this a side effect of the medication? Also, I'm guessing baby food twice a day isn't very good for hamsters so is there anything else I can mix the baytril with to give him it? He really doesn't like the taste of it!

Thankyou.

[souffle]

That is quite a high dose. Is it diluted? How is it given? Syringe or in water. He doesn;t sound well and bleeding is never a good sign. It's normally .01ml and just a drop of Baytril.
It tastes foul. I'd give it in the babyfood if he is taking that but do check the dosage.

[LunaTheHamster1]

I would go with a more vegetable based babyfood if you can get it, healthier for the hamster in the long run, but as it is I would say it is more important to get the baytril into your hamster for now. When he bit you had you disgurbed him to gjve him the medicine, also if he is not very well he probably just wanted to be left alone and that may have been his way of telling you that.i hope he picks up and feels better soon.

[Vierville]

I realise it might be very difficult at first as hamsters are very squirmy but I found that the only way to ensure the antibiotic gets into the hamster is to put it into their mouth with a syringe. Corner of the mouth, gently put the syringe in and squeeze and in a second they've swallowed it.

My dwarf Nanuk has been on twice daily oral medication including foul tasting antibiotics for nine months and after the first three or four days he accepted it and began behaving really well.

The medication was always premixed by the vets and dose has always been 0.1ml or 0.05ml. His weight has varied from 50 grams to 60 grams during that time period. Interestingly 0.05ml is the official volume of '1 drop'.