Rescue Hamster - really obese - Page 2

Ria P · 12-10-2020, 01:34 PM

You could do a health check yourself in the meantime and you could post a photo of him here.

Are you worried there's something wrong with him?

If you're worried about diabetes then you could check him yourself. Amazon sells keto sticks to test his urine for glucose. All you need to do is put him in a plastic tub and wait till he pees, take him out and test his urine.

Shannonmcn · 12-10-2020, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mom

Hi. Thanks for all your replies.

The plan is to sub some of the Oxbow in with the seeds, and portion out the mealworms so that he gets the equivalent of about a tablespoon a month of them.

This reminded me of a thing I did last year. Quick-ish Google doc spreadsheet for working out additions to the diet and combined food mixes. It's maybe not perfect since you don't really know what's in The Mystery Jar but I'll link anyway in case it's of any use!

Mom · 12-10-2020, 04:54 PM

Well, it looks like the wheel we have is fine. He just is badly out of shape, but is making an effort to use it - he got up to a solid slow "walk" on it for a bit. He had to haul himself up the ramp to the top level to get to it, so that's good - he made it up there ok.

He came out again this evening for "blanket" time and lasted a bit longer than the last playtime. He spent some time being petted, and then exploring tubes set on the blanket. When he'd had enough, he went back in his box and the box was put back in the cage. He is still looking bright-eyed.

We had put seed mix in his bowl when we brought him home, and there is still food in the bowl, so I'm waiting until tomorrow to add more. I'm not sure there's anything else we can really do right now for him. (?)

Mom · 12-10-2020, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannonmcn

This reminded me of a thing I did last year. Quick-ish Google doc spreadsheet for working out additions to the diet and combined food mixes. It's maybe not perfect since you don't really know what's in The Mystery Jar but I'll link anyway in case it's of any use!

Thanks! I'll definitely explore this.

Mom · 12-10-2020, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ria P

You could do a health check yourself in the meantime and you could post a photo of him here.

Are you worried there's something wrong with him?

If you're worried about diabetes then you could check him yourself. Amazon sells keto sticks to test his urine for glucose. All you need to do is put him in a plastic tub and wait till he pees, take him out and test his urine.

Yeah, I'm worried about his kidneys and his heart, to tell you the truth. That kind of protein load, and being overweight and inactive = Bad combinations! We have keto sticks in the house (diabetic) so we'll definitely check that out. My larger concern are the other two issues, really. He's not seeming diabetic - he's not losing weight, not drinking excessively, etc., and so we are hoping that's no in the picture. We're going to weigh him again tomorrow and see if just a couple of days of lack of proteiny/sugary treats plus moving around a lot more will have taken a gram or two off of him.

Mom · 12-12-2020, 09:03 AM

Ok, as someone above predicted, he's moving around a lot more and the more he moves around, the happier he seems to be. The kind of dirty/oily funk on his coat is now gone and it's incredibly soft and silky. He no longer has the "too much protein" smell. He is coming over to the side of the cage to be picked up, and is actively investigating the floor when he is taken out for playtime a few times a day rather than just sitting there.

He chews on his applewood sticks, and also likes parsley, cilantro, and basil (in minute quantities). He has actually got a very sweet disposition and is cute as a button. I think he's going to be fine, as long as the progress he's made so far is any indication of the future.

Thanks for all the advice.

flowerfairy · 12-12-2020, 01:05 PM

Brilliant update.

Mom · 12-13-2020, 08:45 PM

Wow, he's almost speedy tonight.

We can see him walking and his stomach isn't dragging the ground anymore. We can see his legs when he's walking. He is trotting up and down his little ramps with no trouble. Still not a lot of "wheel" action but he comes over to be taken out and enjoys his time on the blanket. (Probably because we scatter seeds on it....) We get licked a lot. He did seem a bit skittish tonight, but there's a weather front coming in and also an owl in the tree outside, so it could have been one (or both) of those things. As long as I had a hand cupped over him while he was on the blanket he would relax and snarf up seeds. He would stop and come back over to one of us if we did not. He was happy to be put back in his living accommodations, though, and toodled around in there quite a bit where we could see him. (I keep a towel over the top to act as a roof, so perhaps he felt more secure in there because if it?

Mom · 01-01-2021, 10:03 AM

Ok, the hammie is trotting along nicely in his wheel these days, and can scamper around when he wishes. He is even starting to be able to pull himself along on the bars on the upper part of the cage.

Odd behavior today, though. Thought I'd put it out there and see if it's "normal" or not. The hammie seems healthy. Bright eyes, glossy coat. He is normally asleep by about 8:30 am, after having been up all night. Today at about 10:00am I was out in the living room where he was, and was doing some chores. Had the dishwasher on in the kitchen, was cooking some onions and peppers on the stove. The TV was on. No unusal activity in our house, basically.

I went over to find him climbing the bars. (He finally has enough "upper body" strength to climb bars, which is good. He had trouble pulling himself into his food bowl when he first came home!) Then he was on his upper deck, where he proceeded to start to frantically chew on the bars and climb them when I came near. He was very agitated for a good half hour. He had food and water.

After a while, so as to not get him to associate chewing on the bars and getting taken out and given treats, I took him out of his cage and gave him a check - no wheezing, clean backside, nothing out of the ordinary. He did lick my hand quite a lot, though. And got well petted in return. Then I gave him a tiny treat (a very small shaving of dried cheese) and put him back in his cage. The same behaviour started again - back and forth, up to the deck, chewing on the bars. I waited a while, then put him out on his blanket with a handfull of his seed mix, which he happily began stuffing into his pouches. Then he REALLY wanted to scamper off to explore the room, but I had to put him back in his cage as I could not supervise him extensively at that point. Behavior began again.

He has not done this behaviour at any time that we've notice since he's come to live with us, just today. Other hamsters we've had did this for attention, so I think perhaps (hopefully) that's what's going on here? He seems to have REALLY wanted out of his cage. It was just at a very odd time of day, for him. So, up at an unusual hour, hyper, chewing on the bars.... Not sure what to make of this.

He supposedly has winter-white in his ancestry, and he does seem to be starting to darken up, so perhaps it's some hormonal urge? We've had WW's in the past that were completely docile (as he is) and then all of a sudden basically "grew a pair" for a couple of days and were cranky and out-of-sorts. They went back to being sweeties just as suddenly. (Usually in the Spring.) It's the darkest time of the year here, so I can't imagine it's light-induced hormones. We are due to have a particularly evil weather front move in later today. I wonder if he might be, perhaps, sensing changes in the barometer or something?

Of course, it could just be that he's finally well and strong enough to be doing this behavior.

Still, thought I'd mention it to see if anyone else has experienced it in case there's anything I should be watching for.

Hope you all have a Great New Year!

Ria P · 01-01-2021, 04:26 PM

Yes, i have also seen sudden changes in my hamsters behaviour on quite a few ocassions.

Sometimes they change back to their original routines and sometimes they don't.

Sometimes i think i may know the reasons but most of the times i haven't got a clue.

You've checked your hamster over and checked that his water bottle and wheel works ok and that he has enough food and that's all you can do really.

It could well be that he is now healthier and has more energy to use up.

I feed cardboard strips through the bars where a hamster bar chews so they shred the cardboard instead.

My two Syrian boys have started to bar chew soon as they see me because they want out which is something they haven't done in the past so i'm going through a fair amount of cardboard.
I think the trigger for this was the presence of two female foster Syrians.

As long as he's healthy i wouldn't worry and try and accommodate him as much as is practically possible.