Rescue Hamster - really obese

[Pebbles82]

Hi there. I agree, his weight is normal for a dwarf hamster and it is more likely he has muscle atrophy from being kept in a small tank. They can look and feel a bit chubby but I wouldn’t try and actively get him to lose weight (they can do that frighteningly quickly when they get tooth problems and then you have to fatten them up).

Oxbow is bad for hamsters unfortunately - too much roughage for them and that could cause bloating.

I am not an expert on many of the mixes in the US but you can’t go wrong by giving him Harry Hamster it Hazel Hamster (same mix different label). It’s sugar free and contains all the nutrients they need. There may be better mixes but it is fine and I’ve used it a number of times before.

It sounds like you need to have his set up as if he is elderly initially - mostly low level and a little low ramp up to his wheel- or adjust things so the wheel entrance is at substrate level so he can just walk into it.

For the first two weeks it’s probably best not to start changing things or moving then in his cage so he has that settling in period, but adjusting height of wheel and substrate should be fine. If you keep water and food accessible from floor level then he won’t need to climb the ramp and can avoid the stress - but can if he feels like trying it (but no actual need if it is not to access his food eg).

Gradually as you build up out of cage time he may gain some strength in his back legs but it can be fairly permanent once the muscles have atrophied. He could also be slightly elderly and weak back legs and difficulty climbing can be a first sign around 18 months or so.

Looking forward to meeting him and seeing a photo

[Mom]

Hi. He's well beyond that point now, thanks, Serendipity. Little dude has leg muscles! He spends hours in his wheel at night. It's a silent wheel, but I've come out a few times in the middle of the night to find him trotting right along in it. Not the frantic, can't-see-his-legs pace that our other dwarf hammies have done, but he's got a good trot going so that's fine.

I will put some cardboard in there to see if that helps with the bars thing. He's got apple twigs, some wooden chew toys, and a thin cardboard box in there now, none of which he appears to be chewing - he was nibbling on the apple twigs when he first came home, but doesn't seem interested in them now. I suspect that he's doing the climbing/chewing on the bars to get attention. Hopefully by not immediately reinforcing it by taking him out that behavior will diminish over time.

He's also gotten a little "mouthy" over the last few weeks - he's nibbled us a bit, but has never broken the skin, after he's been out for a while. There was one day he latched onto my daughter's fingernail to the point where it was like "hamster fishing" - she lifted him up and he held on for a while. Again, he was not rewarded by being put down or put back in his cage immediately, so we're hoping that the behavior doesn't get established. We know almost nothing about his former owner(s) other than the last one almost killed him with kindness. Those behaviors (nibbling, chewing on the bars) could have worked for him in the past.

No worries on the food. I had been mixing it in with his seed mix. He dutifully ignores it and takes only the seed, so the wild birds near our house have been enjoying a winter bonus of Oxbow.

Am attaching a photo of him from Christmas Eve. Hope you enjoy it. He's a sweetie, for sure! His first encounter with snow - he doesn't like snow....

[Ria P]

He's lovely and looks very well!

Most hamsters like a Whimzee dog chew. I get the xs toothbrushes but this may have been mentioned already.

One of my dwarfs nibbles, it's almost like a habbit because she nibbles everything, probably checking if its edible.
I think some dwarfs are just nibblers.

[Pebbles82]

I stick sunflower seeds between the bristles of the whimzee toothbrush chews . They love getting the sunflower seeds out. I have not come across a hamster who didn’t like those whimzee chews and they usually drag them straight to the nest as a prized possession.

With hamsters you sometimes need to do a bit of creative thinking re their behaviours. Sanctions and rewards don’t really work and it can create a head on stubborn type attitude between hamster and human. They are very prone to certain behaviours if they feel stressed and stress can be caused by ckeaning out too much (invasion of their space), not enough space in a cage, lack of somewhere dark to retreat to or not enough depth of bedding. They do best when everything in the cage is left alone and not moved. However we can’t do that for hygiene reasons but for the first two weeks it is best to do that. With just a “spot clean “ of the pee area after a week (if you can find it - dwarf hamsters don’t pee that much). Then after that it’s best to just spot clean mostly and that way you can go a lot longer without needing to change the substrate. Partial cleans are better for them as something always smells familiar then. They leave scent trails to find their way around as they don’t see well.

So when changing the substrate it’s usually recommended not to clean anything else at the same time. Eg wheel another week, any other items a different week again. Toys often don’t need much cleaning very often. Even then replacing some of the old clean substrate is a good idea. I spread it on top of the new - so it still smells familiar - and that layer will eventually get spot cleaned out.

Hamsters only bite out of fear - so it might be it is just a bit soon for handling and gradual hand taming can help build trust so he feels safe when handled. Talking to them in a loving gentle tone helps build trust as well. They do react to tone of voice and can sense tension and negativity or a lot of hectic stuff going on. Likewise they can sense when you are being careful with them and saying nice things to them. Flattery does help!

Some kind of playpen for out of cage time is good for taming. Your daughter could sit in it first do the hamster can run around in there and climb over her legs etc. That way they get familiar with the presence and scent of the person and feel safe with them and at the same time you can let him eat treats from her hand. If they don’t want to do that they are still wary of the hand!

Glad he is using his wheel - what cage is he in? Bar chewing can be a sign of stress or something not being quite right in the cage (sometimes good reason to get your attention - eg wheel stuck it water bottle not working). It can become a habit though even if caused by stress. Sometimes they start doing it after a cage clean if they feel it’s not their home any more and doesn’t smell familiar, particularly if the nest and hoard have been removed. It’s usually recommended to leave the nest and hoard alone unless peed on. And replace any hoard with new food in the same place if it does need to be removed. They can get very anxious about their hoard being removed. Providing nest and hoard aren’t peed on they can be left for a very long time. They tend to only hoard the dry hamster mix and ours sometimes mix sand in it (to preserve it!).

It’s trial and error as to what works with any spot cleaning, depending on the personality of the hamster. Some handle it better if they’re in the cage while you’re doing it so they can see what your hand is doing (they sometimes follow the hand!). Some get too stressed and it’s better to do it when they’re out of the cage. I always hide healthy treats in various places to distract them from the minor changes when they go back in.

[Mom]

Whimzees -are a brand I've never heard of. I've looked on Amazon.com and they do appear to sell the brand. Are these the things you're talking about?

Amazon.com

[Ria P]

Yes, that's them.
Some petshops sell them individually and that's the xs toothbrushes we were talking about but any shape is fine.
My tiny Robo once had a green alligator that was bigger than himself.

[Mom]

Ah, thanks. I'll keep an eye for them. There is a pet store not terribly far from us that caters to dogs and cats, so perhaps they will have them individually. I don't think I'd need to buy a whole bag of them!

[Maker]

I think bar chewing is expected at some point - especially as they realise there’s more space out of the cage. For my Polo there can never be if enough, even with a whole bedroom floor she still tries to get under the door! As Ria says cardboard works, also trixie grass mats/hammocks and hemp mats sewn/cable tied onto the bars works (she strips that instead) at the moment I’m stuffing toilet tubes in all the corners as she seems to like corners! Distraction might work - you could try scattering a but if toilet paper around
Here’s a photo of the sides of our cage - ignore the bowl it doesn’t stay in there

CAE1A638-9E40-4021-BD5C-9893AF3D200E.jpeg

[Mom]

We have noticed that the only time he's chewing at the bars (as far as we can tell) is when we've just put him back in his cage and he wants back "out" or when we come into the room and have not noticed him. I wish it wasn't so cute, but we're not going to reinforce the behaviour if possible.

Another question for you guys. Scent glands. We were told his scent gland was blocked before we got him, but that the rescuer had managed to get it unblocked and all the gunk off of it. Apparently it was quite a mess. We are watching for any recurrence of that and have noticed he has got a black dot where his scent gland pore is. I don't know if it's the equivalent of a human blocked pore cap, or if it's normally supposed to be black. There is no swelling around it at all, as far as either of us can tell. It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.

I wonder if it would hurt if we put something like a dab of olive oil or some light oil on it and kind of rubbed it with a cotton ball, to see if it loosens and comes out? I would assume the hammie would lick himself furiously, which could mean a bit of messy poops when the oil hit his gut, but would it hurt him?

Right now I'm inclined to do nothing at all, but watch it to see if it does become puffy or otherwise bothers him. We had a dwarf hammie that got a seriously impacted scent gland once before, and had surgery to remove it (that was pricey!), so I'd rather avoid having to put the ham through that if at all possible.

Or, seriously, is it normal? If he had not had a history of having had the blocked pore before, I wouldn't worry about it, really. On our prior who had the blockage, he was one of the "no touchy" hamsters, so we didn't notice it right away. By the time we did, the vet said surgery was the best answer. So I've never actually spent much time looking at healthy hamster glands.

[Pebbles82]

It sounds normal to me - they do look like a black dot. I would just keep an eye on it and if it doesn't look infected it should be fine. They do lick themselves a lot to clean themselves anyway. Putting oil on might actually cause blockage so probably best not to.

Maker's cage with the grass mats round the inside is a great idea! Good to hear he doesn't chew the bars very much.