Rescue Hamster - really obese - Page 4

Mom · 01-25-2021, 04:36 PM

Just an update. Hammie is steady at 63 grams. He can now run well in his wheel although there seems to be something wrong (a bit) with his right hip - he doesn't hold his leg the same as his left one, and his backside sometimes cracks a little bit when he's being held. But it hasn't really slowed him down much. He has finally learned how to climb his bars and has developed strong little front legs. He is very active, comes out a few times a day into his new play area (we bought one of those sets of metal fences), and seems to be happy and healthy. His scent gland remains a little black dot, as it should. He is bathing, and is outgoing.

There is one little thing... or a pair of them, actually, that seems odd. To put it delicately, or not, really.... hammie seems to have developed a pair of nads that he hasn't had before. Rather noticeable ones. Is it normal for a dwarf hamster to suddenly look like he's been bathing in hamster testosterone?

He's, as I said, otherwise healthy and happy (as far as we can tell).

Pebbles82 · 01-25-2021, 06:20 PM

You could do with getting the vet check out his leg. He could have dislocated something, especially if there is a cracking noise. How tall is his cage? If he’s climbing bars he could fall and injure himself. Dwarf hamsters are easily injured if they fall more than about 25cm or land on something hard or sharp (even a sand bath or bendy bridge.). So they do best with lower, wider cages.

Their boy bits can descend and look large. First time I saw it I thought our hamster had a tumour! It is usually when they are warm or very relaxed. They’re not usually “out” all the time.

Mom · 01-26-2021, 05:23 PM

Oh, thank goodness! Yeah, they're not out today. (That is soooo weird.) So I won't worry. We had a winter white, years ago, who suddenly developed a pair and became incredibly cranky, for all of 48 hours, one spring. Then they were gone again and his personality became sweet again and we had NO idea what that was all about. Never happened again....

Hammie's hip/leg rarely cracks, only now and then. We have an appointment, finally, with a vet in two weeks. Simply could not get in to one due to restrictions related to Covid. We are able to move his leg around and he does seem to have power in it, but sometimes he's creaky in the hip. I do wonder if he had something like hamster rickets or was injured as a youngster and things didn't heal up properly.

The bars in his cage are not very high at all and he would only fall into a very thick layer of paper bedding. His play yard's bars are vertical, and he cannot climb them at all. He just comes over to the side and stands on his hind legs and kind of hops up and down when he's ready to go back into his cage. Said cage is low and quite wide.

Petite · 01-27-2021, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mom

His play yard's bars are vertical, and he cannot climb them at all. He just comes over to the side and stands on his hind legs and kind of hops up and down when he's ready to go back into his cage. Said cage is low and quite wide.

Just a wee caution about the play pen - I use a similar play pen with vertical bars with my current ham and her predecessor. Both learnt to shimmy up the bars, so even if your ham can't do that now he may well learn. But I'm sure you watch him carefully when he's in it.

Mom · 04-30-2021, 01:57 PM

So, our dear little friend is now a geriatric hammie, it seems. He has got cataracts in both eyes and has really slowed down. The vet says it's his age. Apparently he was quite old when we brought him home.

He is down to 51 grams and doesn't seem to want to run in his wheel very much at night anymore. He is still happy to come out of his cage to be fussed over. He will not eat a treat until he's had a suitable period of pets and snuggles. Then he will eat it as long as one of us is holding him. Lately, though, he starts eating and then seems to forget what he's doing. He can be reminded of the lovely treat and will immediately grab it again as if he's not seen it before and happily munch it. And in a few moments forget again.

I suspect he's got a bit of hamster dementia going on. He seems happy and he is eating and drinking, , but he now is starting to look and act like an old hamster. I know how this is going to play out over the next several months, but I really do wish we could have found him when he was quite young. Still, we've enjoyed the heck out of having him in our family, and there's still time, but I'm not sure what else I can be doing to help him have a pleasant life.

He loves cheese, by the way. He does not seem to recognize fresh carrot as food. (Which is odd, all our other dwarf hamsters always loved a bit of carrot.) He won't touch parsley but sometimes likes a bit of cilantro - but only sometimes. He likes "Crunch Around" treats, but only for the flax seeds on the outside. Apparently the peanut center is not food.

Any suggestions? Is there a special high-calorie supplement I can get for him to make up for his forgetfulness at suppertime?