Wet tail and when to clean cage

[Bardiel]

Hello everyone,

I have a hamster with wet tail she did survive but my problem is she’s on antibiotics but the cage still has the bacteria in there! I don’t know who put her in there and what they did with the quarantine/holding tank. Now Im just concerned about cleaning her current cage and stressing her more and have it come back. I do understand disinfecting the cage as well as full on cage
clean is in order but Im scared she’ll stress out and get it again. We are almost done medicating her. I did ask around and my dad did it…great now she’s in there and it needs to he cleaned nobody even asked me if I cleaned it. Is there anything I can do about reintroducing her after Im done? I have clean n safe wipes for bars and platforms/ramps. No smell of hers will be in there so Im asking is is there a way to keep her stress as low as possible reintroducing her?

She has a 618 sq inch cage (upgrading soon she doesn’t like it).
She has lots of cardboard chews and toys. Need info or pics I’ll try pics Im new here.

[Jeir]

The best thing to do would be to ask your vet. But, from what I can remember...

Wet tail is generally when a hamster becomes so stressed its immune system becomes compromised and its body is unable to defend against its naturally occurring bacterial flora, allowing said bacteria to just...multiply beyond what the body can handle. It's not a new bacteria, it's just too much of it. Antibiotics will kill most of the bacteria, bringing the levels back down to something the hamster's body can handle. Antibiotics also work within, say, 5 days (don't quote me on that! Just an example!), and the remaining days are just to ensure that the bacteria doesn't multiply again while the body recovers.

Using the above, you can probably do it in stages. I would spot-clean a few days before the end of the antibiotics course (mainly just poop/pee areas, maybe food if contaminated), and then clean the toys first a day before the course is meant to end. You can also take some of the non-soiled substrate and, if you have the space, put it in the freezer to ensure the germs are gone. Give it a day or two for the scent to get back on the toys, then replace the substrate, adding in the what you took away before.

[Bardiel]

Ah yeah, I should’ve done that.. I did half though. I also disinfected that half while the other side was untouched. I did hear lots of videos (including Victoria Rachel I could be wrong and misheard) and articles say do full cleanings. I had to destroy Bardiel’s nest unfortunately because that’s where the diarrhea was. She’s on dose 6 today of Baytril and she’s doing so much better and hoping it doesn’t come back ever. Unfortunately some toys had to go as they had diarrhea on them because they were in her nest during her sick days.

I asked my vet she said either spot clean or full. I went with half. Thanks for your advice.

[Bardiel]

I was wondering when I can play with her again. She bar chews to come out after that she’s quiet. I been hesitant because medicine and I really don’t want to do too much to stress her. I played with her before she got ill but since then I haven’t and she really wants it. Any advice on that would be great. Kinda worried about her ending the meds I read antibiotic induced diarrhea. My parents don’t believe she needs probiotics because not a cat or dog. Ugh it’s so hard to get them to understand. Advice on anything I can do about that would be great too.

[Jeir]

Tricky. If her usual routine is to come out and play when she demands it, it might be stressful if what usually happens doesn't. If her diarrhoea has cleared up, and she seems recovered, you should be able to have some gentle play time with her. Make sure you wash your hands and any toys before and after doing so, and keep an eye on her body language to make sure she isn't getting too overwhelmed after her sickness.

As for probiotics, it usually isn't necessary, but if you want to, you can give a small amount of plain yoghurt.

[Bardiel]

Thanks I’ll keep an eye on her tonight. She looks recovered as diarrhea subsided with the other symptoms. I usually let her out for about 40 minutes (gotta sleep and she gets late into the night playtime), I’ll do 20 mins of gentle playtime to see how it goes. I don’t dare give her less than that or she’ll be upset and demand more time.

Ah, ok I guess I don’t need it I thought I did to not have any other issues after. I never had a sick hamster before. My other 4 were in good health before passing on from old age.

[Bardiel]

Bardiel has been doing well but might have had the heater on a bit too much as it got very warm. I noticed half the water bottle was gone and the pee corner was soaked. Vets closed on weekends…ugh. I hope it’s just warm and not another health issue. Her pee didn’t smell sweet just noticed tonight how soaked the corner was. I cleaned out the corner and noticed the fruit flies…I’ll let my house cool down and see if she doesn’t drink/pee much. I hope it’s because it got a bit too hot. I just got done with meds 9 days ago I would hate another infection. 3 month old syrian…of course if she drinks a lot (not like she’s drinking for 5 mins or anything) and a soaked corner with the fruit flies kinda got me thinking if she’s got diabetes or kidney/bladder issues. She’ll get into the vets if she still drinks/pees much by Monday even with the cooled down room. Small town not really any emergency vets or I’d take her tomorrow. She peed on a paper towel on my bed and it wasn’t soaked and only normal amount of pee and no funny smell. I think I might have forgotten to clean out the pee corner but still it wasn’t that long ago (2 days ago) and it shouldn’t look like someone spilled water there. I’ll keep an eye on her and get her to the vets Monday morning if I don’t see any improvement on water intake and soaked bathroom area. Fruit flies are under control (also only 3 of them not a swarm I killed them) I’ll post a sticky note on the base of her cage to remember every day to clean it when she’s awake at night.