My hamster looks like he sick, what should I do?

Here are some things to look out for: When animal is awake, it should look alert, not apathetic. Anus should not be smeared with droppings. (This is a sign of possible diarrhoea.) Eyes should be clear, without signs of secretion. Heavy or noisy breathing may indicate disease. There should be no sores, coughing, wheezing, shaking, walking weird, or any other abnormal behaviour - SEE A VET IMMEDIATELY. Don't post on a hamster message board and ask what you should do first. You should take your hamster to the vet. By posting, it takes awhile to get a response, and some hamsters have died because their owners have not acted fast enough. For more signs, read the answer to the question "How can I keep my hamster healthy?"

Do hamsters hibernate?

Hamsters can hibernate when there is a sudden change in their environment ie sudden temperature drop, lack of water, etc. A hibernating hamster may appear stiff and cold with little evidence of breathing and many owners have assumed a hibernating hamster to be dead at first.
If you look closely, you should notice that the whiskers continue to twitch at intervals if the hamster is hibernating.
The hamster should be placed in a warm room or the temperature of the room increased slightly. The hamster should not be placed near a fire or on a radiator or anywhere in extreme heat. As the hamster begins to rouse the hamster will start to shake and tremble, the body temperature will gradually rise and the twitching of the whiskers will increase. Full arousal from hibernation can often take between 30 and 60 minutes.
Dwarf Hamsters deal much better with colder temperatures than Syrian Hamsters and are not known to hibernate.

What if my hamster has mites?

Hamsters usually get mites from other animals infested by it or from their bedding (ie., hay containing mites) If you notice that your hamster is scratching a lot, has fur loss and/or irritated skin, carefully inspect your hamster to make sure that he does have it before using chemicals ect.. You will notice tiny black specks on the fur. Another way to check is if you use a white paper towel and rub the hamster to see if any black specks come off. If your hamster has mites you can treat this with anti-mite spray designed for caged birds or small animals. Or you can go to your vet, and he can prescribe you with some spray. Don't forget to disinfect cage, wheel, food dish, water bottle, anything that has been in contact with your hamster, and shavings so avoid this happening again, treat other pets to stop it from spreading to one pet to the next.

What should I do if I find bugs in my hamster food?

You can put the hamster food with the bag into the freezer. This should kill all the bugs. You can then take them out. Or, even easier, take the food back to the pet shop and get another bag.

Yuck! Should my hamster be eating his poop?

Hamsters have a different digestive system than humans. Hamsters produce two types of excrement - one that's partially digested containing lots of nutrients, and one that's just garbage. Hamsters practice coprophagy, eating the nutrient-filled excrement to get the nutrients from it and digest it fully.

What is wet tail and how should I treat it?

Wet tail or the scientific word being proliferative ileitis or transmissible ileal hyperplasia is a highly infectious illness of the digestive tract where the lower part of the intestine becomes thickened and inflamed. It is usually caused by stress. Especially if the hamster is taken away from its mother to early, or stress can also be caused by being in a new enviroment ect..
The first symptoms are usually unkempt fur, loss of appetite and lethargy, quickly followed by severe watery diarrhoea, and a hunched position. Rectal prolapse may occur and wasting and death is likely within two to six days. Treatment is possible but difficult and requires dedicated nursing. If wet tail is suspected, a vet needs to be consulted immediately, the hamster must be isolated and strict hygiene observed.
An infected hamster needs immediate veterinary treatment and then must be kept warm and clean with bedding changed frequently and as free from stress as possible. As fluids are lost with the diarrhoea they need to be replaced and no solid food given for at least the first 24 hours.

Should I let my hamster swim?

No. No matter what you have heard, water is dangerous to hamsters. Even if they do not drown trying to stay out of the water, chances are they will catch a cold or pneumonia because their body temperature will drop so rapidly

My hamster has been drinking a lot of water, what's wrong?

This can sometimes be a sign of diabetes. The symptoms of diabetes are excessive drinking, excessive urination, extreme hunger, dehydration, maniacal exercising and/or extreme lethargy, difficulty maintaining body temperature, and general discomfort. Don't just go by these symptoms to determine whether your hamster is diabetic though, because there is a possibility your hamster could have a bladder infection, or kidney infection. The only way to find out which one your hamster is, you need to go to the vet to have their glucose level confirmed. If it has been confirmed by a vet that your hamster is diabetic, the first thing you have to prevent is dehydration. You can buy some pedialyte at a pet shop, you put 50% pedialyte, and 50% water in his water bottle. Diabetics don't metabolize food properly and are always hungry even if your hamster is on a healthy diet, so it is a good idea to provide vitamin drops, and test your hamsters glucose level regularly. It can be done at home with a test strip.

What is Cushings Disease?

Cushings Disease is a problem found in dogs normally, but lately there has been a few reports of this happening with hamsters, but it's very rare. I'm going to answer this question in it's relation to hamsters.
What I do know about Cushings is that the three primary symptoms are:

* Bilateral symmetrical hair loss on the flanks and the outside of the thighs
* The skin is thin and may become dark coloured
* The hamster may drink, eat and urinate more than normal

and of course there are a host of other symptoms that normally follow (ie, you may notice increased drinking, increased urination, thinning of the skin, calcified lumps in the skin, susceptibility to skin infections and diabetes, weakening of the heart and skeletal muscles, nervous system disease and other symptoms). Cushings is an adrenal gland problem related to abnormal hormone levels. Cushings disease is a very rare problem with hamsters, but it seems to be more common now and unexplained. I know they can do tests for dogs. Judging by the fact that cushings disease in dogs does not have a cure and even with treatment, their life span is shortened, I would think that this disease in hamsters is probably untreatable because they have an even shorter life span. I wish I could give you a better answer, but as you know, not many vets out there are highly trained when it comes to hamsters and this disease is fairly new and only now becoming a little more common.