My hamster is hurt.

Question
My hamster hurt her leg. She started moving around the cage fine so I didn't worry. But today when I went to her she had chewed her leg half way through. She is eating and drinking fine. She was ok when I picked her up. what should i do? I didn't think she hurt it that bad. She was moving fine in the cage. This all happened in about 6 hours time frame the hurt to the chewing. Please help.

Answer
Hello Raven,
I never thought I'd see another hamster do this. My hamster chewed his leg, but I believe it was stress/separation anxiety related since his brother (whom he'd never been separated from since birth) had recently died. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do. You could try to take her to the vet, but there might not much they could do that you couldn't. I would thoroughly clean out the cage, remove the wheel from her cage until she heals, clean the wound with hydrogen peroxide, and watch her over the next few days. It's a very good sign that her activity level is normal.

P.S. - I was surprised, but my resilient little hamster healed and went on to live a completely normal life (though she hobbled a little bit). Hamsters are pretty resilient!

Good luck,
Devin