A hammy with a really fat tummy. Could it be??

Question
Dear Sheila,
I have 2 females I got about 2 weeks ago from "Pet Supermarket". They are regular dwarfs. I sexed them and I am 99.9% sure they are both females. I have one named Dimitri and one Selena. Well,when I got Selena,she was a tiny bit fatter that Dimitri. She barely is ever awake. I sometimes stay up hours watching them at night and only Dimitri is active day and night. The longest I see her playing is about 10 minutes. When I first got her,she was much more active. Now she walks much slower and tends to eat more. Her belly is getting MUCH bigger every day. I think she is pregnant. Do you know any symptoms of a pregnant hamster? Also if she is pregnant, I know that the father will eat the babies,but what about another female? Should I separate them?

P.S-Dimitri is staying the same weight.And also at the pet store they said there were males and females together in the tank.

Thanks,Giana

Answer
Hi Giana

There are two things that spring to mind with Selena - pregnancy or diabetes.

It could well be that Selena is pregnant - this is quite a common story.  Assuming Dimitri is definitely female then you shouldn't have to worry if a litter appears. If by any chance Dimitri is male, then they will mate again the day the litter is born.

The usual gestation period for a dwarf is 18-21 days.  During this time the only real signs of pregnancy are the obvious weight gain which if she stretches the bulge remains on her hips.  Also, some hamsters are very busy relocating nests etc, and some drink more than usual.  Other than that there aren't really any signs and it is a case of waiting until the 21 days have passed.

Assuming she is pregnant, then at this moment don't over-feed her - just give the usual amount of food.  If a litter appears you can increase the amount of food you give her and supplement it with some baby food (if you buy a packet of creamy porridge oat powder and mix a little with water) as this will give extra nutrients to feed her babies.  Dimitri will probably tuck into this too!  When the babies leave the nest at around 2 weeks of age they too will eat it if you place it in a low enough dish/jam jar lid. If you have any houses/tubes etc in the cage right now that can be removed, it is worth doing this.  It is much less stressful if any litter is born in the open or under a platform rather in a tiny area.  Also, if their wheel has spokes or a drainage slit, this should be removed and replaced with a solid wheel.  Ideally as you have two hamsters together they should have their own wheel anyway to stop any fighting.

Dimitri should be fine with any litter.  Often sisters help the mum out and 'baby sit' for them.  Unfortunately you never have any guarantee that a litter will survive - sometimes the mum does kill them, but this is usually because she is afraid there is not enough space, food or feels threatened.

I advise that you don't try handling any babies until they are 2 weeks old and leaving the nest.  Prior to this they are totally reliant on mum and you don't want your scent going on them and her rejecting them.  In an emergency and you have to  handle one (to return it to the nest if it accidentally gets left out in the open) then gently place your hands on the others and around the cage so that both the females recognise your scent and you haven't singled out just one.

At 2 weeks you should try to handle them.  Be careful as Selena will be very protective and may become aggressive if you get too close, but if you talk to her a lot and handle her too, she should be OK.  Don't keep her away from her babies for too long - I usually handle the babies several times a day just for a minute or two at a time.  This handling time can be increased over the following 2 weeks.  At 4 weeks the babies will need sexing and any boys taken out.  Any girls can stay with Selena and Dimitri and providing they don't fight can remain living with them.  The boys can live with each other, but must be removed from the girls at 4 weeks of age as they can become sexually active then.

If you find that 21 days pass and there is no litter, then you need to consider other things are causing Selena's behaviour.  Check that there is poo in the cage - you need to make sure she isn't constipated.  Some female hamsters can have ovary cysts and these can make their abdomen swell.  I would advise that if there is no litter and she is still behaving very differently from Dimitri and gaining weight then it would be worth getting her checked out.  It could be that she is generally more relaxed and laid back than Dimitri and her weight gain is because she isn't as active, but usually with a dwarf hamster of this age you would expect her to be running around.

As mentioned above, the other thing that springs to mind is that perhaps she is diabetic and constantly eating to balance her sugar levels.  What type of dwarf hamster are they?  Are they Campbells or Winter Whites?  Campbells tend to get this more than other hamsters, but I have even had Syrians with this before.  Unfortunately with dwarf hamsters this can run in the family so if it is this, Dimitri may have it too.  The usual symptoms for this are excessive water drinking, their pee smells very sweet, and you find you have to clean them out more frequently, constantly eating to balance sugar levels and they can gain a lot of weight.  

Whilst you are waiting to see if Selena is pregnant it would be a good idea to check for this.  If you get hold of a 'diastix' either from a local chemist, vet, or the pet shop might sell them, and then place Selena in a clean plastic tray and wait for her to pee.  As soon as she pees test her pee with the diastix.  If it shows a high glucose level then you are pretty sure she is diabetic.  It would be worth checking Dimitri too, but do them separately so that you know what each individual reading is.  If this test proves positive, or if you can't get hold of a diastix to test I think it would be a good idea right now to assume she is diabetic and make some changes to her diet.  Don't give her any sweet food - this includes dried fruit that is often in hamster mix, fresh fruits such as apple etc, or any treats that contain honey.  A lot of the treats that are stuck on sticks use honey.  Buy a packet of: sesame seeds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and mix together.  Sometimes you can buy these already mixed in an 'omega 3' seed mix.  These seeds contain essential fatty acids and can help stabilise sugar levels. You should give a teaspoon of this mix daily.  Taking these precautions will not affect her if she is healthy and her weight gain is down to pregnancy.  However, delaying making these changes and finding that she is diabetic might have a serious affect on her.  If you treat diabetes quickly often the hamster can stabilise their sugar over a week or two and live a full life (although you have to continualy monitor diet and check there is no sugar in anything you give), some sadly cannot do this.  

I hope this helps you.  Good luck with this.

Regards
Sheila