Abnormal Hamster

Question
QUESTION: Hi Heather,

I'm Cindy and currently i have one baby Syrian hamster.
From the moment i got him from the pet shop, all he does is
sleep all day and night. He only comes out during hours
when i'm asleep to eat, drink and maybe play with his wheel
for a while. Also to add on, i brought him to the vet the
next day after purchasing him from the pet store to ensure
that he is healthy and the vet has also given him a vitamin
named "Multi-Vitamin" to help give him a better immune
system. After a week or so, i moved him to a new
environment, a cage which was previously owned by my other
Syrian but none died in it.

Today when i just woke up, immediately i went to check on
him. When i picked him up, i saw him having wet-tail. I
have just made an appointment with the same vet but what i
am curious about is, how can my hamster suddenly be
infected by wet-tail? i change his bedding everyday, as
well as his food and water. Apart from picking him up every
few hours to feed him water to avoid dehydration, i do not
handle him much because i know hamsters do get stressed out
of being handled too much.

Also, the very main reason why i moved him to a new
environment was because he was with one other hamster that
was infected with eye-diesease and is currently under-going
eye medication. So to avoid the spread of diesease, i have
decided to separate them. I'm curious if my current hamster
misses his companion that cause him to be this sick or
because of me?

Because after i move him to the new cage, i never hear him
coming out for food or water or even the wheel. All he does
is sleep and seems to be getting weaker day by day.

I would appreciate some advice because i am afraid that i
would be the cause that my hamster is getting wet-tail and
might die.

Thank you.

Regards,
Cindy.

ANSWER: When you say baby, I think of a very young hamster that's just been taken from the litter. Those little guys get very stressed out leaving home and being handled. Wet tail can also come from feeding too much fresh food like lettuce and carrots. Sometimes it can come for no reason at all. I wouldn't say you're to blame, and you caught it early so the vet will be able to get him on antibiotics. Syrian hamsters are solitary animals as they age, so I would not put him back in with your other hamster. By 2-3 months of age they really shouldn't even be in same sex cages, one hamster per age. Otherwise you risk territorial fighting, and more unnecessary stress. Lastly, a lot of owners seem concerned with the amount of time they think their hamster sleeps. It only seems like a lot because we aren't watching them the entire day, we're sleeping while they are awake. I guarantee your hamster is up and about more then you think it is.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again Heather,

I'm not sure if you have read my ratings/comments/feedback
telling you that the Vet said my baby hamster is not
suffering from wet-tail. However, i passed my baby hamster
back to the care of my fiancee because when we first bought
him, my fiancee was the one that took care of him and i
believe my baby hamster is more used to him rather than me.

I received a call from my fiancee earlier telling me that
my baby hamster's bottom part is half wet. Meaning from the
tail until the chest -- as described by my fiancee.
Currently my baby hamster is suffering from Wet Bottom,
Foul Odour after urinating and walking hunched. He does not
show signs of Diarrhea, Lethargy, Lack of Appetite or not
Grooming. All in all, my baby hamster still looks very
active when awaken but would hardly wake up unless being
waken.

My vet suggested to feed my baby hamster an Energy Drink
namely 100plus. 100plus provides a correct ratio of fluid
glucose and mineral's as well as it replaces essential
electrolytes. I learned that when Hamster's suffer from
wet-tail, they loose out on electrolytes, thus the Vet
suggested us to feed our baby hamster 100plus.

The cage, as i described earlier, a Habitrail Ovo Suite,
was previously owned by my other hamster which has already
passed away. One suffered from Diarrhea and the other died
in the cage unexpectedly because of heatstroke. The hamster
that suffered from Diarrhea did not died in that cage, i
moved it out because i did not want that hamster to affect
the healthy one. As for the one that died from Heatstroke,
she died in the water bottle area. But i have already
washed the cage and put it aside for weeks before re-using
it.

I would like to ask if my baby hamster is suffering from
wet-tail or is he too stress from excessive handling? Or is
it because we moved him from a Crittertrail Mini to a
Habitrail Ovo Pod?

I would really appreciate more advice from you because both
me and my fiancee are worried-sick now.

Thank you.

Regards,
Cindy.

Answer
That's a tough one. I'm not really an expert on illness by any means, since all of my hamsters have been fairly healthy. The only one that ever had wet tail had similar symptoms to the one you have now. There was no real diarrhea, just a very wet bottom. When a hamster dies of wet tail, it's usually from dehydration, which is why the vet is having you feed him electrolytes. The cage change could trigger stress, but in a normal hamster this won't cause any major changes. Could he be sleeping in his potty chamber? The problem with plastic habitrail type cages is, the hamsters don't tend to use the little compartments like we envision. With the electrolytes, if he doesn't improve in 48 hours, I'd get a second opinion...ie from another vet.