concerned about my hamsters health

Question
my syrian hamster is two and a half years old. i am very concerned about his health.he is drinking almost half a bottle(pet bottle) of water a day and is weeing an incredible amount.
he used to be a healthy weight, however now has lost alot of weight.he is not eating very much and when i tried to have a look at him, i noticed that his top teeth are very short, and possibly broken and his bottom teeth are over grown.
he hardly ever gets up any more and looks very ill!

i know i need to see a vet, but he is not very tame, and i am concerned for him, and the vet that would be handling him!

what can i do?

thanks.

Answer
Hi Charlotte,

it sounds as if your hamster has diabetes, or some other similar ailment.

I think it will be best for you take him to the vets just to be on the safe side and see if they can do anything for him.

The vet will be used to handling pets who are not tame - so please do not worry about that - that is their jib.

But it probably would be a good idea to try and tame him when he comes back from the vets because hamsters do need to come out of their tanks and enjoy playing with people and being stroked - when they get used to it.

Regards,

Tammy