Our Hamsters Death

Question
Well my brother had gotten a hamster a couple months ago Here is the story. Me and my best friend were at a pet store and we saw some hamsters my mom agreed to let both me and my brother get one, we did so we went to the store got all the stuff needed and set up their home when we got back to my house my brothers hamster and my hamster were doing great they were sleeping fine ( they were nocturnal ) eating fine, and running in their wheels. about 3 days later we notised a change. jeff ( my brother ) said stripe ( his hamster ) looked a little skinny we were worryed but didn't think anything of it. we also saw his one eye was sealed shut, macie ( my best friend ) knew what to do right there she got a Q tip ( cotten tip ) and put it under some warm water she put it on stripes eye after a couple minutes he opened his eye, he looked ok....for a little while then he started walking weird like he broke his back legs or something he was dragging his legs, and started making a weird noise like he was couphing ( spelled wrong )the next morning he died and we never knew what caused it one day he was perfectly fine and then bam he's gone so if you can figure out what happend I would be greatful thanks so much! bye

Answer
Hi Holly,

It sounds as though he may have suffered from wet tail, which is a serious illness caused from the stress of moving homes. A sign of later illness is the closing of the eye, and hunching up and just sleeping. You may notice he might have smelt a bit more too.

If i were you i would check yours over. Check your hamsters bottom to make sure there is no faeces stuck underneath on his fur. If there is and there's quite a bit and it smells i would make sure you go to the vet straight away as these are the early signs of wet tail. The longer it is left the harder it becomes to treat!!

Hope this helps,
Charlie