Diet & upset stomach

Question
Dear Shawntiah, May I first say what an excellent web site and service you offer, I've just found it today and also asked for advice on handling from another expert.  Basically I have a 6 month old male Syrian shorthaired hamster - Sammy.  He is very active and appears to be healthy, his eyes are bright, his coat is soft and no wet tail etc.  About a month ago I noticed that his stools had become softer.  This was quite severe for a few days and he had a bit of a 'runny bum'.  I was considering the vet when it lessened.  He has always been on the same dried food, with a bit of carrot, wholemeal bread and monkey nuts as extras.  The only thing I can think of that's different is a vitamin/hard fruit chew which was in his cage.  I removed this and he's improved but it's not fully cleared up.  I have since tried a different type (alledgedly) a higher quality dried food.  He still has occassional soft stools, I'd say about 10-20% but the rest are very hard.  Sorry this isn't the nicest type of query! but is there anything else you could think of that could cause this?  He seemed to drink less water when he was initially worse in the first few days.  Apart from this he seems 100% fine.  He also had vitamins in his water but I've stopped this for a few weeks to keep him to basic water, dried food and monkey nuts to see what occurs.  I'd really appreciate any advice.  Regards - Amanda

Answer
Hello Amanda,
it sounds like your hamster may have a little virus or something. Me personally I would still take the hamster to a vet for some antibiotics if he's having diarrhea every now and then. To make sure that he doesn't get dehydrated I would add some gatorade to the water or some pedialyte. Gatorade will help keep him from losing so much water from having diarrhea.
Maybe 1/3 gatorade in the water bottle would be enough to help. To me it seems that you are doing everything you're supposed to be doing and you're trying to rule out what could cause it. I think you are doing great. Keep me posted on how things go.