Any Advice?

[Jenna Lee]

I recently purchased a Panda Bear hamster on 3/19/2005. . .well last night actually, from Petsmart. Being a brand new "mom" I made sure to ask the assistant exactly what I needed to keep my hamster healthy and happy. She was very helpful in showing me everything I would need for my new hamster's home. A sufficiently sized cage which came complete with exercize wheel and water bottle, Kaytee Aspen bedding, I bought the kind of food that they feed them at the store, I also bought some Kaytee strawberry yogurt treats, and a natural chew toy. Confident that I had everthing I would need to have for a happy hamster. . .I picked out my Panda hamster and went directly home. There I set up Daisy's cage (that was her name) complete w/ plenty of bedding, food in the food dish, and fresh water. She seemed happy as can be that night, running in her wheel constantly, and exploring her new home. The following morning, I thought nothing of it as she slept, knowing that hamsters are nocturnal animals. She would awake periodically and get a drink, or just shift around in her nest that she created during the night, and during one of these times when she was awake, I plucked her from her cage, and let her wander around my room for a little while under my supervision. . .she didn't move very fast but I figured it was just because she had just got up. . .but nonetheless, she was active - so I placed her in her exercize ball and she rolled around for a few minutes before I returned her to her cage. All seems normal right? Well that's what I thought too, so I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I notice her moving around in her cage. . .but very akwardly, almost like she was "drunk"...kind of wabbling around, and dragging her back-end only a couple hours later. "Something's not right here." I thought to myself, so I took her from her cage, and she just "sat" in one place, but I noticed she peed. She seemed to do that a lot. I just watched her there for a few moments, and when nothing happened really, I put her back in her nest. . . and she just layed there, and it seemed she was breathing rather shallow and swift. My room's in the basement, and it can get pretty chilly at night and I remembered the Petsmart Lady telling me that it's important to keep the hamster at a tempurature of atleast 65 degrees (my house is set to 68@ night), so I placed a heating pad under her cage set on "low". . .thinking that she's probably just too cold. Unfortunately less than 2 hours later when I checked on her, she had died, only a day after I got her :( I was just wondering what could have happened because she seemed "perfectly fine" the night I brought her home. . .and then. . . .well you know. It was almost like night and day. Any Advice anyone can offer would be most appreciated. Thank you

[J mouse]

I am so sorry for your loss. Did Daisy smell funny? You shouldn't take your hamster out of their cage for at least three days after getting them. You might even want to wait longer. It isn't unusal for a new hamster to getting wet tail. Also, did you show Daisy how to get water. It took my hamster Pinky a few weeks to figure out how to use his water bottle, I had to give him water by hand. Rest in Peace Daisy.

[Cammiehammie]

I think Daisy probally passed away from wet-tail. Whenever I get a new syrian, I place a few drops of dri-tail in their water bottle, and try to avoid playing with them for a few days.

[lilforjc]

sounds like wet-tail to me.too...we had a coupla hammies die of wet-tail due to stress-they like to get used to their new homes for a coupla days...i am sorry for your loss-will you get another do you think?

[Cammiehammie]

I am very sorry about your loss, and hope it dont stop you from getting another hamster. I would also contact Petsmart about this, they probally have more that are infected. If you get another hamster make sure you clean and disinfect the other cage with water and 1-10th bleach.

[OmniscientOnus]

First of all, I'm sorry to hear about Daisy :(. Second, and this has nothing to do with what was wrong with her, but if you do decide to get another hamster, get a different kind of bedding. I've heard a lot of different things about bedding, and a lot of them contradict each other, but it seems to be pretty universal that aspen bedding is bad for your hamster. I use pine bedding, though I've heard bad things about that too. The pine though seems to be split 50/50. Half of what I find says it's bad, and half says it's just fine. But just about everyone seems to agree that aspen is bad for them.

[Jenna Lee]

Thank you all very much for you kind words and excellent advice. J mouse: when I think about it, my bofriend did say something about her "smelling really bad" when he came home to visit her yesterday. We also didn't show her how to get water. The water bottle that came with the cage was a drip bottle. . we got a critter trail one by the way. . and water would just drip from it. She went to it a few times, so I just figured she knew how to use it :( Cammiehammie: Though it is a bit discouraging, I don't think I'll let this situation deter me from getting another panda. They're so beautiful! I'll definitely take your advice and inform petsmart when I go in there tomorrow to tell them about Daisy. I'll also pick up some dri-tail, and give my cage a thorough cleaning! Lilforjc: I will definitely take your advice and leave my new panda in the cage for a couple days before taking her out. The lady at petsmart did tell us to wait a minimum of 24 hours, which we did. . but it seems it may still have been to stressful for daisy :confused: Thanks to all of this wonderful advice, I feel a bit more confident about bringing home another hammie :) OmniscientOnus: The news about the bedding comes as a surprise since Aspen bedding is what the Petsmart lady recommended b/c that's what they use in thier cages there. . .but nonetheless the advice is well appreciated, and I will be purchasing pine for my next panda. Something that seemed a bit peculiar though. . .she seemed to be eating the bedding. . .I wonder if that's why Aspen is a bad choice for bedding?

[lilforjc]

I like carefresh or critter care-ya know the kind that looks like bits of paper or something-it's not very pretty, but it is virtually dust free, absorbs stuff and seems to be good for tunneling thru and digging-also seems less likely to scratch or otherwise injur the inside of their mouths and pouches! I am sure you took very good care of your Daisy-sometimes you can actually get a hammie from the petstore in the early stages of wet-tail...it's hard to know. Good luck with your next one!

[Cammiehammie]

Jenna I to use Aspen, and Carefresh. I would finish using the Aspen, I have 4 hamsters on it the mama, and her babies are on Carefresh since I bought some since I thought my lil boy was allergic to aspen, and it turns out he is not. There is alot of controversy over beddings, just never use cedar, and I was told never pine. Maybe it is different areas are told different things. Good Luck!

[Jenna Lee]

Hmmm, maybe I'll stick with Aspen bedding then since I have an entire bag left still! It just concerned me because it seemed like she was "eating" it, and I thought that may have upset her digestive track or something. A question to all about wet-tail. . . are one of the main symptoms of this disease just a wet-tail? I ask this b/c the night she died, I was up all night online trying to figure out why. . .and everything I read about wet-tail. . kind of hinted to the fact that they had a "wet-tail" because they pooped all the time. .like had diarrhea. . .Now I didn't think that that's why my Daisy died because of the fact that she hadn't pooped
AT ALL since I brought her home. . .One more question. . .could the fact that it might have been too cold in my room play a role as well? THANKS:)

[Cammiehammie]

A draft can get a hamster sick but I doubt that it would have killed Daisy that quick. Here is an article on Wet tail.

Wet Tail is a disease that is thought to be stress related and often affects young hamsters around the time of weaning, as this can be a stressful time. Therefore it is important when buying a new hamster that its cage is prepared before its arrival home and it is left to become familiar with its new surroundings in peace apart from feeding for a day or two to keep stress to a minimum. It is also thought that Wet Tail can be caused by bad living conditions, etc which could also cause stress.

Wet Tail is a bacterial infection or an imbalance of the natural bacteria in the hamster's stomach or intestine and is often confused with diarrhoea. Although a hamster with Wet Tail has diarrhoea, the diarrhoea is so severe that the hamster is wet and/or dirty not only around the anus but usually around the top of the tail as well. The diarrhoea is accompanied by a strong unpleasant smell. Droppings are pale in colour and extremely soft and may contain mucus. The hamster often walks hunched up, is weak and lethargic and may squeal in pain. Symptoms take 7 days to appear and the disease is often fatal with death occurring as early as 24 hours after the appearance of the symptoms. Therefore it is vital that veterinary treatment is sought immediately if a hamster shows symptoms of Wet Tail. Do not rely on over-the-counter products such as Dri-Tail to treat Wet Tail as these are often not effective against severe cases of Wet Tail. These should only be used if it is not possible to get the hamster to a vet immediately and veterinary advice should still be sought at the earliest opportunity, but do ensure if you have used any over-the-counter product that you inform your vet when you visit.

Hamsters suffering from Wet Tail often die from dehydration rather than from Wet Tail itself, or they simply refuse to eat or drink. Also, because of the severe diarrhoea Wet Tail can lead to rectal prolapse where the intestine is pushed outside the body through the anus.

[Cammiehammie]

Here is an article on colds. Hamsters can suffer colds and are able to catch colds and flu from humans. Therefore if you have a cold or flu you should keep handling of your hamster to a mimum until you are recovered to avoid spreading your cold to the hamster. Hamsters can also catch a cold if the cage is exposed to draughts or are bathed.

Signs that a hamster has a cold are normally sneezing and runny nose. In more severe cases the hamster may have runny eyes, lethargy, weight loss, refusal to eat and drink or laboured breathing/wheeziness.

If the hamster exhibits signs of sneezing and running nose only and it continues to eat and drink and is active it should be kept in a warm room (not hot) of constant temperature and away from draughts. Some extra paper bedding should be placed in the cage and the hamster should recover within a couple of days. If the hamster does not recover after a couple of days or worsens veterinary advice should be sought as antibiotic treatment may be required.

[Cammiehammie]

Here is another thought maybe an ear infection or stroke. Both these could cause that drunk waddle, that you spoke of. Strokes normally happen to hamsters during the time when they are active.

[Angelcrab]

I recently purchased a Panda Bear hamster on 3/19/2005. . .well last night actually, from Petsmart. Being a brand new "mom" I made sure to ask the assistant exactly what I needed to keep my hamster healthy and happy. She was very helpful in showing me everything I would need for my new hamster's home. A sufficiently sized cage which came complete with exercize wheel and <a href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=11&k=water%20bottle" onmouseover="window.status='water bottle'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">water bottle</a>, Kaytee Aspen bedding, I bought the kind of food that they feed them at the store, I also bought some Kaytee strawberry yogurt treats, and a natural chew toy. Confident that I had everthing I would need to have for a happy hamster. . .I picked out my Panda hamster and went directly home. There I set up Daisy's cage (that was her name) complete w/ plenty of bedding, food in the food dish, and fresh water. She seemed happy as can be that night, running in her wheel constantly, and exploring her new home. The following morning, I thought nothing of it as she slept, knowing that hamsters are nocturnal animals. She would awake periodically and get a drink, or just shift around in her nest that she created during the night, and during one of these times when she was awake, I plucked her from her cage, and let her wander around my room for a little while under my supervision. . .she didn't move very fast but I figured it was just because she had just got up. . .but nonetheless, she was active - so I placed her in her exercize ball and she rolled around for a few minutes before I returned her to her cage. All seems normal right? Well that's what I thought too, so I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I notice her moving around in her cage. . .but very akwardly, almost like she was "drunk"...kind of wabbling around, and dragging her back-end only a couple hours later. "Something's not right here." I thought to myself, so I took her from her cage, and she just "sat" in one place, but I noticed she peed. She seemed to do that a lot. I just watched her there for a few moments, and when nothing happened really, I put her back in her nest. . . and she just layed there, and it seemed she was breathing rather shallow and swift. My room's in the basement, and it can get pretty chilly at night and I remembered the Petsmart Lady telling me that it's important to keep the hamster at a tempurature of atleast 65 degrees (my house is set to 68@ night), so I placed a <a href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=11&k=heating%20pad" onmouseover="window.status='heating pad'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">heating pad</a> under her cage set on "low". . .thinking that she's probably just too cold. Unfortunately less than 2 hours later when I checked on her, she had died, only a day after I got her :( I was just wondering what could have happened because she seemed "perfectly fine" the night I brought her home. . .and then. . . .well you know. It was almost like night and day. Any Advice anyone can offer would be most appreciated. Thank you
The same thing happend to my hamster she died from a type of cancer, Im sorry about that.

[SnowPrincess]

it was really cold in your room...are you sure she was really dead?? because if the temperture is cold enough they can go into hibernation.

here's some info.....

Syrian hamsters can hibernate when there is a sudden change in their environment ie sudden temperature drop, lack of water, etc. A hibernating hamster may appear stiff and cold with little evidence of breathing and many owners have assumed a hibernating hamster to be dead at first.

Careful observation will reveal that the whiskers continue to twitch at intervals if the hamster is hibernating. Due to the fact that hamsters do not 'plan' to hibernate but it is induced by a sudden environment change they should be roused to avoid dehydration and starvation.

The hamster should be placed in a warm room or the temperature of the room increased slightly. The hamster should not be placed near a fire or on a radiator or anywhere in extreme heat. As the hamster begins to rouse the hamster will start to shake and tremble, the body temperature will gradually rise and the twitching of the whiskers will increase. Full arousal from hibernation can often take between 30 and 60 minutes.

Once the hamster is active plenty of food and water should be available and the hamster should be left quietly.

Dwarf Hamsters deal much better with colder temperatures than Syrian Hamsters and are not known to hibernate.


this happens more then people realize and some hamsters end up being buried alive. (i don't mean to make you nervous or scare you.)

[Jenna Lee]

WOW hibernation, I never thought of that. . .I don't think she was hibernating though because she was like half awake. . and moving around and seemed to be in a lot of pain:( I placed a heating pad underneath her cage and it warmed it up in there, but she didn't seem to react to the heat at all, but thank you for the suggestion. I actually returned daisy to Petsmart today, they took a look at her, and said that it didn't seem like she died of wet tail. They said she probably died from stress related causes, because she was handled too soon:( Honestly, the fact that she may have had a stroke seems to fit. . she was wobbeling around and when we took her out of the cage to look at her. . she was all hunched up like she was in a ton of pain and kind of like, dragged her back end and it looked like she had hurt herself b/c she wasn't using one of her back legs. .maybe because it was paralyzed from the stroke? Hmmm, it kinda makes sense doesn't it? Well, as I posted a little earlier. . .I brought another hammie home, cleaned the cage very thoroughly. . and "sweetie" seems to be doing well. . .thanks for all the advice guys. . .b/c of it, I feel a lot more confident this time around.

[J mouse]

Wet-tail is a stress related disease. And Petsmart is really stuipid. They sold my hamster to other people.(long story).

[SnowPrincess]

i thought they weren't allowed to do that.......???