Help! Large bumps on back!

[Buddy1234567]

My my male syrian hamster has two large MOUNDS on his lower back, he can't fit into any of his tubes or his house! He seems VERY happy and healthy, eats, drinks and poops like normal. His behavior is as normal, like there is nothing wrong at all! He is 2 years old.

[LuckyBunny888]

If hes two years old, thats getting up there for a hammie. Do the lumps feel like water or jellowish at all?

[Buddy1234567]

Yeah he is kinda old! but his bumps feel hard, like when i hold him, it feels like 2 golf balls or something. its weird. i try to research his condition, but he doesnt show any symptoms! he seems perfectly happy..i just dont know what it could be!

[iheartharold]

im 99% positive its cancer.


hamsters only live between 2-4 years, so technically your hamster is a "senior citizen". most rodents are inbred, and one of the sad outcomes of inbreeding is a extremely high risk of cancer, thus most rodents will die of cancer. its common, and sadly, there isnt much you can do. my sisters hamster had a tumor on his side, and it just kept growing to almost the size of a golf ball!!! (it was a syrian) he was fine and acted compltely normal for a long tiem (i was i believe 12 or so at the time) so we figured, hes acting normal, he must be ok. but after a while he started slowing down, began to act really lethargic, wasnt ating or drinking and seemed to be trying hard to breathe. it was horrible, and we all knew he was dying...and one day i walked in and found that he had died.

my recommendation, is wait it out. hes lived pretty much a full life, and i would just let nature take its course. if thats to hard for you to do, you can take him to an exotics vet (which can cost 20-50 or so just for an EXAM) he can tell you for sure if its cancer or not and if there is any hope. and if you want to put him out of his misery, it is possible to have him humanely euthanized.

[Buddy1234567]

awwww... okay, thank you for your help. im sorry to hear about your hamster. but its probably best to just let them go on their own. thank you again.
-Jacqueline