I need some advice on wet tail

[blueab]

I purchased a hamster on the 23rd for my son from petsmart, he died in a week so we took him back to Petsmart and they exchanged him for another one he died in a week. When we returned the first one the girl said all of them in this one cage had the wet tail and she would take them back to be treated.

Friday we took the second one back and we got a Black Bear Hamster paid more money(19.00 versa 9.00) but I don't care about the money only the health of the little guy. Today is Sunday and I noticed yesterday he had loose stool and is sleeping alot. So instead of taking him back to Petsmart (which I am really disguished with right now) I bought some dri tail today and gave it to him, I started giving him water last night with a dropper he wants the water when I offer it to him, now I am putting this medicine in the water and giving it to him about every two hours I am waking him up I am determined to keep this from happening again, I bought another cage today and moved him over to the new one, the clerk at the store told me to use bleach and water on the cage and dry it well. I did that on friday before I bought this new one today, but now I am worried about that too, what can i disinfect the cage with and be safe? I have the critter two and one cages now. The instructions say to use only water and soap no harsh chemicals...?

I got him up today and checked his bedding/paper towels for the loose stool and I haven't noticed any in about five hours or more and the smell isn't as strong. He got up for about an hour and explored his cage and prepared his bed a better sign than yesterday he didn't do anything.

I am really hating petsmart right now, they sell so many of these little guys and they are not cleaning the cages and the germ is spreading to the other aniamals, of course they take no blame they make it look as though its your fault.

Any suggestions? Advice?
What should I use on the cage?

Thanks so much for any help you can give!

[SapphireWolf]

I would take your little hamster to the vet for a stronger medicine. Dri tail is a weak medicine. But for the disinfecting, I think it would be alright to use a 2part water 1part bleach solution to clean everything out. That's what I use. then I re-wash everything with Dawn dish detergent so there isn't a bleach smell on the cage. I hope the best for your hammy and I hope this helps. Good luck

[blueab]

Hi Thanks for the advice, I did do the bleach and tonight I used scolding hot water and dawn and let the cage soak, hes in the new cage now. I have not noticed any loose stool since early this morning. He's more alert and acting better I don't smell the strong odor either. I keep waking him every two hours and giving him the water/medicine and he's taking it just fine, just a little at a time.

This has been a night mare for me and my son! He thinks that Hamsters don't like our house now! I wish I would have done more research on Hamsters. I had Hamsters about 10 years ago and never experienced any problems they lived forever and had babies and were healthy so this was all new to me! I had never heard of wet tail to bad the staff at the pet store don't tell you signs to look for maybe the first one could have been saved!
:wall:
I will not buy any more from Petsmart I can't help to blame them they are keeping the wet tail going and it's sad!

Thanks again!

[SapphireWolf]

No Problem! I'm glad to hear that your hamster's doing good

[Tumbledown]

Grr,I get so angry with hearing about this.Petsmart and other large pet stores have a really bad reputation with hamsters getting sick from wet tail.It's a serious bacterial disease and if one in the store has it the rest will end up with it,it's highly infectious.They have poor hygeine and won't get any vet care for the hamsters.

[PepsiVanilla]

I have had the same problem with Petsmart on two different occasions. Well, actually, two different problems. The first time, I went to buy a hamster, and the and the man there picked him up by his TAIL! I felt so bad for him, I bought him right away. I took him home, and I loved him to death. He was such a sweetie. Unfortunately, he died 7 months later, which, as most of you should know, is WAY under the average lifespan of a hamster. Second, I bought a black bear not too long ago, and within a few days he showed signs of wet tail. This, of course, means he was already sick at the petshop. Luckily he didn't get my other hamster sick, for I had let them meet. They wanted me to exchange him for a new one with my 14 day guarantee, but I had lost it. Not only that, but I was determined to help him get better. I knew he would not receive proper treatment there. Sadly, after three-four days of treatment, he died. I will NEVER buy pets at Petsmart again. I now stick to Animal Jungle, where they treat their small animals very well. I am happy with them, and I suggest them to anyone who has one nearby.

-Juli

[dosergirl]

Definately complain to the corporate headquarters of Petsmart...or any other national chain you have problems with. Complain a lot. Write emails., letters and phone calls...at least in hopes of helping any other animals that could be saved if treated properly.

[becksta and pj]

someone should really contact someone about this problem i got my lil hamster from petsathome a connection with petsmart he's fine and everything but the number of times i have heard about wet tail and petsmart

[4hgurly]

Where I live we don't have a Petsmart. We have a Petland I don't know whether they are similar or not but I haven't had any problems with them. I got my first Gerbil there and he lived to be 5 years old which is pretty darn good and I have a Black Bear Hamster now and She is absolutly fine at least so far she's 5 months old right now. She seems healthy just sleeps an awful lot. BUT she uses her wheel alot! So I'm pretty sure she's fine. Both I got from petland. If you want a breeding pair though I suggest not to get them there because well they make alot of mistakes with gender. For instance they said my gerbil was female I looked it up in a book and of course she was a he. They treat them very well though.

[becksta and pj]

when i got my lil hamster pj they said he's really to young to tell but he's most probly a boy then i found out that he's a boy so i think if they don't know for shore if the hamsters are boys or girls then they should just tell you how u know when for when the hamster gets older:)

[MemoryBear]

I bought a hamster from Petsmart a few years ago. She died within a month, and I swore to myself that I'd buy no more pets from there.

A few days ago, I bought two little male hamsters from Petco. Tonight, I moved one out of the cage they were both sharing, because he'd started shaking. I have reason to suspect that he'd been kept away from the food by the other one, who is fat and healthy. I'll definitely keep watch over him.

This is my first incident with Petco. Including the healthy male, all of my other hamsters that I currently have came from Petco, and all are fine.

[JustinQM]

I bought a hamster from Petsmart a few years ago. She died within a month, and I swore to myself that I'd buy no more pets from there.

A few days ago, I bought two little male hamsters from Petco. Tonight, I moved one out of the cage they were both sharing, because he'd started shaking. I have reason to suspect that he'd been kept away from the food by the other one, who is fat and healthy. I'll definitely keep watch over him.

This is my first incident with Petco. Including the healthy male, all of my other hamsters that I currently have came from Petco, and all are fine.


I had bad luck with my long haired teddy hamster from Petco. She lasted just a week and then came down with wet tail. I returned her so they could get her to a vet. The vet put her on some powerful anti-biotics but she didn't make it. I find that with Petco that they give their pets just the bare basic necessities. Most of the employees don't really know much about the animals in their store. I'm not sure I will buy another hamster from them, but I would want to in order to save them from a bad living environment there.


Justin

[MemoryBear]

The little guy died. I believe he did have wet tail, so I thoroughly scrubbed my hands after taking his cage outside, and have thoroughly scrubbed them again just now, as I did last night before handling any other hamsters.

The three hamsters who came in contact with him (his cagemate and two others) are still healthy, and I hope it stays that way.

You're right about Petco. A couple of times, I've encountered staff who have just about no idea what they're doing, but it was actually the same in a more local petstore I visited prior, where they didn't even sex hamsters reliably. I bought 3 hamsters from there once, that they said were all female. One of them turned out to be male :)

[JustinQM]

The little guy died. I believe he did have wet tail, so I thoroughly scrubbed my hands after taking his cage outside, and have thoroughly scrubbed them again just now, as I did last night before handling any other hamsters.

The three hamsters who came in contact with him (his cagemate and two others) are still healthy, and I hope it stays that way.

You're right about Petco. A couple of times, I've encountered staff who have just about no idea what they're doing, but it was actually the same in a more local petstore I visited prior, where they didn't even sex hamsters reliably. I bought 3 hamsters from there once, that they said were all female. One of them turned out to be male :)


I'm so sorry Memory Bear. I hate losing my pets, and it angers me that it could be the carelessness of petstores responsible. Wet Tail is almost always fatal if it isn't caught in time. I think there is a 80 percent fatality rate with wet tail. You did the right thing by thoroughly cleaning the cages

You are right about petstores not properly sexing the hamsters. I know at my Petco they keep males and females together. Grown Syrian males shouldn't even be housed together and yet Petco keeps them together.


Justin

[LilSnooPydOG]

I have gotten two hamsters from Petco and one from Petsmart. The one from Petsmart only lasted a few months, as you can see in my siggy (Stormy). The cage said that it consisted of males, but thinking back, I'm sure it was a female. One hamster from Petco was also supposedly a male, but I'm almost sure it was female, because its, um, "rear" was most definitely not male looking. But I could have judged wrong and they may have been males. Snickers (Petco) lasted almsot a year with me, and he wouldn't have died when he did, but my dog just had to catch him. The hamster I currently have, Snoopi, also from Petco, seems perfectly healthy, IS a female, and was in a cage with females. The person who was helping us said that she had many hamsters when she was younger, and she seemed to know a lot about other pets as well. Hmm...I have a feeling I got off track a little, but in my opinion Petco is better. Luckily they recently built a Petco near my house so I don't have to go to Petsmart anymore. :bouncy2:

[MemoryBear]

And the hamster saga continues...

When my mom came home, she called Petco, and we brought the dead hamster and his cagemate Bright Eyes in to be checked. It was wet tail, but Bright Eyes is OK!

Since the warranty was still valid, I was able to get another hamster. She's a cute little female. She chewed a hole in the carry box on the way home, and was sticking her head out :)

In a related note, the hamster cage where the males had come from had only 1 hamster in it, as opposed to the 4-5 (besides the two I bought) that had been in there on Thursday. Since they probably couldn't have sold them THAT quickly, there was most likely a wet tail epidemic.