Syrian Hamsters are pretty straightforward pets to care for. The two most important rules I have learnt whilst keeping hamsters are;
- The enclosure should be kept as clean as possible
- Stress should be avoided at all times where possible
Below is a personal account I wrote for my Foundation Degree in College regarding an incident that may come about due to sub-par hygiene and stress. It also mentions why I feed natural yoghurt to my own hamsters:
"I have owned a male Syrian hamster named ‘Thor’ since June 2012. He was purchased from a local pet store at 8 weeks of age. The incident I will discuss occurred during the Christmas period of 2012 in which Thor was approximately 8 months of age. Until the below incident I have never noticed any signs of illness in Thor; nor has he required any veterinary attention.
At around 10pm on 22nd December 2012 I took Thor from his enclosure to handle and play with him. Immediately I spotted a change in behaviour as he appeared not fully awake, despite him being a nocturnal animal. However I determined this behaviour to be fatigue and returned him to his cage. The following evening I noticed that Thor’s left eye was closed and appeared sticky whilst he moved around his enclosure. I decided to take him from his cage to have a closer look at him. It was at this point I realised there was a serious problem with Thor as his back end was wet and covered in faeces. I attempted to clean him using cotton wool but my usually gentle and docile hamster was so distressed that he tried to bite my hand.
The following morning at 8.30am I took Thor immediately to the local veterinary surgery where he was examined shortly after by a veterinarian. I was told that my hamster was suffering from Proliferative Ileitis; or as it is more commonly known ‘Wet Tail’. I knew little about this disease, other than it affected hamsters and so I required more information. The vet explained that it was a form of severe diarrhoea and was life-threatening, as the hamster more often than not dies from dehydration. I was advised to administer antibiotics via a dropper every day for one week and also to feed the hamster fluids as often as he would drink them to counteract the diarrhoea. He suggested gently wiping his eye with cotton wool as I had done because this was likely also a symptom of the disease (due to him feeling fatigued).
On 25th December, following little improvement in Thor’s condition, I decided to research online for any extra help I could give him to help fight the Wet Tail. My hamster owners suggested feeding natural yoghurt and flavouring his drinking water with sugar-free squash, to encourage him to consume fluids.
Three days later on 28th December – six days after I first noticed any symptoms – Thor appeared to be in good health once more. He looked full of energy and his eye was fully open and bright. His back end was free of faeces and upon cleaning his enclosure normal droppings were found. Despite 9 out of 10 cases of Wet Tail resulting in death, Thor had recovered from this disease. Since this incident Thor has had no other health complaints and I am still providing natural yoghurt each day to keep him hydrated and his digestive system healthy."
On a lighter note - I hope you enjoyed the video (even if you did only watch for the cute hamster)!
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