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Dwarf hamsters are tough little animals that don't get sick easily; however, like other pets, they have some weakness and therefore they may get sick sometimes. In most case they will just recover by their own. Nevertheless, we have to take extra care of the sick hamster. Unfortunately, some diseases are inheritance and not curable. This is why we need to take extra attention when getting dwarf hamsters. The following are some common syptoms or diseases for reference only. It's recommended to see the vet when your pet gets sick. Diarrhea is a very common syptom among hamsters, and it can be fatal if it was not treated properly. Usually the causes are: food poisoning (such as dirty food or water, wrong kind of food...etc), environmental change (such as temperature, moves) and stress (such as threat from other hamsters or animal). Healthy hamster's droppings is very dark in color, somewhat very close to black and dry. Separate the hamster from the rest. Stop giving "wet" food (e.g. fresh veggie) in the diet, and change water daily. Wash the bottle and all accessories with boiling water and use cooled boiled water to refill. Get some diarrhea drops from the pet supply store and apply some in the water. It is usually caused by prolonged exposure directly in sunlight or heat sources. The hamster becomes very weak and often have sweat all over the body. Moreover, it breaths heavily with clicking sound and it does not move around as usual. Dehydration is fatal and must be taken care of immediately. Move the hamster to a cool spot and allow some ventilation in the area. Try to feed it some water and if possible, leave a shallow container of water right beside the hamster. Hand fed the hamster with fresh fruit, that is peeled and chopped in little pieces. Usually the hamster will eventually recover in a day or two. If the problem persists, go see the vet. The eyes appear as filled with tears or has some yellowish stuff built up around. Possible causes are spoiled food get stuck in the pouches, and eye infection. Pick up the hamster and touch the pouches gently with your fingers. If you feel something hard inside then it probably got some food of object stuck. Try to use a dropper, with a hard tip, to force open the mouth and wash the pouches by water streams. For eyes infection. There are hamster eye drops available at your local pet store. Follow the instruction on the bottle and see for a day or two. Separate the hamster from others if it isn't living alone. Do not touch it with bare hands as it is probably very frightened or irritated. Calm the hamster first, then use a damped (with clean water) tissue to wipe away dirt on the wound. Clean the cage, replace the shavings and water everday. In most case, it will recover in a few days. Healthy dwarf hamster skin color, regardless fur color, is pink, and isn't visible unless we look closely under the fur. They do shed hair from time to time, however, abnormal hair lost means an area of skin, such as dime-size, become visible and there is no hair; in other cases, a part of skin becomes swollen. Skin problem is caused by allegy of shavings, food, cage material or simply stress. Try the skin sprays that are widely available in pet supply stores. Consult the vet if the problem persisted for more than 2 weeks. This is a very bad disease that we can do nothing much about. Usually it is inherited from either parent hamsters or both; whose may not show the symptoms in their entire lives. Basically, the hamster drinks a lot and urinates a lot. Generally diabete hamsters have a much shorter lifespan then normal ones, although their behaviours aren't very different. Do not let the diabetes to breed by separate the male from the female. Unlike human, cancer in hamsters usually comes in the form of an external and visible clot. It often appear on the back of the body. Treatment is simple yet it must be performed by the vet. The hamster will recover in a week or two after the surgery in most cases. However, if the clot was found inside the body then there is very little we can do about it.
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