Everyone hopes that the hamsters brought into their homes can be healthy and live long lives. Just as each hamster has a unique personality and physical condition, it is important to maintain their health with care until the end of their lives. This is not difficult to achieve.
Here are ten basic rules for maintaining the health of your hamsters. Adhering to these fundamental care methods is more important than anything else.
Creating an Appropriate Living Environment
Be mindful of loud noises and vibrations, avoid extreme heat and cold, and sudden temperature changes. Provide a stress-free environment for your hamsters to grow. Also, pay attention to cleanliness and thoroughly clean the cage regularly.
Providing Appropriate Food and Water
High-quality pellet feed should be the main diet, providing nutritionally balanced food is very important. The same goes for drinking water; it should be changed daily.
Understanding Hamster Ecology and Habits
Hamsters are nocturnal animals, resting during the day. They like to dig holes, live alone, and are omnivorous. Understanding these habits helps you interact with them better.
Maintaining an Appropriate Body Shape
A plump body may look cute, but obesity is unhealthy. However, being overly concerned about weight gain and ending up underfeeding the hamster is also not good. Help your hamsters maintain a healthy, robust physique.
Understanding Your Hamster’s Personality
Even with the same treatment, some hamsters may be afraid while others may not mind. Individual differences among hamsters are significant. Take the time to understand the personality of your hamster.
Appropriate Interaction
It’s not good to play with hamsters until they are dizzy, but if they cannot adapt to humans, they will not be able to live peacefully every day. Pay attention to the appropriateness of interaction.
Avoiding Excessive Stress on Hamsters
Temperature changes, excessive interference, and fear-inducing interactions can all cause stress in hamsters. Stress can weaken the immune system and make them prone to illness. Be mindful not to put too much pressure on them.
Finding a Good Animal Hospital
Find a regular animal hospital that can provide health checks, consultations, and other services. Once you decide to keep hamsters, start looking for a hospital immediately.
Providing Adequate Exercise Opportunities
Set up running wheels and exercise equipment in a spacious cage to give your hamsters more opportunities to move around. Building muscle will also improve their stamina.
Checking Health Status
To detect diseases early and treat them promptly, incorporate health checks into your daily care routine.
Daily Practice of Health Management
Hamsters, like prey animals, often pretend to be fine even when they are sick. Therefore, when humans notice that a hamster “seems unwell,” the situation is usually quite serious. Early detection and treatment of diseases are crucial. Through daily appropriate care management, confirm the health status of your hamsters and maintain their health.
Record daily health checks and unusual events (such as new foods given to the hamster, loud noises and vibrations, drastic temperature changes, etc.) in a care diary. When your hamster is unwell, looking back can sometimes help determine the cause. Remember to bring the care diary when taking your hamster to the hospital.
Health Management and Preventive Measures
Tumors
Tumors are common in hamsters and can occur at any age but become more frequent with age.
The body is made up of cells that gather together. Sometimes specific cells proliferate excessively, forming a cluster called a tumor.
Benign tumors grow slowly, do not metastasize or recur, and have clear boundaries from normal tissue. These tumors can usually be cured by surgical removal.
Malignant tumors grow faster, have unclear boundaries with surrounding tissues, making them difficult to completely remove, and are prone to metastasis and recurrence. They are also known as cancer.
Tumors can be caused by genetics, hormonal imbalances, aging, dietary habits, and environment.
Symptoms:
Tumors can occur almost anywhere in the body. If they are near the surface, they may feel like lumps or tumors and can sometimes be detected by touch.
Treatment:
Treatment methods vary depending on the type of tumor, its location, age, health status, and available treatment costs. Aggressive treatment involves surgical removal of the tumor; chemotherapy and radiation therapy for hamsters are more special approaches.
Consider the age of the hamster and other factors, and there may be an option to “not treat.” Please consult with a familiar veterinarian.
Prevention:
It is not possible to prevent tumors with certainty. Implement good care management to detect them early.
Skin Diseases
Demodectic Mange (Demodicosis)
Caused by the demodex mite parasitizing hair follicles, it is common in animals with weakened immune systems.
Allergic Dermatitis
May be caused by contact with allergens such as coniferous wood chips, mold on wood chips, or ticks and mites.
Bacterial Dermatitis
Caused by bacterial infections due to contact with dirty bedding that has been soiled with urine, common in damp and dirty environments.
Allergic Dermatitis:
Remove allergens. If the skin is injured due to scratching, antibiotics should be administered.
Bacterial Dermatitis:
Improve the cleanliness of the living environment and treat with antibiotics.
Prevention:
Demodectic Mange:
Stress can weaken the immune system. Provide an appropriate environment, diet, and treatment.
Allergic Dermatitis:
Stop using items that cause allergies.
Bacterial Dermatitis:
Maintain cleanliness inside the cage.
Symptoms:
Demodectic Mange:
Hair becomes sparse from the back, waist to buttocks, and is not very itchy.
Allergic Dermatitis:
If the cause is wood chips, the abdomen will lose hair, the skin will turn red, and it will itch.
Bacterial Dermatitis:
The skin turns red and ulcerates.
Treatment:
Demodectic Mange:
Administer anthelmintics.
Dental Diseases
Malocclusion is a common dental disease in hamsters.
Hamster incisors (front teeth) continue to grow throughout life, but wear down through friction when eating, so they do not grow too long. However, if they cannot occlude for some reason, the teeth will overgrow and become unable to eat. Causes include gnawing on cage wires, facial injuries from falling from heights, and genetics. Feeding soft food that does not require front teeth to gnaw is also one of the reasons.
Maloccluded incisors. Causes include excessive gnawing on wires, etc.
Symptoms:
When the teeth cannot occlude, the upper incisors will curve inward and grow toward the mouth, while the lower incisors will grow outward. Sometimes it can be seen that they have grown too long. Other symptoms include difficulty eating, reduced food intake leading to weight loss, smaller feces, and decreased fecal volume.
Treatment:
Trim to an appropriate length. Using pliers or other tools at home to cut may adversely affect the tooth roots, so please take them to a veterinary hospital to use appropriate instruments for trimming. It may be necessary to treat regularly after a malocclusion occurs.
Prevention:
Do not let hamsters gnaw on cage wires. Using an aquarium-type cage is also a solution.
Cheek Pouch Prolapse
A common disease near the mouth is cheek pouch prolapse. The cheek pouch usually does not protrude from the mouth, but if sticky, easily melted, or soft food is put into the cheek pouch, or items that can injure the cheek pouch are placed in, the cheek pouch will become inflamed. In the end, the cheek pouch may evert and fall out of the mouth.
As long as it is discovered immediately, returning to the original state is mostly not a problem, but if time is dragged on for too long, surgery may be required to remove it.
Eye Diseases
Conjunctivitis and Keratitis
Inflammation of the conjunctiva, which connects the inner eyelid to the eyeball, and the cornea, which covers the surface of the eyeball, may be caused by dust entering the eye or hamsters rubbing their faces with dirty front paws during face cleaning.
Hordeolum (Stye)
Inflammation of the sebaceous gland located on the inner side of the eyelid, known as the meibomian gland.
Symptoms:
Conjunctivitis and Keratitis:
Eyes cannot open, increased tears and discharge. Hordeolum:
Swelling of the eyelid or growth of foreign bodies.
Treatment:
Conjunctivitis and Keratitis:
Use antibiotics or anti-inflammatory eye drops.
Hordeolum:
Administer antibiotic eye drops. If it does not improve, surgery may be required to incise.
Prevention:
Conjunctivitis and Keratitis:
Pay attention to maintaining environmental hygiene and avoid dust. If nails are too long, they should be trimmed.
Hordeolum:
It is said that obese hamsters are more prone to this condition, so provide appropriate meals and pay attention not to let the hamster get too fat.
Digestive Organ Diseases
Hamsters often have diarrhea for various reasons, such as suddenly eating a large amount of unfamiliar food or stress. A well-known disease is proliferative ileitis (wet tail), which is caused by infection with Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, etc., and is common in young golden hamsters.
Sometimes they may also block the digestive tract by eating fabrics, cotton, and other substances.
Symptoms:
Diarrhea starts with soft stools and becomes severe, turning into watery stools. Severe diarrhea can lead to rectal prolapse, where the rectum protrudes from the anus, and even intussusception. If there is intestinal obstruction, the feces will become smaller and the amount will decrease.
Treatment:
Diarrhea requires antibiotics, and intravenous fluids may be necessary if needed. For intestinal obstruction, laxatives can be used to improve bowel movements, and surgery may be required.
Prevention:
Stress brought about by environmental changes may also be a cause of proliferative ileitis. Please pay attention to temperature control, create a stress-free environment, and remove items that pose a danger after gnawing.
Heatstroke and Hypothermia
Heatstroke and hypothermia are conditions that are easy to occur in summer and winter. Hamsters, like humans, are homeothermic animals and can maintain a constant body temperature regardless of the ambient temperature (about 36°C for humans, about 37°C for hamsters).
However, if they are continuously exposed to extreme heat or cold, individuals in poor condition will not be able to maintain their body temperature. If they encounter heat, their body temperature will rise, leading to heatstroke; if they encounter cold, their body temperature will drop, causing hypothermia. Both conditions can be fatal if they worsen.
Even on sunny days in early spring, the interior of a car can become very hot; and in summer, if you keep blowing cold air, it can feel very cold. Regardless of the season, it is important to maintain a comfortable living temperature.
Uterine Diseases
Pyometra
Especially in older female hamsters, uterine pyometra is more likely to occur. This is usually caused by hormonal imbalance or infection. The uterus becomes inflamed and pus accumulates.
Symptoms:
The reproductive tract bleeds or discharges pus. If the condition worsens, the abdomen will swell, and the hamster will become listless.
Treatment:
Administer antibiotics. Depending on the situation, surgery to remove the uterus and ovaries may be necessary.
Prevention:
It is difficult to prevent, so early detection is key. Hamsters do not have a “menstrual period,” so once bleeding is noticed, seek treatment as soon as possible.
Ovarian tumors are also common in older female hamsters, similar to uterine pyometra.
Fractures
Hamsters can easily get injured. Falling from climbing cages, getting caught by wires, or falling from hands can all lead to fractures.
Symptoms:
The foot cannot touch the ground or walks dragging. In severe cases, the bone may protrude or there may be bleeding.
Treatment:
If the symptoms are mild, place the hamster in a narrow cage (aquarium type) to limit its activity, and it may heal naturally. In some cases, surgical repair of the bone may be necessary.
Prevention:
Providing a safe living environment is most important. If the cage bottom is covered with a mesh, remember to remove it. Also, when holding the hamster in your hand, remember to sit down.
Health Management and Emergency Measures
Low body temperature, heatstroke, diarrhea, and electric shock are often sudden conditions that can exhaust hamsters, so they must be taken to the animal hospital for treatment as soon as possible. However, before taking the hamster to the hospital, some measures can be taken at home. Stay calm and composed.
Another preparatory measure is to investigate in advance, including which hospitals are open on days when your regular animal hospital is closed, and whether there are any hospitals open late at night nearby.
In addition, even if the symptoms of the hamster have improved at home, it is still necessary to take them to the animal hospital for a check-up to be truly assured.
Low Body Temperature
Wrap the hamster in your hands to warm them up. Use disposable hand warmers to warm your hands if they are cold.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea must be treated urgently, but before that, you can first deal with symptoms such as low body temperature and dehydration. Diarrhea can wet the buttocks and cool the body, so please clean the dirt and keep the hamster in a warm environment.
If the hamster’s condition allows it to drink water on its own, you can give it sports drinks or other room-temperature electrolyte drinks. However, if the hamster is too exhausted to drink on its own, avoid doing so to prevent choking.
Electric Shock
Sometimes hamsters gnaw on electrical wires, causing electric shock, which can also cause fires. Immediately turn off the main power switch and unplug the power socket. After an electric shock, the hamster’s body may still carry electricity, so do not touch it with bare hands. Use thick plastic gloves or other non-conductive items (insulating gloves are the best) to take the hamster to the animal hospital as soon as possible.
Even if the hamster is conscious, its mouth may have been burned, so it should still be taken to the animal hospital for diagnosis.
If the hamster shows symptoms such as elevated body temperature, general weakness, rapid breathing, open-mouthed breathing, and drooling, it has heatstroke.
Although it needs to be cooled back to normal body temperature, it is also important to note that rapid cooling may lead to overcooling. Use a towel soaked in room-temperature water, wring it out, and put it in a plastic bag to cool the hamster’s body.
If the hamster is conscious, you can also give it room-temperature electrolyte drinks. But this is only for situations where the hamster can drink on its own; do not force it to drink.
First Aid Kit
When emergency treatment is needed, it is best to prepare the following items:
Cotton swabs, gauze, towels (handkerchief size or larger), plastic bags, disposable gloves, wet wipes, droppers, electrolyte drinks, etc.
A pet heater should not be put away in summer and should always be ready for use.
Zoonotic Diseases
Diseases transmitted between humans and animals are called “zoonotic diseases.” They are also known as “zoonoses” and can be considered as infectious diseases from animals to humans. It is said that there are about 800 zoonotic diseases worldwide.
One well-known disease is rabies, which can affect all mammals, including dogs, and can be transmitted to humans by dogs or wild animals. Other well-known diseases include BSE (mad cow disease), avian influenza, and psittacosis.
Zoonotic diseases have existed since ancient times, but in recent years, due to the development of transportation, humans have become more mobile, able to come into contact with wildlife they have never encountered before, increased the variety of pets, and kept pets indoors, bringing these diseases closer to humans and attracting attention.
Zoonotic Diseases Between Hamsters and Humans
Short-Tailed Tapeworm Disease
When the short-tailed tapeworm parasitizes a hamster, although the hamster does not develop symptoms, the eggs of the tapeworm are mixed in the feces and excreted. If these eggs enter the human body, they can cause infection. Adults may not show symptoms, but children may have diarrhea.
Dermatophytosis (Ringworm)
Caused by dermatophytes, a type of fungus, this skin disease can be transmitted to humans through interaction with infected hamsters. Hamsters may lose hair or show no symptoms at all.
Preventing Zoonotic Diseases
As long as contact methods are controlled properly, there is no need to worry about being infected by hamsters. Please pay attention to the following points:
Clean the cage regularly and maintain a clean environment.
Implement good care management to maintain the health of the hamsters and seek treatment when they are sick.
Wash your hands thoroughly after caring for or playing with the hamsters.
Avoid kissing, rubbing cheeks, or feeding with your mouth.
Do not eat while playing with the hamsters, and do not let them play on the dining table.
Humans should also pay attention to their own health (a weak immune system makes it easier to get infected).
Remember to wash your hands after caring for the hamsters and avoid kissing or rubbing cheeks.
Health Management and Reproduction
Psychological Preparation for Reproduction
It’s wonderful to think about watching your hamsters give birth to little ones. The sight of tiny hamsters nursing from their mother’s breast and growing up is very touching. Watching them become more and more like real hamsters is also a very happy process.
If you have the idea of breeding hamsters, please think it over carefully first. Because only when humans put male and female hamsters together will pet hamsters start to breed, and humans can be said to play an auxiliary role in nurturing life.
Can you take responsibility for such life? Hamsters can have many babies at once, can you ensure that all children live happily?
If you want to raise all the children, including the space for placing cages, feeding costs, medical expenses, and care time, will all increase significantly. If you want to ask someone else to help raise them, you must also find someone willing to take responsibility for the end.
In addition, for the mother hamster, carrying babies in her belly, giving birth to them, and breastfeeding and taking care of the children will be a considerable burden. Even if you really hope that your hamster can give birth to babies, under the influence of factors such as the health status and age of the hamster, the difficulty of breeding may be quite high.
The most important thing is to understand that breeding comes with various responsibilities.
Animal Protection Law and Reproduction
If you want to give away hamsters born at home, even if it is completely free, you must register as an animal dealer if you repeat the act (except for just once). If you are worried, please consult the local government’s animal protection management administrative window (animal protection center, etc.).
Steps and Points to Note for Reproduction
- Select Individuals for Breeding
Choose healthy hamsters without hereditary diseases to be the future parents. The suitable breeding age starts from about 3 months old, after the hamsters reach sexual maturity and fully grow. However, if they are over 1 year old, careful consideration is needed, and breeding is not recommended after 1.5 years old.
Different breeds of hamsters should not be bred together, and close relatives should be avoided. In addition, do not breed two “panda” colored or two “spotted” Campbell’s dwarf hamsters together. Due to the influence of lethal genes, such breeding is known to easily result in miscarriage or the birth of deformed babies.
- Mating
Before mating, place the cages of the intended breeding male and female hamsters next to each other for a few days to allow them to sense each other’s scent.
The estrus cycle of female hamsters is about 4 days. Try touching the back of the female hamster; if she raises her hips, she is in estrus, and then you can place her in the male hamster’s cage to try to stay together.
- Copulation
Even if the two hamsters are initially wary of each other, after a while they will smell each other’s scent and approach copulation. Once copulation is confirmed, separate the male and female hamsters.
If the two hamsters do not get along no matter what, temporarily separate them and try again after about a week. If several attempts fail, it means they do not match, and it might be better to give up.
- Pregnancy Period
The female hamster will raise the babies alone. Please control the temperature appropriately and create a comfortable and quiet environment. At this time, the hamster must consume protein and calcium, so in addition to the usual diet, you can add animal-based foods.
- Birth
When you hear little cries coming from the nest box, it means the hamsters are giving birth. Please leave some space for the hamsters and do not try to peek inside the nest box or disturb them.
The little ones born on the second day, as shown above. They have no fur and their bodies are still red.
- Nursing Period
Hamster babies have no fur and cannot regulate their body temperature. If the babies come out of the nest box on their own, their bodies will get cold. Do not touch them with bare hands; use a clean plastic spoon to scoop them up and return them to the nest box.
Provide the mother hamster with plenty of food and drinking water. If the nutrition is not sufficient, she will not be able to produce milk.
If the owner messes around in the cage, it will make the mother hamster anxious. Please do not clean for the first few days after the start of nursing.
- Weaning
The babies will grow by drinking their mother’s milk. They can start eating a little solid food around 10 days after birth, and can be weaned after the third week.
After the weaning period, please let the mother hamster rest and recuperate fully.
Hamsters reach sexual maturity early, so do not keep male and female hamsters together after weaning.
Breeding Information for Golden Hamsters
- Estrus cycle: 4-5 days
- Estrus duration: 8-26 hours
- Pregnancy period: 15-18 days
- Number of offspring: 5-10
- Birth weight: 1.5-3 grams
- Eyes open: 12-14 days after birth
- Ear canals open: 4-5 days after birth
- Start growing fur: 9th day after birth
- Start eating pellet food: 7-10 days after birth
- Weaning: 19-21 days after birth
- Male sexual maturity: 8 weeks
- Female sexual maturity: 6 weeks
In conclusion, managing the health of hamsters requires daily care and observation. By following the health guidelines and management methods mentioned above, you can provide a safe and comfortable living environment for your hamsters, ensuring they grow up healthy and happy. Remember, each hamster is unique, and understanding their personality and needs is key. Wishing you and your hamsters a wonderful time together!