My hamster's eye is popping out. I'm really panicking as today is a Sunday, wonder if there's any open vets?

I suspect glaucoma. Or could be resulted from something entered his eye. If I can't find a vet, what do I do? I read to wet his eyeball with a saline solution. What type ok for hamster?

^ Thx. I tried calling but no answer. I'll try tomorrow.

TTDI and Damansara Heights Vets are all closed. I went to Ikano, they don't have vets anymore. But the lady there advice me to put some Eye Mo on his eye.

She said it's 'busuk' already. Might have to a) go for surgery, or b) rid of the eye. Probably caused by constipation also. If there's too much pressure in the hammie body, it could cause something like this.

For now, I place him in his carrier (small but clean), put some tissue and shredded paper. Drop so Eye MO on his eye and monitor him. He's still active and restless (due to new environment?).

Btw, he is a syrian about 8 months old only.

Update:

I went to the vet in TTDI. Dr Clement I think. Service charge at RM30. He sum it up as a dead eyeball. I'll have to use eye drops Alcon (RM8.90) on my hammie as his tear duct is already not functioning.

It's not infectious. Could be his eye got poked by his cage/water dispenser/bedding etc.

His advice is too keep the eye clean and moist as to lessen the dry pain. In 5 days or so, if the eye drops on its own, I should be thankful. If not, surgery which will cost me RM200++.

Currently using tissue+paper bedding instead of wood shaving. He is still active but spend time a lot on resting also. How do I cheer him up? I don't wanna let him run around the house like he usually does. His eyes him rubbing into stuff. *faint*


Kiiro and his dead eye, eating bread.

p/s: He said not to use Eye Mo as it contains chemical. Aiyah~

This post has been edited by Kitsune_Yuiyean: Aug 29 2011, 03:04 PM

@ix3Rukia

That is adorable!! =3

Update:

My syrian, Kiiro finally gave up, give a last jolt and died in my hands. What a goodbye. He died last Tuesday, 1st Raya. It was hard being my first pet and all so I brought him to Melaka not convinced he's dead. I buried him at the kampung.

How do you guys bury your hamsters? I was all worried the cat is going to dig him up later.

I should have seen this post earlier.

I think my pearl just killed his brother. He won't let go....mauling the other one.

The (late) brother had always been the loud one... but they don't usually fight.

Feeling really sick and dumbfounded right now.

Any advice? I just can't move.....FML.

Learn from my experience, separate them for their own safety. Mine just died less than 2 hours ago from being eaten.

It's weird not hearing the other making a lot of ruckus in the cage now.

After getting rid of the lil brother body today, I cleaned the cage, gave the other fella a little washing and left him on his own for now.

Didn't bother spoiling him as before.

Not going to punish him but will take a while for me not to see him as a 'killer'. On the bright side, I learn something new about hamsters.

My hamster broke her hind leg. How do I nurse it to health?

She's not in critical pain (still has mood to eat and climb outside) but when her injured leg got stuck somewhere she will rush over to her newspapers and shred it as i to ease her pain.

I've transferred her food, water and housing to the lower level just in case but she prefer to sleep out o her house on her shred papers.

Her's is a wired cage and she enjoys hanging and climbing up to get out of her cage (trap door becomes her 'ceiling'). She often fell since she mostly climbs with her upper body and has weaker physic. I think she feel too hard this time and hit her stairs on the way down.

It happened on a Saturday and the vet was closed for Raya break. I did some reading and her feet isn't in a worrying state. Still pink (if it's blue, it's a dead part), no bones jutting out, no blood.

Ref: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Gerbils-Hamster...roken-leg-1.htm

Thankfully I have a smaller wired cage for my dwarf. Cleaned it and switched their cages. She's a Syrian so the cage has been quite effective in curbing her movements. She's been a bit down but eats her snack diligently. I let her sleep most of the time and takes her out for light exercise. She was never used to running in her wheels (she made it her hanging/nap area), so that is not a problem.

Their cages:

After 3 days, she's looking well. Her wound is still visible (red scratch) but she's more active than before.

Does anyone know how to take care of a hamster infected with skin fungal?

I went to the vet and she's on antibiotics now. I change her bedding regularly too.

Anyone know how I can use povidone-iodine to clean her skin? Must it be washed after putting it on or can I leave it on my hamster?

And how on earth do I cut her fur? I can't make her sit at one place and shes getting annoyed with my constant handling. When the vet tried to do it, her eyes almost popped out from being squeezed.

Thanks!

Thank you so much for the information. Thankfully by the end of the week, after seven doses of antibiotic, my hamster bounced back to her healthy form. The infected skin are healed 90%, and her bottom is no longer drenched in urine. Changing the bedding every two days definitely helped. The only bad news is that she was too disturbed to rest well (had to wake her up during the day to feed her the med and clean her butt with water at night) and she's not eating well.

I did looked up on the vets. Thanks for the info (again). I'm pleased to note the female vet - Melissa, in TTDI Damansara in well informed on hamsters. Seems that she herself kept hamster years before. The Indian male doc was the less attentive one.


I asked the vet about putting povidone-iodine on hamster since it's used to stop fungal infection for human and there are scrubs prescribed for hamsters for this situation. She advised me not to since hamster's skin are really thin and the solution can be too strong. A good substitute will be salt water.

I also bought my hamster a bottle of liquid vitamin, Bengy brand (only RM5!?), but she won't take it. It's blue in color and when it accidentally touched my skin, it felt like detergent. Can anyone suggest a very good vitamin brand that is less strong.I think my hamster is kinda picky over food now. The other brand I saw in Mid Valley was Vitalite but its priced at RM21. Thanks!

If it looks like this;



then, it is normal. Yes, they have huge pouches to stuff food. If you are still very concerned about it, snap a pic and post it here.

Thanks for info as usual. I've no seen that brand in any of the pet shops I frequent. Probably need to do more research on vits or dilute the existing one.


Aww....don't say that. Be positive and thankful your hammy had a great life with you. Mine is only a year old (and a dwarf few months younger).

Normal eyedrop for human works too. I remember the vet telling me not Eyemo though. Natural something....

Man, the last time I let my hammy play on the balcony, he almost jumped down. Scared the hell out of me and my friends trying to coax him down. A fried of mine had a hamster who did commit suicide from balcony.

The most I manged was to train my hamster to sit still on my shoulder as I walk around the house.


If there's no mites, I certainly hope there's no fungas....black spots. Just make sure the cage is not damp or dusty in any way.

I've taken two hamsters to vet before. Mine are syrians so they're easier to handle. I place my hammy in a shoe box (my hammy was quite active) or in a small cage (this one was in critical situation). Both did get quite stressed at first but I let them smell my hands and stroked them so they knew I was next to them.

Make sure your vet is the type that knows how to handle hamsters. Putting pressure to check them seems kinda scary as one of my hammy eyes were about to pop out from trying to get away.

A trip to the vet will probably cost around RM20 (check up only), and RM40 for med like antibiotic. I was lucky my vet was a hamster keeper before so she consulted me on the extra care.

If you're interested, the clinic I went to was in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara. The vet was Melissa.

Here's what fungas spots looks like;



and ringworm:



This is what I got from a website: http://www.exoticpetvet.com/breeds/guineapig11.htm

Hair loss: Hair loss may be caused by skin parasites, bacterial infections, fungal disease, and allergic reactions to bedding, in particular cedar/pine chips. Hamsters are very sensitive to the aromatic oils in cedar and pine. Constant contact with these substances can result in hair loss, cracked, dry skin, secondary bacterial infections and in severe cases, death.


Also read here: http://www.hammysworld.com/index.php?p=furloss and http://www.hamsterific.com/illnessguide.cfm

For the time being, consider separating/isolating your hamsters. One might be a carrier.

Cardbox? Wow...my Syrian would have teared them. I agree that plastic storage would be best. I'm using steel cages for my hamsters and my elder Syrian is just too active with climbing that she broke her leg twice. My robo is better in it since his paws are small. I don't have many toys so that's my version of play toy for them i.e. jungle gym!

I use newspaper at the bottom too. They love tearing it apart and I cover them with wood shavings (tip: don't blow them on their faces and get rid of the sharp ones) and tissue shedding for warmth. My Syrian loves them for cold nights.

And, I'm not sure if they vet will charge you double....good luck!

Showing off my hamster

Kitaro who just got better from fungal infection on her bottom. No housing for now to keep her from damp spots.

Removed the papers in both cages. My elder hammy was quite confused for awhile. Probably thinking "where the hell did my blanket went?". I've decided to give her back her house but without the roof to make sure there's no damp spots in her cage. She's indeed fond of tissues but she tends to be greedy and stuff it in her pouch. Like a travel blanket or something.

Where can I get the Home-friends thing? I just finished my wood-shavings. Phew...finally. I made a mistake in getting scented one because it was cheap.

That's good news now that we know what causes the skin condition.

I had to feed my hammy antibiotic everyday using a syringe too. Again, my hammy is a Syrian so she was large enough for me to hold comfortably.

What I did was simply to cup her in my palm facing me, hold back her paws using my thumb and pinky, and push the point at the side of her mouth (front got her two teeth, ma). I had to be very careful as the whole syringe contained med for one whole week, so I marked it with marker. I did it in one go and she was nice enough to swallow it like water.

YT video to help you out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cF52AFtVVg (My style, gentler)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGLrSuMc2q8 (for active ones)

Good luck!

This post has been edited by Kitsune_Yuiyean: Nov 25 2012, 01:42 AM

If it's too damp, it might encourage fungal growth. My female Syrian has a huge tendency to stuff her small house with tissues and buddings, food and whatnot. Unless you clean it very often, it might become unsanitary for your hamster.

Did you find any? I only found vets but not sure how well they treat exotic.

Klinik Vally
136, Jln. Laksamana Cheng Ho, 75000 Melaka.
Dr. Sandrasegaran
+606 284 9918

Vally Veterinary Clinic & Surgery
109 Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho, 75000 Melaka
Tel: 06 284 9918, 012-638 3242, Fax: 06 286 5207
Klinik Haiwan Chandran
18A, Taman Perkota, 75350 Melaka
Dr. Chandran
+606 284 3042

Klinik Haiwan Melaka
MT 74, Taman Sinn, 75000 Melaka
Dr. Jeyaseelan Arasoo
+606 283 0002
(H/P) 013 630 2205

Maju Animal Clinic
No. 6, Jln. SS1, Tmn. Sri Selendang, Jln. Jelutong, Batu Berendam, 75350 Melaka.
Dr. B. Kawitha Devi
+606 529 7369

Malacca Animal Clinic
5076c Jalan Penghulu Abbas
Bukit Baru
06-2828682


Just an idea, why not drip on your hammy's fav food? It's gotta be small and something it'll gobble up immediately. My Pearl Dwarf has a good habit of finishing everything I hand to him on the spot, for example, soft bread.

Yea, Robo is a bit more tricky and bitey.

I didn't change my hamster diet much. Didn't your vet tells you what you can do to help them? I did however try to feed my hammy nutritious food that might speed up her health ie yogurt ice-cream

Not sure if it will induce drowsiness but then again, I fed my hammy sometime during her sleep time so she just went back and chilled like normal.

This post has been edited by Kitsune_Yuiyean: Nov 26 2012, 11:24 PM

Yep, just let me know if you need the address, phone number and the vet's name.

It could be in shock and missing it's owner. They have very strong sense of smell so they'd know right away if there's major changes. The change in diet might make it feel uncomfortable.

Just keep the cage fresh and clean first, don't mix it with other hamsters yet. Let the poor guy readjust himself to the new environment or 2-3 days. It might be afraid of your smell so be kind to him.

Guide: http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-Roborovski-Hamsters