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If you don’t already give your hamster weekly checkups, now’s the time to start. By doing weekly check ups, you may be able to catch illness and diseases in early stages and prevent them from getting worse. So, here is how to do your at-home weekly checkup!
Eyes
The eyes should be bright, clear, alert and shiny with no soreness, discharge, bulging, dullness, white haze or crustiness. Then check the eyelids and make sure they work properly. Blow gently onto a hamster to get him/her to close their eyelids. If your hamster has an infected eyes it may discharge a red fluid, often mistaken for blood. It is produced from the back of the eyes by special glands called Harderian Glands and it acts as an ocular lubricant. There also should be no visible blood inside or around the eye. If your hamster has just woken up and there eyelids are hard open/hard closed, it is probably just a sticky eye and a small amount of warm water should fix that.
Ears
The ears should be clean with no bad smells, discharge or crustiness. If your hamster develops a bald spot right above the nose or a sore and they are housed in a barred cage, this is probably just from constant bar chewing. In most cases bar chewing is a symptom of stress.
Mouth & Teeth
There should be nothing hanging or dribbling from your hamster’s mouth. It should not smell foul or contain pus. If you find something fleshy hanging from your hamster’s mouth, contact a vet and most importantly don’t touch it. To check the teeth, you can pull gently back on their cheeks so that the lips are pulled back and the teeth are visible. The teeth should be yellow, Not white. The teeth should touch and the bottom teeth should be longer than the top. If the hamster’s teeth curl or are very uneven, they will need clipping.
Cheek Pouches
The cheeks should have no lumps, not including stored food in the pouches. Can’t tell if it is just food or something different? The best way to check is time. Place the hamster back into their cage, then check later probably waiting half a day or longer. If the lump seems to still appear there after that time, there may be something wrong.
Nails
Next check the nails to make sure they're not getting too long. If they are long, they will curve over like a half crescent moon. A rock placed under any high-traffic area should keep long nails at short. Smooth rocks are the best in keeping your hamster safe and trimming down the nails, just make sure you sanitize your rocks first. If the nails are too long, they can be clipped very carefully with nail clippers. Be slow and patient as some hamsters may not enjoy this, watch for the red vain in the hamsters nail. This is the quick, do not cut past this part of the nail it will cause your hamster’s nail to bleed. If you're afraid of this happening have a plate of flour near to dab onto the nail if you cut the quick and the nail ends up bleeding.
Genitals & Scent Glands & Under Belly
The stomach should not have any discolouration, swelling or bruising. Scent glands are located on Syrians hips while Dwarf’s and Chinese carry them on their bellies.
The scent gland should not look sore, smell strongly or weep pus. There bottom should be dry. Now take a closer look at the hamster’s private parts. There shouldn’t be pus, feces or wetness around the anus. There should be no soreness, pus, bad or strong smell from your hamster’s gentitals. The penis should be retracted and not visible. There should also be no lumps or wounds on the testes.
Fur & Skin
The fur should be thick and slightly shiny with no bald patches, unkemptness or knotting. fur loss in young hamsters may be due to an underlying problem while fur loss in older hamsters happens often due to losing fur as they age. The skin should not be dry or flakey and overall be healthy looking.
Weighing
It is a good idea to regularly weigh your hamster, this way you will soon spot if there is rapid weight loss which may tell something is wrong. that something is wrong. Like humans hamsters weight fluctuates so it’s best to weigh them the same time every week. Another note is that older hamsters tend to lose weight once over 18 months. If your hamster loses a lot of weight quickly you should seek veterinary aid.
Check for Wounds & Lumps
Feel over your whole hamster’s body for any lumps, these may be tumors which need to be removed or abscesses. Then check for any bruising, bleeding, scabs etc.
Cage
Now it’s time to check the cage. Make sure any urine spots don’t attract ants and don’t smell extremely strong. There also should be no blood scattered anywhere in the cage, female hamster do not have monthly bleeding so blood anywhere in the cage is not a good sign. Stool should be firm and fairly dry. Over a period of time it's also good to check how much water they are consuming, drinking excessively is a symptom of diabetes. If you think your hamster has diabetes you can pick up some test strips.
Behavior
Unnatural behavior could be to over-grooming to a tame hamster biting on every touch, not wanting to wake up, breathing quickly, not eating or lack of appetite and more that could tell something is wrong with your hamster. Most elderly hamsters slow down a sigh seen with age but in a younger hamster this could be a sign of illness.
Movement
Place your hamster on a hard but straight surface, then watch your hamster move. Watch to see they move freely, using all the limbs they normally with no limping. Sick hamsters may be hunched over. While the hamster is on this surface, listen to them breathe. Breathing should be normal with no wheezing, sneezing or laboured breathing which could be signs of a cold or respiratory infection.
Did your hamster not pass the health check? See here and look through symptoms before posting on the HH forums.
If you have something to add, just post it and it can be looked over before being put into the first post.
Edited by EscapingHammies, 01 July 2014 - 01:12 AM.
