every day you should be observing your hamster's behaviors and asking yourself
three questions
is your hamster interested in food and eating?
are they behaving as usual?
and are they active and alert as usual?
now when it comes to a more physical health check if your hamster is used to human interaction
you likely are going to be able to do a physical health check pretty quickly
every single time you take them out or interact with them
and it gets easier and easier once you know what you are looking for specifically
if you have a really wiggly or squirmy hamster using food can be really really helpful
you can either use a larger treat for your hamster to hold or i like to use baby food for them to kind of lick
well i just give them a little look over
so first off i'm just going to take a look at their ears make sure that there is no discharge coming from them
and that there doesn't appear to be any lumps
a common occurrence in dwarf hamsters is actually warts in the ears
so that is definitely something to look out for if you own a dwarf hamster
also make sure that your hamster's ears are up and alert especially if they haven't just woken up
and they've already had time to wake themselves up
if the hamster's ears are folded back this could be an indication that something is wrong
next i'm going to take a look at the eyes i'm also going to make sure that these are clear
they don't look irritated they're not cloudy
and they have no discharge coming from them
as well as they appear to be the same size as they always are
if you notice that your hamster's eyes are bulging all of a sudden
this could be an indication of dental issues, glaucoma, trauma to the eye, eye infection or tumors
next we're going to take a look at their nose do they have any discharge coming from it?
and do they appear to have labored breathing
if so these could be signs of an upper respiratory infection
now we're going to take a look at their mouth and teeth
this can be a little bit more difficult but really all you have to do is just take a treat and kind of hold it above their head
so that they kind of have to reach and open their mouth to grab it
and that should give you enough time to kind of just give a quick look into their mouth and teeth
hamster teeth should always be yellow or orange in color as this indicates healthy teeth
unlike white teeth which can be an indication of stress or poor nutrition
a hamster's bottom teeth will always be longer than the top teeth typically the bottom teeth are around two to three times the length
of the top teeth
if your hamster appears to have a broken tooth don't panic right away
as long as your hamster is still able to eat their daily diet
the tooth will eventually grow back
otherwise see a vet
and lastly if you notice any sort of odor coming from inside their mouth you're going to want to see a vet
this can be an indication that your hamster has an impacted cheek pouch
next look at your hamsters fur and skin you can do so just by petting them look out for any fur loss,
skin abnormalities as well as lumps and bumps
remember that syrian and chinese hamsters have two scent glands located on each side of their hips
so this location may have less fur
it might have some darker pigmentation
as well as it might appear wet sometimes and this is all completely normal
now for dwarf hamsters they have one scent gland located in the middle of their belly
and if you notice that it is smelling or looks really crusty
this could be an indication that it is infected
next we're going to look at our hamsters nails and paws
for syrian and chinese hamsters they are going to have tiny bumps on the bottom of their paw
this is normal this is their paw pad and as for dwarf hamsters the bottom of their paw is going to be covered in hair and smooth
you're going to want to check for any cuts or scabs in case that you do see any on their feet
make sure you do give a thorough check over of their enclosure in case there's anything sharp that could be causing a cut in the foot
and keep an eye on it that it doesn't look infected at all typically a little scab is going to heal over okay
but because it is located at the bottom of their foot there is a chance
that it could become infected so just keep an eye out on it
when looking at your hamsters nails they should be short
if you notice any nails that are starting to curl or look a little bit longer than usual
you are going to need to cut them if you leave the hamster's nails to continue to grow
they can start to grow into the paw pad causing your hamster a lot of pain
next you're going to want to check your hamsters private bits make sure that there's no discharge, blood or diarrhea coming from them
keep in mind that female hamsters do not have a period where they bleed
any sort of blood coming from their private area needs to be seen by a vet immediately
when it comes to a male hamster they are capable of tucking their testicles depending on a couple of factors
if it's warm and they're comfortable a lot of the times they'll have them out in the open
or if it's a little bit colder or they're nervous they may go ahead and tuck them inside
so if you notice that one day they appear larger than normal that could be why
lastly i like to weigh my hamsters i use a digital kitchen scale
and i typically do this about once a week
and i write down their weights every week this way if my hamster suddenly gains or loses weight this is an early indication that
something is wrong and i'm able to go to the vet right away
if you have a really wiggly hamster easy way to weigh them is just take a dish or cup
put it on the scale press zero which will zero it out and then you can put your hamster in there with a treat
and it'll weigh your hamster without you having to worry about them running off
now if you own a hamster and you're not able to physically pick them up or they just don't like it
you are still able to do a physical health check by using just a clear dish or cup
this way you're still able to look at everything it's not going to be quite as in-depth as
being able to handle them but it still is going to allow you to check for anything that could be wrong with your hamster
now if you notice anything mentioned in the video or your hamster's behavior suddenly change
it's super important that right away you book a vet appointment hamsters are so good at hiding illness
and typically by the time a hamster actually starts physically showing signs that they're ill
it may even be too late to help them recover
so the sooner that you notice something is slightly off
the more likely they are to recover from whatever is wrong with them
so i hope this video was helpful and i will see you guys in my next one
bye