I have big problem. My hamster looked fine just like usual, or probably just less mobile for a day when I found that it started sweating excessively under its throat, arm pits and finally the whole under belly. I can smell a little bit of acidic smell. I dunno how to describe that smell but it's definitely not urine. I can feel that he is a little hot. His skin looked reddish and he looked tired. He is very irritable. I have had him for a while and I never heard him make any sound. NEVER. Even when he was attacked with his playmates. I was amazed when I heard him squeeking today when touched. He ran around as if he's being attacked. He has started to stop eating and drinking. When I put him on the floor, he'll still walk. Yet, when I put him back to his cage, he just sit there doing nothing. He looked awful. The past month, I have had another 2 hamsters died like that. 1 named Guai-2 died after kept drinking water for 12 hours. She was HOT HOT HOT. I could see light steam around the place she lied on. The other one, Yat Yat, had the same problem but less severe, he died as well. He just stopped drinking and eating. He died within 24 hours. Guai-2 died within 36. They live in separate cages. I don't mix my hamsters. So, it should not be cross contamination. They are all russXXX XXXXXXXX.
On the other hand, my winter whites never had this kind of problem. I thought they had heat stroke or something, I have tried keeping Guai 2 and Yat Yat in air conditioned room (after I saw them sweating of course) but they still died. Tried the vet. Didn't work!
i live in HK. he's dying now. he could not even move. usually my hamsters will not make it through the night. or he'd die in the afternoon. it's afternoon now. r u talking about pocari sweat kinda thing?
i'd check with pharmacies to see if they have lectaid or pedialyte. thx. his mouth is damp and he's not swallowing anything. not even water.
i use pallets for bedding.
no i do not have air freshner or candles at home.
they live in wire homes with plastic base. they all live in separate cages. 1 hamster 1 cage.
no, they are not related.
the first 2 came from the same store. but bought at different time.
BUBU is not from the same store.
i find that my winter whites are a lot more healthier and stronger. even when they contract infections and so on they are more likely to make it. the only one that died, died from drug overdose ( the vet gave her injections but her body could not take it).
thx
thank you Anna. you are such a good doctor. rarely do vets go into research to find out what is wrong with a small animal. yes. I find it quite surprising as well. my hamster died around 4pm today. I only found him acting strangely yesterday afternoon. It is weird how all the hamsters that died from this died within 24 hrs. they looked much in pain or agitated and screaming like crazy, running away from anything that might touch them. then they'd stop eating/drinking at night. ALL of those hamsters make the exact same sound. THE pitch they NEVER make usually. well at least they sound the same to me. which is weird because their voice is not usually like that. by 5-6am they'd not be able even to swallow water. they kept sweating and sweating and sweating. around 9a, they'll lose their voice. their pitch will sound as if it's stuck in their throat. around 11am, they'll become much less mobile. an hour later, they won't be able even to move and they'll go real soft almost like a dead body. they can't make any sounds by then. then it's matters of hours before they die. their breath would become so heavy. they will not be able to move their eye lids. their mouth stayed open. something more interesting is that I found that they gave out the EXACT same smell (to human nose). oh by night time, they'd already stopped poo-ing and pee-ing which is very uncommon for hamsters. they poo everywhere, all the time.
talking about toxin. do they make hamsters sweat? toxin kills within minutes. right?
my friend's hamsters contacted Dettol and it died within minutes. thank you so much for your attention. u are great.
thank you Anna.
yea. I researched and a lot of sources said that hamsters do not sweat too.
they give out this funny smell. I know straight away that Bu Bu went through what Guai 2, and Yat Yat went through as soon as I smell him. it's kinda devastating to watch him die like that. I looked more like some organ failure.
Though I doubt you'd know more, do you know any disease that can kill a hamster within hours? i dunno what happened. my hamsters started dying since january. I have lost a lot. Cus Cus died 3 days after mating. he looked so tired and refused to eat and drink. i dunno what went wrong. Some people think I am crazy for bringing hamsters to see the vets. The vet cost like 20 times more expensive than the cost of a hamster. anyway, thanks a lot for ur help
Pet Expert/Biologist
40 yrs.: herps, pocket pets, rabbits, poultry, dogs, horses. Biology degree. Volunteer vet assistant