My daughters new hamster has diarrhea. What to do?

Are you sure it's diarrhea? because it could be wet-tail?

Wet-tail can be due to stress, or bad living condition; like what happened with it's water bottle.

It is a bacterial infection or an imbalance of the natural bacteria in the hamster's stomach or intestine and is often confused with diarrhoea. Although a hamster with Wet Tail has diarrhoea, the diarrhoea is so severe that the hamster is wet and/or dirty not only around the anus but usually around the top of the tail as well. The diarrhoea is accompanied by a strong unpleasant smell. Droppings are pale in colour and extremely soft and may contain mucus. The hamster often walks hunched up, is weak and lethargic and may squeal in pain.

Hamsters suffering from Wet Tail often die from dehydration rather than from Wet Tail itself, or they simply refuse to eat or drink. Also, because of the severe diarrhoea Wet Tail can lead to rectal prolapse where the intestine is pushed outside the body through the anus.

Veterinary treatment will consist of a course of antibiotics, anti-diarrhoeal medication and help with rehydration. The hamster should be kept warm and quiet whilst undergoing treatment and be disturbed as little as possible. Wet Tail is contagious to other hamsters and so any hamster suffering from Wet Tail should be isolated from other hamsters. It is also a good idea to wash your hands thoroughly after handling a hamster suffering from Wet Tail, to avoid passing the infection back to the hamster worsening its condition and certainly before handling other hamsters (this is best kept to a minimum). It is a good idea to remove droppings from the cage at intervals and disinfect the cage with a disinfectant designed for small animal cages when cleaning the cage. Although it is important to keep stress to a minimum it may help to clean the cage of a hamster suffering from Wet Tail every 2 or 3 days.

Any equipment occupied or used by a hamster that has died from Wet Tail should be disinfected thoroughly with a disinfectant designed for small animal cages and left to stand for a few weeks before being used by another hamster.

Wet Tail is a disease associated more commonly with the Syrian Hamster and is not associated with Dwarf Hamsters. Dwarf Hamsters can suffer severe diarrhoea but it is not clear at present that they actually suffer from 'Wet Tail'.

Susceptibility to Wet Tail is also thought to be genetically inherited and so it is best not to breed from any hamster that has suffered from Wet Tail during its life.

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A hamster can suffer from diarrhoea for a number of reasons. Sudden changes in diet and the feeding of too much vegetables and moist food are two common causes.

The droppings of a hamster suffering from diarrhoea are usually light coloured, soft and watery. The hamster may appear wet around the anus and sometimes a little messy. The hamster usually appears healthy otherwise although the body may start to look a little 'sunken' due to dehydration. Many owners confuse diarrhoea with Wet Tail of which one of the symptoms is diarrhoea.

A hamster suffering from diarrhoea should only be fed their normal dry hamster mix and should not be fed any vegetables or moist food until recovered. The only green food which may help a hamster with diarrhoea is raspberry bush leaves as these have astringent properties. Arrowroot can also be given to the hamster to aid recovery from diarrhoea. .

The hamster should be kept warm and you should ensure that the hamster is drinking and has plenty of water to avoid dehydration.

In most casing withholding vegetables will cure the diarrhoea in a 1 or 2 days. It is usually best to wait a week or two after the hamster has recovered before re-introducing vegetables back into their diet.

If however, after withholding vegetables and moist food, the hamster does not recover after 2 days, the diarrhoea is accompanied by other symptoms or the hamster's condition deteriorates veterinary advice should be sought.

In such cases a vet may administer anti-diarrhoeal medication and give help with rehydration. If accompanied by other symptoms antibiotics may be required.

For more info: please visit http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/hamster_health....

P.s. after reading this please bring your hamster to a very good vet ASAP

Your hamster actually has wet tail aka diarrhea. This is a common illness developed in small animals like hamsters and gerbils and is 100% stress related, not from the quality of breeding etc. When I say stress it is mostly environmental; loud noises, someone in the house smokes, dirty cage, over handling the animal or another household pet is stressing it out. Either way wet tail is part of being dehydrated but be sure the medicine was for wet tail. You can buy wet tail fizz tabs that dissolve in the water, and if the hamster is a big drinker this will help, otherwise there should be a liquid wet tail formula available.

Diarrhea, especially in such a tiny animal, should not be taken lightly. This hamster may have wet tail, which is very serious and causes death sometimes in less then 24 hours. Her symptoms do not sound good at all.

Pet store remedies like "Dri-Tail" will not do a thing. The hamster needs to see an exotics vet. It may sound silly to have a hamster get antibiotics, but she sounds very very ill.

DONT SHOVE THINGS IN UR HAMSTERS FACE GOD PEOPLE!!!! IF SHES SICK SHE WANTS TO SLEEP AND BE LEFT ALONE!!! and if the hamster is new you need to let it adapt to its surroundings and let it figure things out for its self! this was certainly NOT caused by the waterbottle if you have good bedding (aspen bedding) it should absorb its self... and if it has diarrhea the cage needs to be cleaned every 3-4 days. this sounds like wet tail which can be deadly to a hamster if not treated properly....

It could be a case of Wet tail, in which case get her to the vet asap! But it could also be a combination of a cold mixed with diarrhea. If she is eating, most likely it's not a full case of wet tail but if this strange behavior continues all i can suggest is to consult a veterinarian.

AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED IN THE SMALL ANIMAL DEPARTMENT FOR YEARS AND HAVE DEALT WITH LOTS OF HAMSTERS WITH WET-TAIL. IT IS CAUSED EITHER BY STRESS OR COMING HOME WITH TOO MUCH HANDLING OR NOISE. IMMEDIATELY GIVE THE HAMSTER OATS, CARROTS FOR HYDRATION AND CHEERIOS, YOU NEED TO GET DRI-TAIL AND FORCEFULLY GIVE IT WITH A DROPPER BY MOUTH. IF YOU TAKE IT TO THE VET IT IS GOING TO GET MORE STRESSED. I HAVE GOTTEN ALOT OF HAMSTERS BETTER JUST WITH THE MEDS, AND THE MENTIONED THINGS ABOVE. TAKE THE WHEEL OUT FOR NOW AND PUT A BUNCH OF KLEENEX OR A SMALL BLANKET ALONG WITH A HEATING PAD ON A LOW SETTING UNDER HALF OF THE CAGE SO IT STAYS WARM, SINCE ITS BODY TEMPERATURE IS PROBABLY LOW. DO NOT HANDLE THE HAMSTER OTHER THEN MEDICATION, SCRUFF THE NECK AND GIVE THE RECOMENDED DOSE AND YOU SHOULD SEE RESULTS. THE FOOD MENTIONED ABOVE WILL ALSO HELP, THEY TEND TO EAT IT MORE THEN THEIR FOOD. ALSO COVER PART OF THE CAGE AND KEEP IT SOMEWHERE QUIET.

I think you should take her to the vet. It sounds like wet tail to me.

Your hamster will be fine. It just sounds like it is dehydrated and you should give it water more frequently than you normal do.

Get a Kitten.. or a puppy.. possibly a Mogwai ( just don't feed them after midnight or get them wet ). Maybe even a 16 year old son that will hate you for trying to help him make good choices in life and... wait off subject.... Yeah a kitten that sounds nice.