Question by Schuyler I: Hamsters dying?? Critter care from Wal-Mart to blame?
My son has had 4 hamsters in the last 6 weeks. 2 were dwarfs and 2 had been teddy bears. We bought 2 at a time, the dwarfs died within a couple of hours of each other, and the very first teddy bear died inside a day of having it and the second about four weeks later. None have any external wounds and never ever acted sick at all. His final one was running in the wheel about 2 minutes prior to he fell over and died. I am asking yourself if it may well be the “critter care” bedding from Wal-Mart?
I got all 4 from the same petstore. Won’t do that once again. The initial cage I had them in was one of the wire hamster cages, but it created such a mess that four days ago we got an aquarium with all new bedding and all new toys, bottles, wheels, and so on. My son came in and said that the hamster “threw up some of his bedding” and then fell more than and died.
The cage was subsequent to my son’s bed on his nightstand and not close to a window or anthing.
Best answer:
Answer by lightbox artwork
That’s truly sad – sorry you had to go by way of that. There’s a specific kind of bedding that need to be utilised.
You can use newspaper, shredded. I’ve even used paper towels, shredded. But never ever use pine or ceddar bedding.
Make positive they have lots of clean water, a clearn cage…maybe attempt some new hamster food (?)
Appears like some truly poor luck that you’ve had so far….change the bedding and see if that helps…also possibly check with a vet. Make certain the bedding package lists “for hamsters.”
Excellent luck….
What do you assume? Answer beneath!
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That is so sad. Did you get all four of the hamsters from the same place? Maybe they were sick to begin with.
Is there anything about the location of the cage that could have caused this? Is it near a draft, or near where chemicals are stored or used? I know that some birds have even dyed due to teflon coated pans being used in their vicinity. I know birds have very sensitive respiratory systems, though.
I think I have used critter care before…is it wadded up papery stuff? I don’t see why that would harm them, but then again…I don’t really trust a lot of the stuff that walmart sells. My guinea pigs didn’t seem to be harmed by it.
I know this sounds weird, but did you happen to keep the body of the last one cold? Maybe you could take him to the vet for a necropsy. I definitely wouldn’t get any more hamsters until you get to the bottom of this.
Good luck, and I’m sorry for your loss.
It sounds like you did everything right, honestly. It could have been something wrong with the hamsters. If you got all four of them from the same store, there is a chance that all of them had been exposed to some illness. (There are a few diseases that can take up to a year to completely lose contagiousness in cages, such as Tyzzer’s Disease.)
Most rodents are unable to vomit. There’s a chance that he may have been emptying his cheeks.
I don’t think the critter care had anything to do with it. Did you ever notice a little blood around their noses? (When they have upper respiratory infections, they tend to get bloody noses which they clean frequently so sometimes it’s hard to tell if they have one.) Were their bottoms ever wet?
Is there a chance they were fed foods that are toxic to hamsters?
Common toxic foods to hamsters include: Avocado, Parsley, Kidney Beans, Onions (lettuce, celery and cabbage can cause wet-tail) Grapes in large amounts, chocolates and anything that has additives. Some of them cause diarrhea, some of them can cause internal issues that we can’t see like kidney issues.
This is mostly due to over feeding and dirty water and possible being picked up to much. Also try changing the food and water offten if possible the water every once a day. I asked my uncle he is a vet. he said it is possible that they may have been sick prior and to go and buy then from an actual pet store as they tend to take better care of their animals then walmart. the best thing to due when you bring them home is to let them be for a few days so they can adapt to there new environment
I’m more inclined to think you have a bad batch of hamster food, rather than the bedding. There have been cases of contaminated pet food, including rodent foods. If I was going to bet, this is where I’d place my money, but I’ve listed other possible things below.
I’ve used Critter Care (its generic Carefresh for folks who don’t know what it is) without incident, along with Aspen or actual name brand Carefresh.
Purchased from same pet store – could be getting them from poor breeders or lousy care at store resulting in ill hamsters.
Did you house two Teddy Bears together? Even without visible marks, one may have killed another, these should never be housed together.
Another possibility – is there a light on that nightstand? It would be easy to overheat an aquarium with one nearby.
Also, how does your son interact with the hamsters? Many parents get these small pets when their kids really aren’t ready for them which can result in the hamsters being too roughly handled.