Treating a Sick Hamster!

Hey everyone!
Nibbles here(:
I'm on a roll with posts today! So much extra time. 


So today I'll be doing another post on the topic Hamster Illnesses.
Today's topic - Treating a sick hamster!


If your hamster is ill or injured, there are things you can do to treat a sick hamster. After you observe the behavior of your sick pet and note the signs and symptoms of a sick hamster, you can go about treating it for those ailments. It’s worth mentioning that the best treatment is hamster illness prevention. That being said though, no amount ofhamster care can guarantee your little pet won’t ever get sick of injuried in it’s 2-3 year lifespan.


Sick Hamster Treatment

The first thing you should do is separate the sick hamster from the rest of its roommates. This should only apply to dwarf hamsters because the larger Syrian breeds shouldn’t be housed together in the same hamster cage. The last thing you want is to spread any illnesses to the other healthy hamsters or have an injuried hamster get stressed out with too much activity going on in its cage.

The next thing to do would be to heat the treatment habitat to 70-85*f (21-29*c) and make sure there are no drafts. You can use a heating pad or a heat lamp. Make sure the sick hamster has a way to escape the bright light as in providing a hamster house to hide in and make sure not to over heat the habitat. This heat treatment will make the hamster more comfortable and less stressed. Stress typically leads to a lowered immune system.

While your hamster is in isolation, it’s time to clean its normal living habitat. Begin by putting on some gloves (or washing your hands thoroughly afterward) and removing all the waste. It’s not often that a human can get sick from a hamster illness but you should be careful when dealing with any animal waste since airborne particulates can potentially get into your system and make you sick (Warning: hamsters can spread rodent meningitis or fungal infections. Pregnant women should avoid contact with hamsters). Next remove and replace the bedding, food and water. Sanitize all of the surfaces by using a diluted soapy water mixture or a 10% bleach solution. (1/4 cup of bleach to 2 1/4 cups water); rinse these surfaces well. residual bleach vapors can be toxic to anyone especially a small pet in an enclosed space.

Finally, you might need to get hamster veterinarian care if the sickness or injury won’t get better with your treatment efforts. Getting the appropriate medication in a timely manner is important so seek out a vet sooner than later.

That's all on this post!

Hope you enjoyed! 

Nibbles ♥

Sources - http://www.howtotakecareofahamster.net

Preventing Hamster Illnesses!

Hi again!
Nibbles here(:


Today I'll be doing Part 2 to a series of posts on the topic Hamster Sicknesses.
Today's topic - Preventing hamster illnesses!


 A good way to combat hamster illnesses is to prevent it from happening in the first place. With just a bit of preventative care, it can help you keep your hamster healthy for much less than it would cost if your hamster actually gets sick. Here are a few hamster carerecommendation that will go a long way in the health of your hamsters and hopefully save you a trip to the vet.

Healthy Diet to Prevent Illnesses

A well rounded diet will encourage strong bones and a healthy immune. If your hamster community tends to have a shorter lifespan than what should be expected and it’s not due to any visible illnesses, try changing the hamster food. Your hamsters can be suffering from a vitamin deficiency.

Prevent Hamster Dehydration

Water is another vital part of keeping a healthy hamster. This is especially the case for females that are nursing and young baby hamsters. If these newborns don’t get enough water, their growth can become stunted and won’t be as healthy when they mature. You can provide young hamsters with food that has a high concentration of water like pieces of fruit. It’s also important to make sure the hamster water bottle is within their reach.

A Comfy Habitat Reduces Illness

• Avoid choosing a hamster cage location that would cause any cold drafts from windows or air-conditioning units. If a hamster get the chills, it can lead to a weaker immune system.
• Keep the humidity and dampness to a minimum inside your hamster’s cage. In the wild, hamsters live in low humidity locations.
• Provide plenty of hiding places for your hamsters to hide in. This will reduce stress and increase their comfort level. A happy hamster is a healthy hamster.
• Make sure the toys you provide are hamster friendly. It’s important to know if a hamster chews and swallows bits of its toys that it won’t get ill from it.
• Provide plenty of space for your hamsters to spread out to avoid physical confrontations that can lead to open wounds or hamster abscesses that don’t heal.
• It’s important to place plenty of exercise options inside your hamster’s habitat. If your hamster is in shape and not bored it will decrease the risk of odd hamster behaviors.
• Setup your hamster habitat in a way that will keep your hamsters from falling, getting stuck or being cut by any of their hamster accessories.

Sanitation:

Wash all of the hamster bowls,dishes, plates or anything else that you place food inside of or on top of, at least once a week. 

This process can include the hamster water bottles as well, however you must be certain not to leave behind any detergent residue on the inside of the bottle.  However, at the very least, you should rinse your water bottles with a mild solution of warm water. Put the cap on, hold your finger over the nozzle opening and shake vigorously. This will help to dislodge any stubborn algae that may be clinging to the inside surface. It will also help clean the inside surface of the nozzle. Rinse thoroughly in warm water, forcing the rinse water through both ends of the nozzle.

FOOD PREPARATION:

It's important to remember that kitchen counter or stove top surfaces can easily become contaminated from cooking spills or exposure to meats or veggies that may carry harmful bacteria. Or, quite simply from typical spills that weren't properly removed from the surface. Therefore, you'll want to remain vigilant in your determination to protect the health of your defenseless little pet by making certain that you always provide a clean, germ-free surface for preparing treats, snacks or meals.

FOOD STORAGE:

Store your hamster's food products in clean, dry and sealed containers, especially when purchasing in bulk. . Fortunately, there's now an abundance of practically any size and quality of storage container that anyone could possibly imagine. Additionally, while it's really important to keep dry products, such as grains and seeds, away from high humidity and dampness, it's also essential to store the containers in an area away from direct sunlight and in an area where the temperature is moderate to cool. These precautions will help prevent the growth of dangerous molds and other microbes, as well as, extending the shelf life seeds, nuts or grains before becoming rancid. Many of the commercial hamster pellets come in plastic bags with zip lock closure seals, therefore freshness is not typically a concern with those products. However, when a larger volume is purchased, I'll transfer a week's supply into a sealed container for daily feeding. This makes it unnecessary to continuously open the larger bag, day after day, exposing the contents to more and more freshness stealing air and humidity.

That's all this post!

Hope you enjoyed.

Nibbles♥

Sources - http://www.howtotakecareofahamster.net

http://waltek.hubpages.com/hub/Prevention-Can-Help-You-Avoid-Most-Hamster-Illnesses

Injured or Sick Hamster - Signs and Symptoms.

Hey everyone!
Nibbles post(:
My owner has been quite sick lately with the flu  - which means more time to post :D 
So I've decided to do something to do with sick hamsters. Which brings me to the conclusion of injured or sick hamster- signs and symptoms topic!


You never know - that one thing you think is weird about your hamster could turn out to be something wrong. So be careful! 




If you are concerned that one of your pet hamsters might be sick, you probably already have a good feeling something might be wrong. By closely observing your hamster’s behavior and physical appearance, you can determine if you have a sick hamster on your hands. Once you determine there is a problem, you can go about treating a sick hamster. Treatments can include things you can do yourself or if your hamsters are sick to the point the need special medication, you will need to go to the vet. Of course you can help avoid having to do this by learning how to prevent hamster illnesses.

Signs and Symptoms of a Sick Hamster

Change in Your Hamster’s Behavior: Good hamster care involves observing your hamster often to see how it acts on a good day. Understand what a typical day is for your little pets. Watch the wake up routine; does the hamster in question stretch and yawn like it usually does? Is your hamster eating and drinking the usual amount per day? Has the interaction it has among other hamsters roommates changed in any way? If you answered yes to any of these, it’s possible your little guy or gal is under the weather, injured or sick.

Interaction Between You and Your Hamster: Next observe how your hamsters interact with you. When you open the cage door are your hamsters responsive? A normal reaction would be for it to perk its ears up and look towards your direction. A sick hamster might be completely out of it and not have any reaction when you open the cage. It might also cower or get nippy as it might feel vulnerable when it is sick or injured. Of course if your hamster is new, it might be a bit shy until it gets familiar with being handled.

Coat and Fur: A healthy hamster with a satin coat should have sleek coat or fur. It it looks dull or wet, it might be a sign that your hamster is sick. If a hamster coat that is normally rex now has a ruffled and dried out coat appearance, it can also be a sign of hamster illnesses

.Eyes: Healthy hamster eyes are bright and alert without redness. There should be no discharge or crusty parts; the should not be dull or sunken in appearance. Some hamster breeds have reddish eyes to begin with so it’s important to observe what the eyes of this hamster normally look like.

Nose: The nose of a hamster should be dry and not runny. A runny nose can be a sign of a cold or some other virus.

Tail: A wet hamster tail is not a good sign. This is wetness can either be fecal matter or urine. If you notice your sick hamster not moving away from where it just did it’s business, this is a strong indicator that there is a real health issue going on.

Okay so that's some symptoms...

Look out for Nibbles next post - How to prevent hamster illnesses!

Nibbles ♥

Sources - 

http://www.howtotakecareofahamster.net

Getting a hamster....What YOU need.

Teddy’s Post!

Hey guys! Teddy here and I just want to say sorry for not blogging a lot.It’s weird… yesterday I blogged on my phone and it didn’t show!I’ll have to fix that…

Have I told you I got a new phone?It’s Samsung Galaxy Ace, and one of the best things is I can blog on the go!But today I’m not here to blog about phones.It’s time to get to business…(lol)

If you are getting a

hammy….

A lot of people walk into a petshop and see a cute pet.They don’t even think about it.Next thing they know they are up at the till saying ‘’Can I have that bunny in the enclosure on the left?’’ or

‘’How much is that hamster?’’. To me, it’s wrong to get a goldfish without thinking it over first.Just because your friend has a hamster doesn’t mean you can get one.Please remember this:

Petshops sell ANIMALS.It’s not a toyshop,It’s a petshop!

So, just cause bunny is cute doesn’t mean you can look after him.

I’m not saying don’t get a pet.I’m saying don’t get a pet unless you are ready for one!I know a person who got a hamster just because he liked them.The day I heard I knew it would never last.And I was right.The poor hamster isn’t dead but it might as well be as it doesn’t get any attention!The cage hasen’t been cleaned in months!He never has clean water!And its not this neighbour is busy.Hes just lazy.He spends his  whole time inside in his room on the computer.See what I mean?

But anywho,it’s not a rant about lazy neighbourS.It’s about theresponsibility of owning a pet..Quiz yourself : (this is about hamsters)

·       Will you have time to play with it?

Give it hugs and hold it and give it a little time to run around your room or bed?

·       Will you have a chance to clean its cage every week?

Properly cleaned with fresh bedding and food?

·       Will you give it fresh water once a day?

Especially on hot days when you should give it fresh water twice?

·       Will you be able to refill its foodbowl every time its empty?

There is no excuse,it needs food.

·       Will you provide toys,treats and chews?

Mineral blocks,wood blocks or sticks and fresh fruit/veg every few days?

·       Will you let it chew the bars of the cage?

It may be annoying but its good for their teeth unless they bite too hard.

·       Will you put it in the ball every few days?

So it can get used to your home?

·       Do you have someone to look after it when you go away?

To feed it and clean its cage?

·        Can you make space for its cage in a shaded warm place?

Not too hot, not too cold,no uncovered draughts and not too much light?

·       Will you promise to love it?

And never get bored of it?

·       Can you afford to bring it to the vet?

One of the most essential things is access to a vet.

If you could answer ‘yes’ to every one of them,you are ready for a hamster.If you answered ‘no’ to all of them you are not ready for a hamster.If you answered half of them or more with ‘yes’ you need to think about it longer,or maybe look at another pet.If you answered less than half with ‘yes’ you need to rethink the whole thing.

Its just so sad how many pets are unloved.Thats why you need to think it over so your pet will live a long,happy life.

So anywho,Thanks for reading!I just did that because It really annoys me when animals are neglected.Its cruelty to animals!Look up the ispca/rspca/aspca,ect and you will see how many neglected pets there is.Its just so sad!So promise you will never neglect your pets basic needs.(Confession:I was so busy I couldn’t make time to clean Teddy’s cage!So when it was 3 days overdue I cleaned it and it was horrible!The smell!And this is just after 3 days!So never do that,k?)

So sorry if you found that long post boring.I lost heart of the A-Z thing but I might start it again soon.My next posts will be Q &A and  then,Animal rights L But its important,so it gotta be done!Oh well,over the next few weeks I will start posting new pics of Teddy,doing funny hammy pics and maybe a competition!

So,thanks again for reading and I gotta go to read the Hunger Games!Cya,

♥ TeddyJ!

Hey everyone (:


I saw inkythehamstermommy was using Instagram!
I thought it would be a fun way to show you more pics of Nibbles since I know there isn't many.


So follow us @nibblesteddy123
And of course Inky @inkythehamstermommy


Here are some pictures I took earlier that I thought you might want to see (:

Nibbles posing for the camera ;)

Happy Birthday Nibbles! :-)

Hey everyone! :D


Guess who's birthday was yesterday? I didn't get time to post yesterday because of this and also Teddy is over for a few days! :D Nibbles turned 1 or in hamster years the big 25! 




Happy Birthday Nibbles, have a lovely time (:


P.S 
Any posts or challenges you guys want us to do? Leave them in the comments below!

Valentines Day :D

Happy Valentines Day!


Nibbles here ;) I'm sorry I haven't been posting - I've been sick and exams :/
But it's all over now :D

Also I've noticed that you guys have seen a lot of pictures of Teddy.
But I've never actually posted a picture of the REAL nibbles :3 


So for Valentines I wanted to share with you this picture I took of Nibbles ^-^ 

I've really sorry guys , but I do not know how to flip this picture. So if you could turn your laptop around .....

Yeah...

Still cute though. Hope you enjoyed.

Have a wonderful valentines.

P.S. Teddy is having a very special event today and it would be much appreciated if you 

could wish her luck. And hopefully she has a wonderful time.

Lots of Love & hugs&kisses ,

Nibbles xxx

I promise to post more!

Teddy's post!




Hey guys!Sorry we haven't been posting lately.I'm really busy, so hopefully in a few days time I can post a proper post.Hope you and your hammies are  ok,and I'll post again soon.
In the meantime,
Bye!


♥ Teddy!






Ps:Happy Valentines day!