How to Care for Roborovski Hamsters
Roborovski dwarf hamsters are fun-loving, fast, and adorable miniature creatures that usually grow to be four to six centimeters in length. They love to eat and sleep but are really active too. They have a reputation for being much more lively than other hamster species. In addition, their average lifespan is slightly longer at around three years with the occasional fellow reaching four years. If you’re considering a Robo dwarf hamster as a pet, then you should first learn the best ways to care for one.
Signs and Treatments of the Common Cold in a…
Does Your Hamster Have a Cold?
Does your hamster have the sniffles or is he sneezing?
Sneezing and sniffling typically signals some sort of respiratory condition. Most assume those are symptoms of an upper respiratory infection, but it could be a common cold or even pneumonia.
Most mammals can develop a cold, hamsters included. So if you’re not careful during the winter months, you not only have to worry about getting sick yourself, but you should be keeping a close eye out on your pets as well.
In this article, learn about the causes, signs, treatment, and prevention for a hamster cold.
Causes
Like a human cold, hamster colds are contagious. This means that your hamster can catch a cold from you. If you’re sick, you’ll want to make sure that you take your medication so that you can heal. But while you’re battling a cold, it’s best to stay distant from your pet so that he doesn’t get sick too.
Other causes include:
- If the cage is in a cold or drafty room.
- If you’ve given him a bath but you don’t dry him fully.
- If he likes to sleep underneath his water bottle.
- If you don’t use a water bottle and he drinks from a water bowl, this can be a cause as well, as the water may spill.
Signs
Although the signs and symptoms may vary, here are some more common ones:
- Sneezing
- Runny nose
- Sniffling
- Half-closed, watery eyes
- A warm body temperature
- Thirst
- The ears are laid back
- Lack of activity
- Fatigue
- Discharge from the eyes and the nose
- Matted or un-groomed fur
- He’s curled up in a ball, most often in the corner of the cage
If the cold is severe because it has gone unnoticed for a while, you may see the following signs:
- Lethargy
- Noticeable sneezing and sniffling
- Refusal to eat or drink
- Shivers
- Weight loss
- Very matted and unkempt fur
Treatment
Once you’ve discovered your hamster is sick, you’ll want to get him treated as soon as possible, or it can develop into pneumonia or even bronchitis. The latter are not nearly as easy to treat.
A vet can best diagnose and come up with a treatment plan, so you should seek veterinary assistance. Most will prescribe an antibiotic to help aid the symptoms. However, much like how it is in humans, there’s no cure for the common cold in hamsters.
You will also want to try some of the following suggestions:
- Keep the hamster warm. You may want to consider putting a heating pad under the enclosure. It’s best to find one that is chew-proof in the case that there’s a spurt of energy and the cord or pad is being gnawed on.
- Make sure that the cage is in a warm, dry, and drought-free area.
- Disinfect the cage, water bottle, food dish, and any toys in the cage.
- Change the bedding to new, clean bedding.
- Consider preparing a drink of warm milk, water, and a teaspoon of honey. If he won’t drink from the bottle, get a small syringe or eye dropper and drop a few drops in the mouth. Try this for a few days.
- Set up a Vicks humidifier in the same room. Keep it out of reach from the hamster, but close enough so that he can breathe in the Vicks. This will help with breathing and aid any congestion.
If your hamster has a severe cold, it is essential that you go see a vet for antibiotics.
Where are roborovski hamsters?
The Roborovski is the smallest and fastest breed of hamster, originating from the desert regions of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. Lt. Vsevolod Roborovski, a Russian explorer, first discovered them in 1894 but only underwent scientific study in 1903.
The Hamster
By Curt Struna • January 18, 2018
When I was a young man, I had been picking up a friend who had been babysitting. As I was waited for him, I noticed a cage and looked inside. Inside the cage there was a cute little hamster, and I put my finger up to the bars of the cage to pet him. He bit me. I went to the bathroom and washed the blood off of my hands. When I came back I was told, “You missed it! You should have seen it! After you left, the hamster went crazy and bounced off the walls of the cage and then he ran on the hamster wheel really fast and then he dropped dead!” There was indeed a very dead hamster at the bottom of the cage. We were told to bury it in the garden.
I told my sister this story several days later. My sister was convinced that I had been bitten by a rabid hamster. I explained to her that hamsters in captivity rarely, if ever, contract rabies. Despite my repeated protestations that it was nothing serious, she called the Center for Disease Control. They told her that a state trooper would be coming to pick up the hamster and it would be brought to a laboratory for analysis. I was forced to drive way back to the house where the hamster was buried, dig it up, and bring it back. I became annoyed at about this time.
A trooper picked up the hamster, packed it with ice, put it in the trunk of his car and left. By this time, my sister was frantic that the hamster had been rabid. This had gone too far. I went into the bathroom, found some shaving cream, smeared it around my mouth, and came back out. I lowered my head and told my sister that I wasn’t feeling so well. I then lifted my face and showed her my frothing mouth. She ran out of the house through the screen door and didn’t stop running despite my yelling after her that it had been a joke. She finally did come back, very sheepishly, and walking sideways ready to run away again. You can’t buy memories like that.