I got 2 hamsters last Wednesday. I am a complete newbie, I have no idea what the right thing to do is, and I feel like I'm going to kill them...
BG info:
BREED: Syrian hamsters
COLOR/NAME: One of them is white (Peanut) and the other is black(Black Bean). pic of Peanut sleeping on Black Bean
AGE: They were both born on the first week of September so they are only a little over a month old.
GENDER: I am about 70% sure they are both males. My friend who gave them to me checked, but he started to become unsure when I told him they started fighting. They kept moving around and squirming when I tried to check myself - and I was afraid of hurting them.
LIVING CONDITIONS: I got this at PETCO, so I'm using the Soft Sorbent bedding and food that came with it. I change the water&food almost everyday. But I haven't been able to change the bedding yet because school has kept me busy the whole week. They've been using the soft sorbent bedding since Saturday. I know I'm suppose to change it at least one a week, so I'm going to get them CareFresh bedding tomorrow and change it asap. It looks like this at my home
I don't have a CLUE about what's going on, so I'm just trying to be as thorough as possible on what I observe.
PROBLEM1.
Black Bean is constantly chasing after Peanut and I think he's hurting Peanut because Peanut squeaks (that sounded like pain to me...). But Peanut never started bleeding. I read that Syrian are very aggressive and territorial so they will fight each other until the end. When I told my friend about the fighting, he says that they might be playing, and they shouldn't hurt each other because they're brothers? I don't know how legitimate that reasoning is... ALSO, I've noticed that Black Bean is usually sniffing/aiming for Peanut's rear/stomach... I don't know if hamsters just fight like that or if there's a reason... I also found BB to be chasing Peanut when he's pooping twice..
PROBLEM2.
I think Peanut has a cold. I see him sneezing a lot and I think the area I put him is kind of cold... (pic - the raiator is not on. The curtains covering the windows are thin.) But I think it's the only place I can put him without my family complaining about it =( Is there anything I can do with the cage to nurse him back to health from his cold?
PROBLEM3.
I've put BB and Peanut in a clear exercise ball before and they've peed in it. BB has normal looking urine (clear, yellowish), but BB has this pale opaque yellow urine... it looks like watery pus... I'm a bit worried... I saw BB pee in the ball first, so I thought maybe that's what hamster pee is like. But then Peanut peed in the ball today and it looked a little like human pee, so I got worried. Is something wrong? What can be done?
**SERIOUS PROBLEM4.
BB is a really bad swollen right paw... at least I think it's bad. It was fine yesterday. But then when I returned from school today, I saw that it was really red and puffy and I got really worried. I did some research online and found that it could be an allergic reaction to the bedding or a broken paw...
Here are some pics:
blurry - but has both paws for comparison
clear picture of his right paw
I love them so much and I'd spent any amount of time/do any labor for them - like rip up newspapers for BB's new cardboard box cage so he doesn't hurt his paw more by trying to run on the wheel, or have to be around that Soft Sorbent bedding that might be causing him to have an allergic reaction.
This is what their area looks like now.
A lot of you are probably going to tell me to take them to the vet, especially BB, but I've spent all the money I have on their cage & starter kit, ball, silent wheel, and I don't know how much a vet would cost. I also have to buy them new CareFresh bedding for them when I'm already indebted to my friends. So please consider that too when you respond with some advice...
Btw, are exercise balls stressful for hamsters? I really want to know because I read that they were at a site before, but I also want to allow my hammies outside of their cage and explore my apartment.
Thank you so much. They're my babies and I'm spending hours, neglecting college applications that are due next weekend, to take care of them.
BG info:
BREED: Syrian hamsters
COLOR/NAME: One of them is white (Peanut) and the other is black(Black Bean). pic of Peanut sleeping on Black Bean
AGE: They were both born on the first week of September so they are only a little over a month old.
GENDER: I am about 70% sure they are both males. My friend who gave them to me checked, but he started to become unsure when I told him they started fighting. They kept moving around and squirming when I tried to check myself - and I was afraid of hurting them.
LIVING CONDITIONS: I got this at PETCO, so I'm using the Soft Sorbent bedding and food that came with it. I change the water&food almost everyday. But I haven't been able to change the bedding yet because school has kept me busy the whole week. They've been using the soft sorbent bedding since Saturday. I know I'm suppose to change it at least one a week, so I'm going to get them CareFresh bedding tomorrow and change it asap. It looks like this at my home
I don't have a CLUE about what's going on, so I'm just trying to be as thorough as possible on what I observe.
PROBLEM1.
Black Bean is constantly chasing after Peanut and I think he's hurting Peanut because Peanut squeaks (that sounded like pain to me...). But Peanut never started bleeding. I read that Syrian are very aggressive and territorial so they will fight each other until the end. When I told my friend about the fighting, he says that they might be playing, and they shouldn't hurt each other because they're brothers? I don't know how legitimate that reasoning is... ALSO, I've noticed that Black Bean is usually sniffing/aiming for Peanut's rear/stomach... I don't know if hamsters just fight like that or if there's a reason... I also found BB to be chasing Peanut when he's pooping twice..
PROBLEM2.
I think Peanut has a cold. I see him sneezing a lot and I think the area I put him is kind of cold... (pic - the raiator is not on. The curtains covering the windows are thin.) But I think it's the only place I can put him without my family complaining about it =( Is there anything I can do with the cage to nurse him back to health from his cold?
PROBLEM3.
I've put BB and Peanut in a clear exercise ball before and they've peed in it. BB has normal looking urine (clear, yellowish), but BB has this pale opaque yellow urine... it looks like watery pus... I'm a bit worried... I saw BB pee in the ball first, so I thought maybe that's what hamster pee is like. But then Peanut peed in the ball today and it looked a little like human pee, so I got worried. Is something wrong? What can be done?
**SERIOUS PROBLEM4.
BB is a really bad swollen right paw... at least I think it's bad. It was fine yesterday. But then when I returned from school today, I saw that it was really red and puffy and I got really worried. I did some research online and found that it could be an allergic reaction to the bedding or a broken paw...
Here are some pics:
blurry - but has both paws for comparison
clear picture of his right paw
I love them so much and I'd spent any amount of time/do any labor for them - like rip up newspapers for BB's new cardboard box cage so he doesn't hurt his paw more by trying to run on the wheel, or have to be around that Soft Sorbent bedding that might be causing him to have an allergic reaction.
This is what their area looks like now.
A lot of you are probably going to tell me to take them to the vet, especially BB, but I've spent all the money I have on their cage & starter kit, ball, silent wheel, and I don't know how much a vet would cost. I also have to buy them new CareFresh bedding for them when I'm already indebted to my friends. So please consider that too when you respond with some advice...
Btw, are exercise balls stressful for hamsters? I really want to know because I read that they were at a site before, but I also want to allow my hammies outside of their cage and explore my apartment.
Thank you so much. They're my babies and I'm spending hours, neglecting college applications that are due next weekend, to take care of them.