About Hamster Injuries
It may seem unreal to some people that a hamster can become injured. You may be surprised by all the ways your hamster can sustain an injury. Of course the most common injury occurs when the hamster is dropped. If you or your child is afraid of the hamster you should not pick up the hamster. It is normal to be a little nervous handling a hamster for the first few times. They are so small and fragile not to mention squirmy. So this article is about hamster injuries and how to prevent and help heal minor injuries.
What do you need to know about hamster injuries? Let’s look at a basic first aid kit for your hamster. It should contain the following items; an eye dropper (for giving water and medication.), gauze, antiseptic lotion and antibiotic cream, hydrogen peroxide, gloves, nail clippers, small scissors, tiny metal splints (for broken bones that cannot be chewed off), salt to mix with water to clean open wounds and scratches, antihistamine (for bug bites and bee stings in case of an allergic reaction and most importantly a first aid guide just for hamsters.
Now that you have a well stocked first aid kit your ready for your hamster if they get hurt. Injuries can occur during a fight, playing and just dumb luck. I have actually seen a hamster fall off his wheel while it was spinning right along!
Hamsters can also get stuck in the tubes in their cages. This is a common problem for pregnant hamsters and a tragic one if no one notices for a few hours.
Hamsters can also get hurt playing with their house mates as I mentioned above. Accidents do happen. Also if you introduce a new hamster into the cage with hamster that has been together since birth you could have a lot of fighting going on. There are bound to scratches and bites from this. That is why it is so important to get your hamsters at the same time or within a few days of each other.
New mommies can become very protective of her baby (pups) and aggressive. Now the sad part is she can also become aggressive towards her babies. There really is not much you can do if that happens other than separate the baby she has injured from the rest of the hamsters and do your best to nurse it back to health and hope that when it re-enters the cage it can hold its own. Many times if a baby hamster is sickly the mother will try to kill it. Some breeds also have a tendency to eat their babies.
So as you can clearly see there is a lot to know about hamster injuries. If you are uncertain about what to do with a hamster that has a broken bone or a deep wound always call your veterinarian. Some injuries do require more than what you and your first aid kit can provide.
Tags: minor injuries, basic first aid kit, antiseptic lotion, pet store, open wounds, bee stings, antibiotic cream, hydrogen peroxide, Recreation and Sports, tiny metal, Hamster, dumb luck, first aid kit, dwarf hamsters, Human Interest, tiny metal splints, About, bug bites, new mommies, Injuries, eye dropper, nail clippers, broken bones, allergic reaction
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