Hamsters

tipp86

My girlfriend has russian dwarf hamsters and one has been badly attacked on its face.

She is wondering would it be a joke to bring the hamster to a vet or should she just leave it be.

Zapperzy

No you won't be laughed at, Iv brought loads of hamsters and gerbils to the vets over the last few years. Most vets haven't a clue what their looking at though so just ring in advance and make sure they actually deal with hamsters. Whereabouts are you? Someone could recommend a good practise that are familiar with small animals.

Was it another hamster that attacked it? If so please separate them immediately in case it happens again. Most of the time they are happy living in groups but sometimes unfortunately it just doesn't work out.

tipp86

Youghal/Dungarvan area !

He is the first hamster she bought and then a friend gave a second which turned out to be female who fell pregnant. Then the mother attacked him when babies were born so she seperated him.

Then she separated the baby's into male and female and he has lived happily for about 2 months with the males but they now have started attacking him.

Susannahmia

tipp86 wrote: »

My girlfriend has russian dwarf hamsters and one has been badly attacked on its face.

She is wondering would it be a joke to bring the hamster to a vet or should she just leave it be.

Ive brought hamsters to the vet loads of times. Just make sure to go to one who works mainly with small animals. Most vets aren't very experienced but will trim teeth administer antibiotics etc.

Zapperzy

tipp86 wrote: »

Youghal/Dungarvan area !

He is the first hamster she bought and then a friend gave a second which turned out to be female who fell pregnant. Then the mother attacked him when babies were born so she seperated him.

Then she separated the baby's into male and female and he has lived happily for about 2 months with the males but they now have started attacking him.

Is that in cork?
Unfortunately there is no other option other than to separate him from the rest. Once a serious fight has occured you can't really take the risk that it might happen again.
How many are in the cage? Sometimes there can be territorial fights, they can be reduced by providing more water bottles/food bowls/wheels or anything that can be seen as valuable to a hamster. If the cage is a multi tiered cage or one of those crittertrail/rotastack cages with loads of tubes and compartments then move them to a large fish tank, sometimes hamster claim an area (such as a shelf or compartment) or item (such as a water bottle or wheel) as their own and then fight other hamsters that get near it.

joyce2009

Definatley take him to the vet ,,its no joke if he is hurt ..

tipp86

Zapperzy wrote: »

Is that in cork?
Unfortunately there is no other option other than to separate him from the rest. Once a serious fight has occured you can't really take the risk that it might happen again.
How many are in the cage? Sometimes there can be territorial fights, they can be reduced by providing more water bottles/food bowls/wheels or anything that can be seen as valuable to a hamster. If the cage is a multi tiered cage or one of those crittertrail/rotastack cages with loads of tubes and compartments then move them to a large fish tank, sometimes hamster claim an area (such as a shelf or compartment) or item (such as a water bottle or wheel) as their own and then fight other hamsters that get near it.

Ya youghal is on cork border !