continued hammy problem?

Question

i have a baby hamster and i think something is wrong with its pelvic/hip bones, they are expanding to the outside. it has fur and she shares a cage with her sister. from the back it looks like a frog walking, but it doesn't hop. pleeeeeease help. also, he seems to be doing just fine, but just walks a little diffirent than the other hammy.

Answer 1

I'd consult with a vet for this. The hamster may have a birth defect or a possible injury to it's pelvic bone. We have a dwarf hamster born with only one eye fully developed (other only partially developed and blind) and she's deaf from a birth defect. The vet will be better able to tell what caused the deformity in her. She will still need your love and attention alson with some special care perhaps. Make sure and use a cage without any tubes for her.

If the 2 hamsters are Syrians (large breeds), the girls will need to be separated before they are 4 months or they wil fight especially with one having medical problems. Syrians are solitary animals and it won't matter if their sisters or not, even ones gotten for breeding should never be housed together.

Answer 2

Are you absolutely sure the other hamster is female? 'Expanding hip bones' and 'walking like a frog' sounds a little bit like a description of pregnancy to me!

If not pregnant, and the hamster is eating and drinking normally, passing normal pellets and seems otherwise normal, perhaps it is 'just' a birth defect. Personally I'd get the hamster looked at by a vet, always the thing to do if you're worried, and it's not exactly going to cost much just for a hamster to be looked at!

Chalice

Answer 3

What kind of hamsters are these?

Rear-end paralysis is often seen as the result of fighting, and fighting most often occurs between Syrian hamsters, because they are solitary animals and must be kept one per cage (doesn't matter if they are both girls, sisters, brothers, mother and daughter, they MUST be caged singly).

Just because you don't see the fighting does not mean it is not going on - hamsters are nocturnal and most of their activity (including most of their fights) happen extremely late at night when no one is awake to hear or notice.

Unfortunately, paralysis is usually a permanent state (and sometimes a degenerative one, meaning it will only get worse).

Paralysis can also be the result of having one or both legs caught in a wheel - this is why any knowledgable hamster person will tell you to get a solid-construction wheel, and not the type with bars that will injure them if their feet or legs fall through.

Take your hammy to the vet. If you and your vet agree that her quality of life is greater than the injuries and how the inhibit her motion, you can probably keep her in a modified cage (by herself of course!) that has easy access to food and water. If, on the other hand, her injuries are too severe for her to life with, the kindest thing might be for you to have your vet euthanise her.