The Ultimate Hamster DIYs

All About Wet Tail

Wet Tail is a very deadly disease in hamsters. My hamster Humphrey died of the disease a while ago, so I know plenty about the symptoms, reasons they got it, and a few home remedies on how to cure it and prevent it. Even though I wrote a chapter that talked about wet tail in my main hamster care book, I thought I would do a special, more "focused" chapter especially for this pretty common, contagious disease.

About Wet Tail:
Wet Tail is a deadly rodent disease. (But usually in hamsters and gerbils.) The long name for it is Proliferative Ileitis, but it's most commonly called wet tail. Syrians are more likely to get it than any other species, but it is possible for dwarfs to get it too.

How it's caused:
Wet tail is usually caused by a lot of stress. (From moving the hamster around, noises and movement around and in the cage, etc...) but it can also be from things like lack of nutrition in their diet, which leads up to stress.

Common Symptoms:
-breathing heavily
-lack of or no appetite
-not drinking water
-tired and/or not as active
-making weird squeaking noises
-looks as if in pain
-has a cold body
-bites when handled
-Walking funny/limping
-Fur is not groomed
-wet area around the bum and sometimes the chest/nose (most common)
-is having diarrhea (most common)

If your hamster has any of these symptoms (especially the last two) then it is probably a good idea to head STRAIGHT to the vet. Catching the disease or sickness quickly is so important. Not to scare you, but if your hamster DOES have Wet Tail, he or she can become sick very fast in the last 24-48 hours before even death.

Try your best to catch the symptoms before it's too late, and get hold of a veterinarian. If you are unable to quickly make an appointment (this happened to me) then here are a few things you can do at home that won't help much, but maybe enough to keep your little friend going until a proper vet visit:

-keep your hamsters cage in a quiet, warm area where you can easily check on your hamster if you need to

-make sure they are comfortable, and have food and water near them just incase. (This is good if they are extremely unwell.)

-also, the Oasis Wet Tail drops are available at most pet stores. These are not the best, (they don't really cure anything, just cover up the symptoms,) but they might help save your hamsters life if they can still drink the drops. Just follow the instructions on the bottle so you can give them to your hamster. I really do recommend going to get actual prescribed medication from the vet, as this will help a lot more.

Preventions:
-keep the stress to a minimum
-make sure that your hamster had a steady, healthy, nutritious diet
-make sure your hamster is in a safe, comfortable cage in a good environment to prevent as much stress as possible.

Other than that, make sure to consult a vet as fast as possible and as soon as you see any sign of the disease, Wet Tail. As I said, my old hamster, Humphrey had it. (I have really no idea why.) but I didn't know much on what to do about it. I just hope that you guys are able to keep your hamsters healthy from these situations.

I hope this chapter was helpful and comes in handy if you need it. :)

See ya later!!!