Wet tail disease is a very common condition that pet hamsters face, and unfortunately, it is quite common for hamsters to actually die of this disease. At the first sign of wet tail, you should take your hamster to a vet immediately for their professional advice and potential medical prescriptions.
Wet tail is a stress-related condition that is primarily caused by a buildup of bacteria in caged environments. The key symptoms you need to look out for include a wet tail with faeces on it, diarrhoea, a lack of appetite, low energy, folded ears, a hunched back and unusually aggressive behaviour. A vet can help with these symptoms and that will hopefully put your hamster on the road to recovery.
These are the ways that you can prevent wet tail from taking hold in the first place.
A large and clean cage. Too many hamsters are kept in cages that are too small. It should be no surprise that this can cause significant stress (just as if you were locked in a small cage), which can cause wet tail. The cage also needs to be cleaned regularly so that the living environment is as pleasant as possible and so that bacteria doesn't start to form as a result of festering food, faeces or urine.
Minimal handling. Hamsters are common gifts for young children on birthdays or at Christmas. Having a pet hamster can be a great way for your child to learn how to take care of a pet and be responsible. Of course, it's to be expected that your child will want to hold and play with the hamster, and this is fine, but it must be in moderation. Hamsters feel stressed if they are handled by humans too much, and they require quite a lot of alone time. When your child does handle their pet, they need to be supervised to ensure they're being gentle and always have clean hands to prevent the spread of bacteria.
A consistent diet. A good hamster diet should consist of some hamster pellets, a small amount of fresh fruit and vegetables and some treats, such as nuts or boiled eggs. Once you and your vet have decided upon an optimal diet, stick to it each day because even seemingly small alterations can wreak havoc on the digestive systems of hamsters, and this in turn can cause diarrhoea and wet tail.
Follow this advice, and you should have a healthy and happy pet hamster.
When I notice that my dog didn't look well, I was really worried. Little Danny hadn't been eating his food and had been sleeping a lot. I called my sister and asked for advice. She recommended that I take my dog Danny to the vet. I booked an emergency appointment at the veterinary surgery and later that day my dog was seen by the vet. Assess Danny's help and prescribed some antibiotics. I was really impressed with the level of care provided by the veterinary surgery. Since this time, I have become extremely interested in animal well-being, so I decided to start this blog. Enjoy!