Tuesday April 25 06
Hamsters all look healthy! However, I am going to take some time off from the hamstery this summer for personal reasons. I may breed a litter or two, so keep your eye on the pups page if you're interested in a hamster, but otherwise it will probably be close to fall before I start breeding regularly again. I hope everyone's hammies are doing well!
Saturday March 18 06
Everybody is still healthy and doing well - no sign of wet tail, but sadly we lost Cotton on St Patrick's Day. He was such a great hamster and we are so sad. A couple litters should be coming up soon ... I do have an experimental color litter as well. I may post some pups from that soon.
Wednesday March 1 06
Updated the pups page - expecting a few new litters this week. Everyone seems healthy and well!
Tuesday February 21 06
Butterscotch is looking great! Only lingering effect from his illness seems to be a slightly smaller size, but then again, rexes are often smaller than their fellow hamsters. His coat has grown back in a he's looking very pretty.
Hailey's litter was kept until six weeks - and no wet tail cropped up. Yay! They are gone, but I am posting Starrie's new litter on the pups page. I have a few people already waiting so those pups may go fast.
I'm still quite concerned about the possiblity of wet tail. It's so frightening that I still have no idea where this came from and if it could strike again. But I will try offering pups again. Thanks so much for all the emails and support! It really means a lot to me.
I do have a lot of things happening over the summer as many of you already know! So I don't know how much breeding I'll be doing this summer, but I don't have any plans to quit running the hamstery. So if I don't have a lot of litters don't be surprised.
So the pups page is updated. A couple of other hamsters are expecting as well. So if Starrie's pups get reserved quickly, there are more litters still coming!
Friday, February 3 2006
Well, Butterscotch recovered, but not without a few battle scars. He pulled out some of his fur near his rump - the satin rexes often have fur that tangles badly, and combined with the wet tail he probably had some issues cleaning himself properly. Unfortunately, too, he hated the vet medication. He would actually leave his mouth open and plow though the shavings with his face after each treatment, so I worried that he got enough of the meds. He did recover, as I said, but he lost weight and now is still very small for his age. I hope he catches up. He seems healthy and very active.
No new cases have come up. I do have one litter, Hailey's, which are eight pups born on January 7. This litter will be kept until they are at least six weeks old, and then maybe I will put them on the site if they remain healthy. This litter will test to make sure the illness is not somehow lingering in my house.
As I still do not know where the wet tail came from, I am worried about future outbreaks. Should I close the hamstery to prospective clients? I just don't know what I'm going to do. It's just so contagious and so dangerous.
Anyways I'm trying to update the breeders, memory and pups page today. Wish me luck!
Thursday January 12 2006
The good news is that the pups, except, sadly, for Cashmere, have completely recovered and are looking great. The bad news is, another pup in another cage has developed symptoms - a male mink satin rex from Jackie's litter. I hope to keep him and have named him Butterscotch. He is on medicine and still kicking after two days of illness, so keep your fingers crossed. The three other males in his cage remain unaffected as of this morning. I am not treating those males with the vet antibiotic, but they are getting the electrolyte treatment. Currently that is our only case, so I am cautiously hopeful. All our hamsters being carefully monitored for symptoms.
Tuesday January 10 2006
I'm heartbroken to say that Starlight Hamstery will be closed for awhile due to a mysterious outbreak of wet tail. This illness is very contagious and evidently is also affecting many pet stores in the area so please, wash carefully if you have a hamster at home after visiting a pet store! I avoid visiting pet stores for this very reason, so where the illness came from I have no idea! But that's what makes it so frightening. We've tangled with this illness before, and here's some of the things we've discovered about this sickness (these are just our first hand observations, and by no means a scientific study, but maybe this information will be helpful to some of you):
1 - Symptoms include a bad smell, a lethargic and dirty animal, and a wet bottom and underside. The loose bowels are often noticeable and greenish in color. When these symptoms begin to subside, the animal is usually on the road to recovery.
2 - If you notice these symptoms - get to a vet ASAP! Time is important - a hamster can die quickly from dehydration.The vet can provide you with an antibiotic to give your hamster twice a day, usually with an eyedropper. My friend and I also swear by a formula you can purchase at PetSmart - it's called Wet-Tail Plus Antibiotic Fizz-Tablets, and it's made by Oasis. You add the tablets to their drinking water and it provides them with probiotics, vitamins and electrolytes. My sick hamsters began showing improvement in just a couple days with the veternarian's treatment in addition to the treated water.
3 - Hamsters are small animals, and the rapid loss of nutrients and liquids from diarrhea can quickly lead to death. So if your animal is sick and not drinking, bring the bottle to him and try to encourage him to drink. Make sure he has plenty of uncontaminated food, and tempt him with nutritious treats such as carrots, which are also loaded with water to keep him hydrated. Be careful to keep him calm when administering treatments - some hamsters fight the eyedropper, or find taking the medicine upsetting. We all know what hamsters do when they're upset, right? They poop - which, when a hamster already is losing precious liquids and nutrients, is a dangerous thing.
4 - Once one of my hamsters had gotten wet tail and recovered, they haven't gotten it again. This is strictly my observation among my pets. And the hamsters that I still have that were exposed to wet tail the last time I was stricken with it but never came down with it, also remained well this time. Some hamsters do not seem to be affected at all - Pizzazz's entire litter of ten was very ill except for one male, Macaroon, who never got sick. Why? He slept right in a pile with his sick siblings. Maybe he has a stronger immune system? Perhaps observations like this can lead to stronger, more disease resistant litters. On the other hand, so far we've only lost one pup - a female, Cashmere, who, while on the small side, was not the smallest nor sickest pup. Why did she succumb? Cokie's entire litter, despite being right next to a sick cage of pups, is still unaffected since five days of exposure. It's interesting to note that Cokie had suffered from wet tail in the past and completely recovered - is it possible she may have somehow passed antibodies to her children?
Of course, these are my observations since discovering wet tail in two pups cages five days ago. I will post any changes on this updates page as they become known, but most of the pups seem to be recovering. Only a couple still look dirty and and damp, most look nice and dry and healthy. Still they will all get the full treatment, including Macaroon, since he is still in the cage with his siblings. Wish us luck!