Hamster with injured leg – possibly broken

Hello everyone. I noticed my hamster's leg bruised and foot not moving when I picked her up today. There are no vets for hamsters where I live, but I'll look around and ask vets tomorrow if they can do something.

Her behavior is the same as usual, and she wants to play but I'm afraid of letting her out in case she injures it worse.

Possible cause of her injury is the wheel I bought her months ago thought she didn't have a problem with it until now. I removed the wheel from her enclosure. She eats, drinks, grooms and runs around as usual.

Is there something I can do to make it better until I find a professional who can help?
I attached the best photo I could take of her leg below.

Hello. It does look swollen and bruised. Can I ask what species of hamster she is and what type of wheel it was? It might help work out what type of injury it is, but yes it does need a vet looking at it. How long has it been swollen and bruised?

Is she a dwarf hamster? I'm not sure what they would do about a broken leg - it might depend where the break is. But the swelling and bruising does suggest something is broken. A vet can give pain relief and anti inflammatory medication as well. Have you tried googling in a wider region? Try googling "exotic vet".

Maz said:

Hello. It does look swollen and bruised. Can I ask what species of hamster she is and what type of wheel it was? It might help work out what type of injury it is, but yes it does need a vet looking at it. How long has it been swollen and bruised?

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Not more than a few hours. The wheel is like a circular one, it apparently can also be used as like the things you can put the hamster in and close it (I couldn't remember the name). I don't think my hamster would like that so I never use it but just let her out in my room. And she is a syrian hamster.

Maz said:

Is she a dwarf hamster? I'm not sure what they would do about a broken leg - it might depend where the break is. But the swelling and bruising does suggest something is broken. A vet can give pain relief and anti inflammatory medication as well. Have you tried googling in a wider region? Try googling "exotic vet".

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Yes, I've searched a lot since and before I got her but the most I get is for parakeets. Here is a photo of her for reference. I'll still try my luck and ask around the vets near me tomorrow.

She's gorgeous Do you mean the wheel was like a hamster ball on a stand? Poor little thing. Have you checked to see if there's anywhere else she could have got an injury? Sometimes something in the cage can be an issue - eg a gap between a platform and a ladder, or a bendy stick bridge with gaps in. Anything they can get a foot caught in they can try and yank themselves free. What kind of cage is it also?

Maz said:

She's gorgeous Do you mean the wheel was like a hamster ball on a stand? Poor little thing. Have you checked to see if there's anywhere else she could have got an injury? Sometimes something in the cage can be an issue - eg a gap between a platform and a ladder, or a bendy stick bridge with gaps in. Anything they can get a foot caught in they can try and yank themselves free. What kind of cage is it also?

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Yes! Nothing else could've given her the injury I think, but I removed two of her toys too just in case. and it's not a cage, but like huge plastic box attached to another with a tunnel. There are holes for breathing but I still leave the top open sometimes agape at nights when it's cold.

Do you think it's possible she could have escaped at night and injured herself somewhere else? If it's a bin type cage, then it does need a lid, but the ventilation is really important, so having holes in the lid isn't enough - it needs the panel cutting out of the lid (just leaving the rim) and meshing the lid with mesh and cable ties. Even then some hamsters can push the lid up and escape! But could she be escaping at night?

It is very difficult when you can't find a vet. Are you in a country where there aren't many hamster or exotic vets? If so a general vet might be ok.

You are right to limit her movement for a time and take out anything that she might catch her leg on. If she has a nice deep layer of bedding, just resting her leg might be enough to let it heal. If there is an open wound, she might need antibiotics, but it doesn't look like there has been bleeding or broken skin. The parakeet vet might be able to make some suggestions, but trying to limit activity for a few days, possibly using a smaller cage, might help. I don't think there is any way of bandaging her leg. If it becomes infected that could be a problem. You could ask a regular vet for advice. They may be experienced with tiny kittens and be able to prescribe pain killers and anti inflammatory meds. Some meds are dangerous for hamsters, so it's worth Googling the meds just in case. Good luck, I hope your beautiful hammy feels better soon

I would also try the parakeet vet A smaller hospital cage is an idea, but my experience of that is that they can go completely stir crazy, so it's probably better to keep her in her familiar set up but just plenty of bedding, as Socks Mum says. And remove anything she might catch it on. To make up for that you could maybe add some cardboard items like cardboard egg boxes or tissue boxes, or toilet roll tubes (you can make those into treat parcels) as female syrians seem to like ripping up cardboard! And that might keep her occupied, Also maybe a new chew stick with food stuck on as a treat. Even a parakeet vet should be able to prescribe anti inflammatory pain relief meds (its usually metacam aka Loxicom). They might not know the right dose for a hamster (it can be complicated to work out, even for vets!) but if you're unsure, you could check on here and we can at least give an indication if it's in the right range!

Thank you so much Maz and Socks Mum!

I don't think she'd be escaping at night because there's no way to get back in if she did. She does climb on my bed though, might be a possibility. I'll definitely take my precautions.

She gets really stressed in just the small enclosure even before it's her wakeup time, I'm afraid that might not be a good idea.

She loves ripping up cardboard too, she has lots of it in there and some paper with treats inside.

I'm about to go out and ask around at vets. I checked her again today, no improvement or worsening in her leg. Her behavior is still the same, though they usually hide their pain. She regularly comes out of her bed to sniff me or ask for treats.

Thank you so much for your help. I'm praying my little girl will be safe. Here is a photo of her I took just seconds ago. ❤

Aw, she is so beautiful. What is her name? It sounds like she should be OK with some rest. Yes, the small container might make her too restless. I hope she gets better soon She has a very good natured expression

She says thank you! Her name is Charlie.

A little fun fact: I thought she was a male for a long time since that's what the place I got her told me. Then one day I picked her up and noticed the little dots on her tummy. :')

She really is very lovely and I believe she will fight through this. Thank you for you kind words.

She does have a lovely expression - very sweet. We've had a few people find that the sex was different to originally thought! It must be quite strange to suddently think of them as a she rather than a he! Charlie is a good name for either though

Yes they do hide pain well. I am sure she will improve and it may be there is nothing to do but rest the leg - but it would be good if it was possibke to get some pain relief meds from a vet. If it's a break it should heal but if its a dislocation, that could continue to be painful and affect walking - so it really could help to have a vet exam.

Maz said:

She does have a lovely expression - very sweet. We've had a few people find that the sex was different to originally thought! It must be quite strange to suddently think of them as a she rather than a he! Charlie is a good name for either though

Yes they do hide pain well. I am sure she will improve and it may be there is nothing to do but rest the leg - but it would be good if it was possibke to get some pain relief meds from a vet. If it's a break it should heal but if its a dislocation, that could continue to be painful and affect walking - so it really could help to have a vet exam.

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I asked around vets if they could examine her but no chance unfortunately. I also asked for the medication you recommended (Metacam) and they all only have the 1.5 mg/ml one. I haven't gotten it, but is it safe to maybe mix it water to lessen to dosage? I don't know what else to do but I also don't want her to suffer. I have no other idea than that, and the vets have no idea about it too. Sorry for the bother and again thank you for the help.

I think the 1.5mg/ml is the dog metacam strength, which IMO is better than the cat metacam one which is a lower strength. The problem with the lower strength cat metacam is it means giving a larger amount of meds for the same dosage which might be a lot to get into a hamster!

The dose for a hamster, with dog metacam is tiny! Usually about 0.01 to 0.03 ml depending on the weight of the hamster. It can actually be calculated partially from the description on the packet - as it allows you to calculate the dose by weight. However, my exotic vet says the calculation by weight is actually underdosing a hamster, as their fast metabolism needs to be factored in. But the average dose for a Syrian hamster is often about 0.02ml. And you could ask the vet to help you calculate the correct dose based on weight, even if that is slightly underdosing (I was also informed there is a bit of leeway in the dosing).

So for that you need a 1ml syringe. They syringe that comes with the metacam is too big to get the small dose, so what you normally do is draw some up in the syringe it comes with, stick the end of a 1ml syringe into the end of the bigger syringe, and draw up the correct amount in the 1ml syringe, then squirt the remainder from the big syringe back into the bottle

The 1ml syringe has 10 main markings. Each of those 10 markings is 0.1ml. Each of those markings has 10 smaller markings and one of those is 0.01ml

It is almost just a "drop" of metacam and about 10 years ago, that's what vets used to say - just give one drop or two drops. That was not very good though because you can get large drops and small drops! So it is better protocol these days to actually measure the dose in a 1ml syringe. You need good eyesight! Or a pair of magnifying glasses!

Do you know Charlie's weight?

I tend to drop it onto a tiny bit of babyfood and they just eat it up from there (and enjoy the baby food as well!). Only certain types of baby food are suitable though. No spices, onions or lemon juice etc. A bit of mashed banana is another option although that goes brown quite quickly.

So yes I would ask the vet to prescribe the 1.5mg/ml dog metacam, help work out the dosage based on Charlie's weight - and hopefully they;d give you a spare 1 ml syringe with it as well

As a comparison, the dose for one of my large syrians was 0.03ml (with metabolism factored in), for one of my slightly less large syrians it was 0.02ml (with metabolism factored in). For my 25g robo the dose was 0.01ml. It is a really tiny amount though. Like a drop.

I am sure it would help Charlie be more comfortable and also help reduce any inflammation.

So sorry to read Charlie has hurt herself, your photos are lovely. I think keeping her as settled and rested as you can will help it heal. Perhaps keep trying the local vets as they may decide to fit her in for an examination. Wishing her a speedy recovery.