Hamster may have eaten old scrambled eggs / she's weak and something wrong with her eye

[Tosan]

Hello, first time poster. Brief history: I've had a total of 6 Syrian hamsters, 5 female 1 male.

I'm quite experienced when it comes to dealing with hamsters. They all have the largest sized "Bigger World" Niteangel tanks and deep bedding, happy large enclosures with plenty of things to keep them busy, sand baths etc. I feed them well, mainly good mixed food + mealworms on occasion.

One of my hamsters never eats food immediately, pouches everything, so I don't give her live mealworms. They all reject dried mealworms, this particular gal likes to pouch all food and never eats anything on the spot. This is the hamster I'm concerned about.

Firstly I'd like to say, I will be taking her to a vet, it's just 11pm and I'll have to schedule in the morning, the best local vet I could find who I trust most rarely has time for same-day care though. I'm considering emergency vet but they're very far away and expensive, and I'm fairly broke at the moment, but I don't mind being broke if it can save her, if needed.

I'm looking for some insight if anyone has experience. So, this particular hamster had her teeth overgrowing and I noticed too late. Took her to the vet because she was drinking TONS of water, way more than usual and it was concerning, and the vet found her tooth was curved backwards and overgrown, piercing her mouth. Got it trimmed and gave her antibiotics, the abscess that formed went away quickly, so I'm not sure this is related. She continued drinking a lot of water until the last day or so, now she seems to be drinking the usual amount or maybe a little less, but she IS still drinking.


However, 2 nights ago I went to give her and my other little guy some scrambled egg. I usually make 1 egg, give them a tiny piece and then eat the rest myself - well I made the mistake of setting it on the floor to feed my boy in his tank, while Nara (the gal who is sick) was roaming. I totally spaced out on the fact she's roaming in that brief moment and she quickly climbed on the plate and started vacuuming all the egg in her cheeks. I tried to stop her but she got a huge amount of egg before I did, easily half an egg worth.

I've been sick myself with a cold lately, nothing major but I went to take a nap after she took all that egg, and I didn't wake up to my alarm - after I woke up, I woke her up to take her out and look for the eggs she should have stashed.

I tore that tank apart looking for the egg and I found no sign of it. However, I found a small clump of bedding that smelled kind of.... moldy? Could she have eaten that much scrambled egg and gotten sick? Is that smelly clump of bedding where she stashed the egg, would egg make it smell like that after such a short period of time? I don't give them food that can spoil typically so I don't know what made that clump of bedding smell moldy. I'd also be shocked if she ate that much egg in such a short period, they're usually pretty good at eating only a small amount - my other hamsters eat a small bit and drop the rest, but I never see how much she truly eats because she pouches literally everything, never eats anything on the spot.

I don't know if this is related to her tooth issue and antibiotics maybe getting her down, or if she ate way too much scrambled egg and got sick. I feel like an idiot for setting that plate down, but I'm really worried about her until I can get her to a vet. Could she be sick from eating too much egg? Are they smart enough to not eat spoiled egg or do they not know or care?

Sorry for long post, thank you for reading.

 

[elusive]

Hi & welcome to the forum.

I’ve always found that hamsters only eat what they need, they don’t seem to over eat if you give them a bit too much of something like fresh foods & I would imagine that would be the same with the eggs. It’s possible the egg would have begun to mould quite quickly if it was pouched & taken to the nest but I really doubt any ham would eat it if it was mouldy & the mould hasn’t really been there long enough to cause any harm I wouldn’t think.

I’m a bit unsure from your post what symptoms exactly your ham is showing now?
How long ago did she have her tooth trimmed at the vet? Once they begin to overgrown or grow out of alignment they need trimming about every 3 weeks so it maybe that needs checking again now.

Don’t feed live mealworms to your hams, mealworms bite & if pouched can cause injury so if they don’t like the dried mealworms it’s best to find an alternative protein source that they like.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello Tosan and welcome to the forum.

 

[Maz]

Hello. It's such a worry when these things happen isn't it, but try not to worry. It's just scrambled egg It is slightly concerning when we think they may have stashed a load of fresh food somewhere that might go off. And then can't find it! But basically I would try not to worry. If it did go mouldy, I don't think a hamster would eat it. If you've spot cleaned her hoard area, and had a feel around under the bedding and haven't found anything, I would just carry on as normal with occasional spot cleaning - although it sounds like you've already had a good look and found this gungy pile.

Hamsters can't vomit - so she hasn't been sick - so it won't be a pile of sick. If she is looking and acting healthy, I really wouldn't worry .

In this situation I would probably do a "half" cage clean after a day or so. ie Remove everything from one half of the cage, putting most of the substrate back after checking through it. Then a few days later, the same with the other half of the cage. That way one half still smells familiar and it'll be less stressful for the hamster. Although it sounds like you might have found the egg anyway.

Cheeky monkey eating all that scrambled egg. I agree with Elusive about not giving live mealworms. Apart from anything else they could lay eggs and hatch out possibly.

Unless she is behaving as if she's unwell I wouldn't bother taking her to the vet over this, but just keep an eye on her.

I'm really sorry you've been sick yourself as well - everything seems much worse when you don't feel well. Only tip there is hand washing before handling the hamsters.

 

[Banned Member 1]

I've heard people suggest cutting off or crushing the heads of live mealworms so they're safe to give to a hamster. Assuming you can stomach doing that of course!

Welcome to the forum Tosan!

 

[elusive]

I just realised after asking what symptoms she has you put that something is wrong with her eye in the title, that makes me even more inclined to think it could possibly be related to the tooth problem so I would get that checked out to be sure.

 

[Tosan]

Hi & welcome to the forum.

I’ve always found that hamsters only eat what they need, they don’t seem to over eat if you give them a bit too much of something like fresh foods & I would imagine that would be the same with the eggs. It’s possible the egg would have begun to mould quite quickly if it was pouched & taken to the nest but I really doubt any ham would eat it if it was mouldy & the mould hasn’t really been there long enough to cause any harm I wouldn’t think.

I’m a bit unsure from your post what symptoms exactly your ham is showing now?
How long ago did she have her tooth trimmed at the vet? Once they begin to overgrown or grow out of alignment they need trimming about every 3 weeks so it maybe that needs checking again now.

Don’t feed live mealworms to your hams, mealworms bite & if pouched can cause injury so if they don’t like the dried mealworms it’s best to find an alternative protein source that they like.

Thanks for the reply.
To clarify, the tooth trimming was only 2 weeks ago, her teeth are still relatively short from that trimming so they're not overgrown again yet.
Timeline: First she started drinking absurd amounts of water, then I took her to vet, she got teeth trimmed and antibiotics, it's been about 16 days since then, I halted antibiotics a couple days ago because it says only 14 days.
Last night and tonight she hasn't come out on her own, I check on her out of worry and dig a hole in her bedding to find her, she comes out, sips some water then goes back to sleep. She seems very weak/exhausted and she has something wrong with her right eye (looks gunked up, but without the gunk? There's nothing visible, but she can't fully open it and the fur around her eye looks messed up).

I can't figure out if this is somehow related to antibiotics (maybe stopping them caused some issue, or maybe they messed with her stomach?). I considered the egg issue, I don't know if this is some sort of separate eye infection or if it's related to the tooth/antibiotics. One thing to note, I couldn't give her the antibiotics every 12 hours as recommended, she simply refuses outside of once per day, and I have to mix it with a little dime-sized drop of babyfood or she won't take it. She's too fidgety to let me force the syringe into her mouth. I assume the antibiotics once-per-day is still going to help, the abscess on her cheek from the tooth issue (which was only visible the day I brought her to vet) disappeared so I assumed she was getting much better.

Behavior has only changed the last 2 nights though, even while taking antibiotics she was waking up to free-roam at her usual time every night.

 

[Tosan]

Hello. It's such a worry when these things happen isn't it, but try not to worry. It's just scrambled egg It is slightly concerning when we think they may have stashed a load of fresh food somewhere that might go off. And then can't find it! But basically I would try not to worry. If it did go mouldy, I don't think a hamster would eat it. If you've spot cleaned her hoard area, and had a feel around under the bedding and haven't found anything, I would just carry on as normal with occasional spot cleaning - although it sounds like you've already had a good look and found this gungy pile.

Hamsters can't vomit - so she hasn't been sick - so it won't be a pile of sick. If she is looking and acting healthy, I really wouldn't worry .

In this situation I would probably do a "half" cage clean after a day or so. ie Remove everything from one half of the cage, putting most of the substrate back after checking through it. Then a few days later, the same with the other half of the cage. That way one half still smells familiar and it'll be less stressful for the hamster. Although it sounds like you might have found the egg anyway.

Cheeky monkey eating all that scrambled egg. I agree with Elusive about not giving live mealworms. Apart from anything else they could lay eggs and hatch out possibly.

Unless she is behaving as if she's unwell I wouldn't bother taking her to the vet over this, but just keep an eye on her.

I'm really sorry you've been sick yourself as well - everything seems much worse when you don't feel well. Only tip there is hand washing before handling the hamsters.

Regarding mealworms, I don't give them to Nara because she pouches them, but I've never had issues with my other hammies, they devour them instantly and never pouch, and they loooove them!
She is behaving as if she's unwell, that's what worries me. Something wrong with her right eye and she seems like she's lost a little weight suddenly. The insane water-drinking she's been doing for weeks I assumed (and vet did too) that it was related to her tooth. She kept drinking tons of water after getting tooth trimmed, probably cause her mouth still hurt/was healing. Last 2 days she suddenly drinks WAY less water - which normally would be a good sign because she was drinking like 5-6x the normal amount and peeing constantly, had to clean her tank more frequently than usual due to how much pee. Vet near me is very knowledgeable and I trust him, he found nothing wrong besides the tooth issue, so assuming that's what all the water drinking was about (trying to flush her mouth due to the pain perhaps).

I just don't know why she suddenly looks sickly and weak, and the fur around her eye looks goopy (but no visible crust or anything like that, just the fur is messed up and she can't fully open her eye).
But yeah I did a full sweep of her huge tank (quite exhausting to hunch over that long!) and did a half cleaning, I found nothing but that small clump of stinky bedding and threw it out. Should be good in there now but I'm so worried about her behavior.

 

[Maz]

I just realised after asking what symptoms she has you put that something is wrong with her eye in the title, that makes me even more inclined to think it could possibly be related to the tooth problem so I would get that checked out to be sure.

I missed that. And just read your post above. Yes it will need a vet visit to get the eye checked as Elusive mentions - it can be related to a tooth abscess. It's possible it has recurred after ending the antibiotics.

Giving the antibiotic in food is fine, as long as they get the full dose. The vet might suggest continuing with the antibiotics longer.

How old is she by the way?

 

[Tosan]

I've heard people suggest cutting off or crushing the heads of live mealworms so they're safe to give to a hamster. Assuming you can stomach doing that of course!

Welcome to the forum Tosan!

Yeah it's just so weird that she had this tooth problem for at least a week before I brought her to vet, and then 2 weeks of antibiotics and she seemed normal and perky as usual besides drinking way too much water, all of a sudden she's got this messed up eye and looking tired, doesn't come out, I'm worried she's not even drinking ENOUGH water now. I monitor their water bowl regularly to get an idea of healthy behavior, she went from emptying that dish twice a day to barely touching it now....

 

[Tosan]

I missed that. And just read your post above. Yes it will need a vet visit to get the eye checked as Elusive mentions - it can be related to a tooth abscess. It's possible it has recurred after ending the antibiotics.

Giving the antibiotic in food is fine, as long as they get the full dose. The vet might suggest continuing with the antibiotics longer.

How old is she by the way?

Yeah she's by far my most stubborn hamster, she's pretty tame but she just refuses the antibiotics, I can't hold her still enough to force the syringe into her mouth (squirmy little rascal), the only way I can get her to take it is with a tiny blob of baby food.
She's almost 1 year old. As far as doses, she usually seems to consume the full dose in the baby food, but she would only eat that 1 time per day, the vet said to give it to her every 12 hours but I simply could not get her to take it no matter what beyond once per day. Once she's in bed and I wake her up for second dose, she refuses and hides like "leave me alone I'm trying to sleep!".

 

[Maz]

Just saw your other post above. The fact she seems unwell is the main reason to take her to the vet. The eye may just be a sticky eye and not related - but considering she's just had tooth issues, it's a possibility the eye is related to that.

I was asking how old she was due to her drinking a lot of water. This becomes quite common when they get older as their kidneys don't function as well. If she's drinking less water now, I wouldn't worry too much as long as she is drinking.

 

[Maz]

Yeah she's by far my most stubborn hamster, she's pretty tame but she just refuses the antibiotics, I can't hold her still enough to force the syringe into her mouth (squirmy little rascal), the only way I can get her to take it is with a tiny blob of baby food.
She's almost 1 year old. As far as doses, she usually seems to consume the full dose in the baby food, but she would only eat that 1 time per day, the vet said to give it to her every 12 hours but I simply could not get her to take it no matter what beyond once per day. Once she's in bed and I wake her up for second dose, she refuses and hides like "leave me alone I'm trying to sleep!".

Ok so the dose was supposed to be twice a day but she was only getting it once a day. Was it a half dose twice a day? And you've been giving the full dose once a day? If so it sounds like it worked until the antibiotics finished. Some infections are very hard to shift and they can need a longer course of antibiotics, but not usually longer than two weeks. The vet may try a different antibiotic though (there are two I'm aware of they can have).

At a year old, she's not that old really so it doesn't sound age related (although excess drinking can start from a year onwards really).

I'm sorry she's poorly. Until you get to the vets, just keep her warm and comfortable and ensure she gets some liquid. Is she getting up to drink?

I would be tempted to start the antibiotics again actually. If you've only just stopped them. Then the vet can decide whether you should continue them or change to a different one.

In terms of antibiotics making her unwell - I think that's very unlikely. It's true that antibiotics aren't good for their gut but if she was well when she was on them then two weeks worth wouldn't make her ill. Giving a probiotic after a longer course helps the gut but it shouldn't make her unwell like this - it sounds more like infection. You could ask the vet about probiotics too. Are you in the US? I think US vets actually give probiotics on prescription - and use Benebac sometimes, which is a good one. But the priority is the possible infection really.

I always give antibiotic in food as well because some hamsters get too stressed to be held for the dosing or hate the syringe. A tip there is some kind of strong meaty flavoured food - the antibiotic tastes foul so it usually needs to be something that disguises the taste of it. Although if she's been eating the babyfood ok with it then that sounds like it's working. I always drop the meds on top of the puree food and then drop a tiny bit more food on top of the meds. That way the meds are in the middle and not on the bottom of the dish or spoon where they could get left. If the dish or spoon is licked clean, you know they've had all of it.

 

[Member ID2]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Overgrown teeth can be caused by an underlying health problem in which case teeth can grow so fast suddenly that we may not notice. It has happened to one of my hamsters.

I have also heard that the head of a live mealworm needs removing before feeding to a hamster but you probably know that.

I don't think the scrambled egg is something to worry about and you are doing everything you can already.

Only a hamster knowledgeable vet will be able to diagnose and treat so it's important that she gets seen by one soon. Let us know how she gets on and hopefully she'll get well quickly.

How old is your hamster?

 

[elusive]

If it’s only two weeks since the tooth trim then the tooth itself won’t be the problem but it’s possible there is still some infection in her mouth area that could be affecting her eye, as she seems weak & unwell then a vet check is the best thing, they will be able to see what’s going on there.
Antibiotics can sometimes make them a bit unwell, if you can get them it’s good to give a probiotic to help them with that.
I hope it’s nothing too serious & the vet can help solve the issue.

 

[Tosan]

Ok so the dose was supposed to be twice a day but she was only getting it once a day. Was it a half dose twice a day? And you've been giving the full dose once a day? If so it sounds like it worked until the antibiotics finished. Some infections are very hard to shift and they can need a longer course of antibiotics, but not usually longer than two weeks. The vet may try a different antibiotic though (there are two I'm aware of they can have).

At a year old, she's not that old really so it doesn't sound age related (although excess drinking can start from a year onwards really).

I'm sorry she's poorly. Until you get to the vets, just keep her warm and comfortable and ensure she gets some liquid. Is she getting up to drink?

I would be tempted to start the antibiotics again actually. If you've only just stopped them. Then the vet can decide whether you should continue them or change to a different one.

In terms of antibiotics making her unwell - I think that's very unlikely. It's true that antibiotics aren't good for their gut but if she was well when she was on them then two weeks worth wouldn't make her ill. Giving a probiotic after a longer course helps the gut but it shouldn't make her unwell like this - it sounds more like infection. You could ask the vet about probiotics too. Are you in the US? I think US vets actually give probiotics on prescription - and use Benebac sometimes, which is a good one. But the priority is the possible infection really.

I always give antibiotic in food as well because some hamsters get too stressed to be held for the dosing or hate the syringe. A tip there is some kind of strong meaty flavoured food - the antibiotic tastes foul so it usually needs to be something that disguises the taste of it. Although if she's been eating the babyfood ok with it then that sounds like it's working. I always drop the meds on top of the puree food and then drop a tiny bit more food on top of the meds. That way the meds are in the middle and not on the bottom of the dish or spoon where they could get left. If the dish or spoon is licked clean, you know they've had all of it.

Yeah my main concern now besides her seeming weak is that she doesn't seem to get up to drink nearly as much, she's had a tiny bit of water today so far, I need to force her out to drink I think.

How old is your hamster?

about 1 year

 

[Maz]

Not force her exactly, but you could hold a teaspoon of water near her so she can drink from that without having to get up. If she's refusing to drink at all then maybe try giving her a bit of cucumber and see if she will eat that. If she's had a tiny bit of water today then that is something. I am sorry she seems so unwell.

If she didn't like the syringe for the meds then she probably won't like it for water either - so that would be a last resort. And if you do try that, I would just let her lick drops from the end rather than trying to squirt it in - as it can go down the wrong way into their lungs. And she's weak - a teaspoon of water might be easier for her to lick up.

I'm guessing it's late at night for you (you said 11pm when you first posted) so it's a case of just hoping she rests overnight until you can get to the vet in the morning.

 

[Tosan]

Thank you all for the replies. I took her to the vet just now, her eye went from "a little janky" to completely shut, they'll find out what's wrong with her soon. You gave me relief about the scrambled egg though so I appreciate that!

 

[RainbowBrite]

I wish her well and hope the vet can get to the bottom of this.

 

[Maz]

Thank you all for the replies. I took her to the vet just now, her eye went from "a little janky" to completely shut, they'll find out what's wrong with her soon. You gave me relief about the scrambled egg though so I appreciate that!

So did you need to leave her at the vet's then? Fingers crossed things are sorted.