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Hamster's Eye is (swollen?) shut

  • Thread starter Thread starter AbiJoy_
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AbiJoy_

I have a Syrian Hamster (Olivia) who is about a year old, I've recently noticed that one of her eyes was taking a while to open up completely after taking her out of her cage. Even more recently, I've noticed it staying completely shut and being unable to open. I thought maybe something was in her eye so I wiped it gently with a warm wet rag, but that didn't seem to help much. Any ideas on what may have caused this, or how to help her at home?

Much Thanks!
(From myself and Olivia)
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear Olivia has a sticky eye. Hamsters can get sticky eye but as wiping gently has not helped I would take her to the vet. It is possible she will need eye drops to help her eye. The vet will be able to check if there is an infection.

I am sure other members will have their own ideas too. 😊
 
Hello & welcome to the forum.

As Rainbow has said sticky eyes are quite common but if the eye doesn’t open on after a while or if it seems to be getting worse then Olivia may have an eye infection which also isn’t uncommon in hamsters.
The best thing would be to get it checked by a vet.
In the mean time it can help to gently bath it with saline solution or plain warm water but if there is an infection there that alone won’t be enough.
 
How old is she? Sometimes it takes a few dabs with a damp cloth (I use the corner of a microfibre cloth) - not wringing wet but a bit damper than wrung out so it still has some moisture in. Sometimes you dab or wipe and nothing seems to be happening, but by the time you've done it maybe 4 or 5 times it suddenly frees up. You can make saline with a pint of boiling water and a teaspoon of salt dissolved in it. Let it go cold and then use that for the dabbing.

If she is getting older then this is quite a common thing and it may happen now and again. If she's not getting older then as the others say, it's possibly an eye infection. Is it crusty round the outside or just stuck? It should come free with a few more gentle dabs although I'm not sure how long you did it last time :-)
 
Maz said:
How old is she? Sometimes it takes a few dabs with a damp cloth (I use the corner of a microfibre cloth) - not wringing wet but a bit damper than wrung out so it still has some moisture in. Sometimes you dab or wipe and nothing seems to be happening, but by the time you've done it maybe 4 or 5 times it suddenly frees up. You can make saline with a pint of boiling water and a teaspoon of salt dissolved in it. Let it go cold and then use that for the dabbing.

If she is getting older then this is quite a common thing and it may happen now and again. If she's not getting older then as the others say, it's possibly an eye infection. Is it crusty round the outside or just stuck? It should come free with a few more gentle dabs although I'm not sure how long you did it last time :)
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She is about a year and a half, so not old but getting there. I will try to do it more today, the first time I didn't try for too long because I didn't want to hurt her, and I wasn't sure if it was the right step to take. Tank you for the recipe for saline water! I will try that later today.

Her eye doesn't seem too crusty, just stuck, and somewhat smaller than the other eye even when she does open it slightly.
 
I know what you mean, I worry about hurting them as well. I think the trick is to have it wet enough that it soaks the eye a bit, but not so wet that the hamster gets soaked! And they don't like being held long while it's being done. But whenever I've done it before they always seem much happier once it's freed up! I guess I dab a bit, leave it to soak in for a few seconds, dab a bit more etc. It doesn't seem to be doing anything and then suddenly the eye opens.

Yes 18 months is just the start of old age technically and mine have usually been a bit older than that before getting sticky eyes. If it still doesn't free up this time then maybe there is something else going on and it would need a vet check.

Let us know how it goes :-)
 
Maz said:
I know what you mean, I worry about hurting them as well. I think the trick is to have it wet enough that it soaks the eye a bit, but not so wet that the hamster gets soaked! And they don't like being held long while it's being done. But whenever I've done it before they always seem much happier once it's freed up! I guess I dab a bit, leave it to soak in for a few seconds, dab a bit more etc. It doesn't seem to be doing anything and then suddenly the eye opens.

Yes 18 months is just the start of old age technically and mine have usually been a bit older than that before getting sticky eyes. If it still doesn't free up this time then maybe there is something else going on and it would need a vet check.

Let us know how it goes :)
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Okay I will try that, and then try to find a local small animal vet. Even if her eye does open it seems to be significantly smaller, and almost sunken in compared to the other one. I'll see if i can get a picture if she opens it. Thank you for the help!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum!
If the eye is significantly smaller and looks almost sunken i'd get her checked out by the vet.
I have a Syrian with an eye issue. A course of antibiotic ointment from the vet did help a lot but now and again it doesn't open immediately on waking.
 
Agree. See what happens after this bathing session but it does sound like there might be something else going on if it still doesn't open fully.,

To find a vet that is experienced with hamsters, google exotic vets in your area - there may only be one or you may have to travel a bit further. And the practice may only have one exotic vet, so best to phone first and ask for an appointment with the exotic vet.
 
Maz said:
I know what you mean, I worry about hurting them as well. I think the trick is to have it wet enough that it soaks the eye a bit, but not so wet that the hamster gets soaked! And they don't like being held long while it's being done. But whenever I've done it before they always seem much happier once it's freed up! I guess I dab a bit, leave it to soak in for a few seconds, dab a bit more etc. It doesn't seem to be doing anything and then suddenly the eye opens.

Yes 18 months is just the start of old age technically and mine have usually been a bit older than that before getting sticky eyes. If it still doesn't free up this time then maybe there is something else going on and it would need a vet check.

Let us know how it goes :)
Click to expand...
I checked on her today and it seems to be slightly improving. The eye is open but it seems a bit red and irritated. I tried wiping it with warm water and ill do the saltwater soon. Here are the pictures. She seems like she is able to open it most of the way, but keeps flinching and closing it partly. Also it wasn't wet before I wiped it, I took the pictures after. unnamed (1).jpgunnamed (2).jpg
 
I see what you mean. It does look a bit like conjunctivitis. Poor little thing. A vet will sort something. She may need oral antibiotics or eye drops - as mentioned above.
 
That does look like more than just a sticky eye, eye problems do usually respond well to medication so I hope you can find a vet for her soon, let us know how she gets on.
 
What a gorgeous hamster. Yes, i'd take her to the vet. The eye does look a bit inflamed to me and medication should sort it. Olivia is probably in discomfort or some pain as well.
 
Olivia is a beautiful hamster 😍
I'm sure a vet would be able to help Olivia.
 
Update:
I took her to the vet (for close to $200 total agh), but he examined her and after she bit him and managed to draw a good amount of blood, he determined that she didn't have any kind of tumors in her eye and probably just needed an antibiotic. I have been giving her the eye drops for the past few days and she has improved immensely. Thanks for all your help!
 
Thank you for the update. It is wonderful to hear the eye drops have helped.😊
 
Goodness that is a big vet bill! Is it always that expensive in the US? I would have expected to pay £30 for a consultation max, plus the cost of meds (which could be £30 to £40. ie about half your bill!

It's great her eye is improving with the antibiotics though.
 
Maz said:
Goodness that is a big vet bill! Is it always that expensive in the US? I would have expected to pay £30 for a consultation max, plus the cost of meds (which could be £30 to £40. ie about half your bill!

It's great her eye is improving with the antibiotics though
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This is my first time taking a ham to the vet, so I can't say for sure. Although I called several places and all were between $92-$100 just for the exam. The place I ended up going to, charged about $30 for the tumor test (which is just like two drops of dye, i don't understand) and another $45 ish for the meds. It adds up, that's for sure.
 
It sounds like they have been thorough anyway, I haven't heard of a tumour test before :) Apart from x rays.
 
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