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Hi everyone! I have a question about hamster health, lethargy specifically. How can I tell if my hamster is experiencing a concerning amount of lethargy, or if he is just resting? I have a lot of health anxiety (in general and for Fancy), so it can be very hard for me to tell if I am overreacting or if I should genuinely be concerned.
Last night I noticed him just lay down flat on his bedding for maybe a minute or so after using his wheel, but when I walked up to his enclosure he got up and looked at me for a second and then started using his wheel again soon after. I haven't really seen him lay down like that before, but I also don't have constant eyes on his enclosure throughout the night, obviously, so I am not sure. I only recently got a camera and need to move it.
I also have noticed he takes a lot of breaks when he's running on his wheel, which isn't necessarily new for him but I wanted to know if this is normal. I've seen before that sometimes they do that if they hear a noise/to check surroundings or just to take a break from running for a second, which might be the case for Fancy because he always goes back to his wheel. But sometimes throughout the night he will take longer periods away from his wheel and lay down every now and then/go into his hideouts.
Does anyone know how to monitor this and how to differentiate normal resting from concerning lethargy? Should I take him to the vet yet? I have a camera set up and I'm going to move it so I can see some parts of his cage better.
Thank you guys as always!
Last night I noticed him just lay down flat on his bedding for maybe a minute or so after using his wheel, but when I walked up to his enclosure he got up and looked at me for a second and then started using his wheel again soon after. I haven't really seen him lay down like that before, but I also don't have constant eyes on his enclosure throughout the night, obviously, so I am not sure. I only recently got a camera and need to move it.
I also have noticed he takes a lot of breaks when he's running on his wheel, which isn't necessarily new for him but I wanted to know if this is normal. I've seen before that sometimes they do that if they hear a noise/to check surroundings or just to take a break from running for a second, which might be the case for Fancy because he always goes back to his wheel. But sometimes throughout the night he will take longer periods away from his wheel and lay down every now and then/go into his hideouts.
Does anyone know how to monitor this and how to differentiate normal resting from concerning lethargy? Should I take him to the vet yet? I have a camera set up and I'm going to move it so I can see some parts of his cage better.
Thank you guys as always!
Our first Syrian used to run for ages on his wheel happily then leap off and flop on the substrate looking happy and have a rest. It was a game