Uh oh hamster problem?

i bathed my hamster, holly a few times before and i seen something about wet tail. she s not sick yet but will she get sick? oh and i just bought a huge bale of cedar shavings and was wondering if they are too strong
Answers:
It's perfectly fine to bath your hamster but, you only should do it about every 2-3 months. As long as you bath him and dry him right away he should be perfectly fine. The only thing that they can catch from being wet is a respiratory infection from cold drafts. When your talking about wet tail that's basically diarrhea in small animals. There's a number of medications you can use but, if you need it right away there's a product called dry tail that you can get at either PetCo or PetSmart and it only costs about $4-5. You can also put a little bit of Pedialight into the water or gatorade that helps keep the animal hydrate by replacing the electrolytes that it is loosine. When it comes to cedar you should only use that to fill up dogs beds. All the dust that gets kicked up by that effects the hamsters breathing which can also lead to respiratory infections. A substitued product you could use would be carefresh. It's recyclewd newspaper so even if the animal eats it it won't hurt him.

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If you can find aspen shavings they'd be better for her - pine and cedar release aromatic compounds that can cause allergies, nasal lesions and respiratory illness.
Do you think Holly HAS wet tail or are you just worried about her getting it? It's a bacterial infection that can often be mistaken for diarrhoea. If she's not showing signs of being poorly then she's probably fine, if she had wet tail she'd smell awful, not be eating well, and possibly squealing when you pick her up.
I'm just trying to read into your question as much as possible - if all you're worried about is "Will she get wet tail because I got her tail wet" then no - like I said, it's a bacterial infection, it's got nothing to do with making her tail wet!

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i used to bathe my hamsters and gerbils and they've always been fine. i never used a soap tho, really. i'd pour out 2 inches of water in the tub and they'd swim around. my gerbils lived 4 years. as long as the cedar shavings are thin and small enough, paper like, it should be fine. A good thing to do with hamsters is put cardboard boxes or toilet paper cardboard in there. they'll crawl thru them and chew the cardboard up. it's good for their teeth and it gives them something to do.

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i don't think she'll get sick i have bathed my hamsters numerous times they wrer fine. as far at the wood shavings USE THEM! i luved them and so did my hamsters because they are cheaper and they get to tunnel in them and make little houses.

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Being someone who once did all the hamster breeding and such your hamster is probibally fine. Get rid of the ceder woodchips though. There actually really bad for rodents respitory system. Wet tail is basically diariha(sp?) for hamsters. They get it from a dirty cage or bad diet

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get a book about hamsters wet tail will kill a hamster. you don't need to give your hamster a bath. it is totally unnessesary and might give your hamster a cold. wet tail is not something hamsters get from baths however. cedar shavings are to strong for most hamsters and will give them respitory problems there are alot of options besides cedar shavings.

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wait... wont hamsters die if they get wet?..i dont have a hamster but i dont think u should bathe it...

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Never should a hamster ever be bathed, this can cause respiratory infections in their lungs and you may never even notice it until it's too late and their gone. They should be given a sand bath using chinchilla snd in a plastic container deep enough to sling the sand around in. They love it where a Syrian or most dwarf hamsters are from the desert. It's like being at home for them.
Do not use pine or cedar chips, as the fumes from these products can be harmful to your pets. When the urine mixes with these, they emit toxic fumes that can cause respiratory problems or death. Pine and aspen along with other woods can cause allergies in small animals such as sneezing, watery nose, watery eyes, and even in some animals hair loss. Please take the cedar shaving back to the store and get a big bag of a paper product litter like the one by Critter Care (comes in 10L-23L bags) and is $5-$10 in price or Care Fresh (comes in 5L-50L bags) is $3-$23 in price. We use both of these and I will use nothing else. This is more expensive, but so a trip to the vet for antibiotics for a sick hamster that could have been prevented with the right litter.
If your hamster ever should get we tail, take it to the vet because the OTC medicines bought at pet stores aren't good enought to cure it in most cases and I've found them to be a waste of money. I'd wrather pay a bit more and get the right diagnosis and treatment at the vet. I thought a hamster had wet tail once and tried to treat it the OTC way, but the hamster had an intestional infection that killed him because I tried the wet tail treatment and didn't take him in right away. I had only waited 24 hours and ended up loosing my computer buddy in the end.

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to make this short:
NEVER BATHE A HAMSTER IT CLEANS IT SELF!

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Oh my god, you need to do your research before owning a hamster. Regardless of what some people say, you must never get a hamster wet. It certainly can cause infections, chills and death. They wash themselves, like a cat would. Have you never studied you hamster and seen her do this?
Cedar shavings cause breathing problems for hamsters and again can result in a very poorly hamster. Basic sawdust from a repertable pet store that is unscented and dust free would be better. Please stop bathing that poor hamster it is not a child!