Is it normal for a hamster to have a wet nose or is it a sign of illness?

Answer 1

Traditional Hamster Illnesses

• Older hamsters WILL get sick more often, loose hair, start to have worsening overall health. Tooth Enamel is extremely important to keep a watch on at this time in a pet hamster's life. Simple things you would expect anyone/anything in their golden years to get.

This is a tough one to answer...

• The nose Wet, Running, or Moist? Wet and Running could be a sign of an illness, careful when deciding this one. Moist is not something to worry about and start to your rip your hair out. Keep a close eye on the hamster if you suspect it just isn't taking a drink of water frequently (which could signal dehydration and later on turn into constipation if I'm not mistaken) Wet could be a sign of previously running nose or simply a drink of water. A runny nose frequently and/or infrequently visibly draining is a sign of a cold. Sniffles, stuffy nose, crusty nose are a sure sign for a cold.
• Size can play an important factor on getting better. Dwarf Hamsters are usually the smallest. The rule of thumb, dehydration is easier the smaller the body.
• Be extremely careful with this one too if the hamster has a wet tail. If not treated with a anti-biotic it will end up fatal. Wet tails come from dirty unsanitary cages, if this happens your the one to blame (not blaming you, the author of the question directly though, addressing anyone reading this)
• Another rule of thumb, water is always one of the best treatments in conjunction with any treatment being Home Remedy (a lot of problems can be cured with simple foods high in certain nutrients) or a broad spectrum anti-biotic.
• To avoid any of these you might want to feed the hamster soft fruits and vegetables, but some Alfalfa for it to chew on every now and then. Care with the fruits and vegetables though, can end up harming the little bugger if you let him eat the slice in 2 seconds. Letting a hamster devour down an apple slice runs the risk of getting pieces stuck in the food pouch. Signs of fruits stuck in the food pouch should be easily identified, simply runny eyes should set off an alarm in your head if this happens. Use a small medicine dropper to remove any food that are stuck or lodged in there. I'm not going to say where the food pouch is if you don't already know. I don't trust text on such a delicate set of instructions, use a search engine to find a body chart of the Hamster. I hope you can understand where I'm coming from on that.

Simple Preventative/Illness Remedies

• Constipation is a rough one. Easily identified by seemingly sluggish movement or a "hobble" or "the peg-leg walk". (this could be an indicator of Diarrhea too, keep an eye. Constipation is fairly common in hamster and can simply be cured with Water and a Baby carrot eaten slowly but surely.

• If it ends up as Diarrhea, don't feed it fruits or vegetables. Things high in carbohydrates (Traditional Oats, avoid feeding bread) will help.

There isn't much else I know about hamsters, sorry, but ill tell you one thing. If you want to make sure the hamster doesn't get sick is don't let it wolf down hand fed foods. Clean cage everyday IF they hamster was recently/is sick or had a bowel problem. Germs and different parasites just love to gnaw on your hamster if the cage after an illness is left unattended. Also be sure to wash your hands before and after touching your hamster or hamster cage. One of the main reasons for the little guy catching any Bacteria or Viral Infection is from Human contact. Humans are/can be literally one of the most germ infested unsanitary creatures on the planet. You say you shower everyday? So do I, but never stops us from touching things and putting our hands in places when they really should not be.

{Don't take any of that offensively, its true though.}

Answer 2

your hamster maybe is sick,and if it is then take it to the vet!

Answer 3

They sometimes dribble on themselves when they sleep, or get excess moisture around their faces when they curl up and press their noses against their sides. Just keep an eye on it.