Our hamster has incredibly swollen testicles/balls - do I have to do vet ?

[GivePeasAChance]

He is nearly 2

I know male hamsters have large nuggets. But noticed this morning that they have swollen and look quite sore.

Do I have to do the vet?

Do they do anything for 2 year old hamsters / or will he just charge me £ 50 and say there is nothing he can do ?

[bella29]

My hammies testicles are always very swollen when he wakes up

Blondeshavemorefun is the hamme guru - Blondie! Come on over here!

[GivePeasAChance]

Mmm maybe just when he woke up then, I will check him out later and see if they have resumed normal order

[Blondeshavemorefun]

im here

have to say that we have always had male hammies and generally their balls are more swollen when they wake up - which is normal

but

if they are always/often swollen then you do need to take to the vet-a check up is normally about £15

our 2 hammy had really swollen balls and we took him to the vet and he had a growth on one we made the decision to have one of his testicles removes and found out afterwards it was cancerous - hammy lived another 18mths afterwards

[GivePeasAChance]

I may have done something awful, or it may have been genius. You will be the judge of that !

So I noticed the problem above and yesterday, showed it to my friend. She said so very eloquently " it looks like it's his arse full of shit which won't come out".

So I thought "mmmm I wonder if this may be connected to the handful of spinach I gave him last night "

So, we decided in our infinite wisdom to give him a taster of chocolate laxative.

I feel like I may have done wrong. He is still alive. I wonder if spinach in large quantities is a 'blocker'

[thisisyesterday]

you gave your hamster laxatives???????

[GivePeasAChance]

Only a really small bit

[thisisyesterday]

and you checked that none of the ingredients are harmful to animals first??

[Blondeshavemorefun]

not genius - def awful!!!

Yes you have done wrong - you cant give hamsters/pets medicine for humans!!!!

have never heard of a hamster being constipated by spinach - or that it makes his balls swell /make his arse so full of shit

hamsters need fresh veg and fruit as well as dried food - they will only eat as much as they can to feel full,and prob hide the rest in his nest - so he cant have eaten too much spinach

I hope your hammy is ok and if his balls are still swollen that you take the little fella to the vet tomorrow and get him checked out

[bella29]

Please don't ever do anything like this again.

Poor hamster

[LilRedWG]

Poor hamster. Take him to the vet please!

[Northernlurker]

What a stupid thing to do!

OP - are you sure you are the right person to own this animal? You express concern, are told what to do and then go off and on the advice of your friend (who is not a vet I assume) you do something which could have been seriously harmful! Is there anybody else you know who would like your hamster - and be able to care for it with an ounce of common sense?

[Blondeshavemorefun]

hope you took hammy to the vets this morning!!!

i still cant beleive you gave human medicine to a hamster

would you give your pets medicine to your child?

poor ickle fella - lets hope he is ok!!

[GypsyMoth]

Omg!!!! This is the SECOND thread this week where someone has dragged their heels over going to the vet with a sick animal, or one they THINK is I'll!!!!!!

Why do people have pets if they won't look after them properly!?

[Blondeshavemorefun]

i know - it really pisses me off

animals cant say if they are in pain or not,so if you do think something isnt right, then take them to a vet and ask a PROFESSIONAL

our hamster vet bill a few years ago was over £100 and all my friends said we were mad and could have brought 20 new ones for the amount we spent - but thats not the point!!

you have a animal you look after it

i have had hamsters for nearly 10 years and have a few buried in my garden and have probably spent £300+ in vets bills for tumours, antib's, swollen legs etc - its just part of having a pet!!

[Blondeshavemorefun]

how is your poor hammy?

hope you did take him to the vet?

[Ibleedred]

Maurio, our chinese dwarf hamster had extremely large testicles when we got him about two months ago. Not having owned one before we guessed it was just normal for this breed. He was literally dragging his balls behind him.
I was telling a few people at work about him and told them that I would take a photo to show them, a couple of days ago. I was surprised how much they had shrunk. They now look completely normal (as far as I can tell).

[BrightSpark04]

I hope your hammy is ok and please never ever give laxatives to a hamster it is extremely toxic to them and even a gram can kill them. Unlike humans hamsters can't digest chocolate and it stays in their bloodstream for 24 hours which puts them at risks!!!!

[AnimalLover0]

I realised our Syrian male hamster who is 4-5 months old was pulling a Carrier bag through his cage this morning so concerned I opened bed and it was in there so removing it for obvious reasons I noticed his testicles were huge!! I take him out 6pm every day for 20 mins handling and then 20 mins in his ball, so i would notice. Then he had his tubes, ladders and wheel he goes on several well actually lots of timestimes so he is well amused and not bored or stressed. He is my baby and I'm worried help please!!

[Sugarpiehoneyeye]

OP, how is your little hamster doing ?