How can you know that your hamster is constipated? If you find that your hamster has less or no bowel movements, a swollen stomach, a bit of a hunchback, and less and less appetite, then your hamster may be constipated. Constipation may seem like a small problem, but it can still be fatal to hamsters, so it cannot be ignored.
What Can Hamsters Eat When Constipated?
1. What can Hamsters Eat?
Hamster food, mealworms, barley worms, dried fish, and dried shrimps for pets.
2. Feeding amount
You should provide a large amount of food to your hamsters because they have the habit of storing food, and they will be very disturbed if there is less food.
Therefore, if you find that the food bowl is always empty every time you add food, it means that you have added too little food.
At the same time, you should also pay attention to cleaning up uneaten food in hamster cages, especially fruits and other watery things to prevent spoilage.
For mild constipation, stop all snacks first, and then feed some fresh apples to adjust the stomach (raw apples treat constipation, cooked apples treat soft stools).
For general constipation, you can feed 1--2 drops of pure edible olive oil, and then gently massage the hamster's stomach (some hamsters may have abdominal pain due to constipation, and they may bite when massaging their stomach, so it is best to wear gloves).
You can also feed some probiotic drugs if the constipation is more serious. In addition, Junbao's small pet hair cream also has a little defecation effect.
The usual diet should increase the number of vegetables and fruits so that the hamster has enough fiber and water in the body to help the stool be discharged smoothly.
Newly weaned and pregnant women should pay more attention to whether there is constipation. Newly weaned hamsters may suffer from constipation due to a temporary inability to adapt to rat food, while pregnant hamsters may suffer from constipation leading to dystocia. Usually, pay more attention to the defecation status of the mice in these two situations.
Why are Hamsters Constipated?
Insufficient Dietary Fiber or Water Intake. Why do hamsters get constipated? Don't underestimate the petite body of hamsters. They have a lot of problems when they toss. Like the more common hamster constipation, especially in long-haired bears and old hamsters, the owner does not dare to use drugs indiscriminately when constipation occurs on hamsters with big palms.
What is constipation?
Constipation is a condition in which an animal's digestive system becomes difficult to pass stool. It is usually due to excess water absorption in the large and small intestines, resulting in dry, hard stools that are difficult to pass.
Among hamsters, bears are a species with a relatively fragile stomach, although their size is large and the gastric motility of old hamsters will also be weaker. Therefore, these two groups became a high incidence of constipation.
Causes of constipation
Constipation is caused by insufficient intake of dietary fiber or insufficient water intake. Sometimes too much calcium or iron intake can also dry out stools.
What should I do if there is a problem with the hamster's intestines? Soft stools, constipation, and diarrhea are several common intestinal problems in hamsters.
Sometimes, the hamster may be adjusted by itself and can be solved by taking a break for a while, but we still need us more often. Provide it with medication to properly condition the improvement.
We need to pay attention to the choice of medicine and dosages in different situations, to avoid drugs that are not symptomatic, making the problem more and more serious.
What should You do if there is a problem with the hamster's intestine?
Common medicines or foods for treating hamster constipation.
Fresh apples, lactic acid bacteria, pet hair cream, food-grade olive oil (emergency), mommy love, etc.
Apples: Apples contain tannic acid, pectin, dietary fiber, and other pectins that can soften stools and act as a laxative together with dietary fiber, so they can be used to treat constipation, but don’t overfeed.
Lactic acid bacteria: It is best to buy lactic acid bacteria for small pets. If it is a human lactobacillus tablet, be sure to look at the ingredients, because many of the lactobacillus tablets on the market contain cocoa. And cocoa is not edible for all small animals. It should also be noted that lactic acid bacteria need special preservation. For example, the lactic acid bacteria tablets of MiniAnimal in Japan indicate that they should be stored in the refrigerator after opening, and the lactic acid bacteria tablets used by some brands should also be stored in the refrigerator.
Food-grade olive oil: Food-grade olive oil is usually used for emergency use. You can feed a few drops of olive oil to hamsters with constipation, and then massage the stomach of the rat. Usually, the effect can be seen quickly. In addition to olive oil, food oil, peanut oil, corn oil, and the like are not recommended.
Small pet hair cream: I can eat a little bit occasionally, but I can't feed it in large quantities.
Mummy's Love: Most of you are familiar with it because it can be used to treat soft stools and diarrhea. Mummy's Love is also very effective for constipation. Mommy Ai is a bacteria like lactic acid bacteria. Its main function is to regulate the stomach and rearrange the messed-up bacteria in the stomach and intestines, so it can treat both loose stools and diarrhea. In the same way, Mummy loves it because it is a bacteria, so it is more sensitive to temperature. It can only be fed with cold water or warm water below 40 degrees.
Common medicines or foods to treat hamsters with loose stools and diarrhea.
Cooked Apple, Maca Antidiarrheal Water (Green Water), Seth Antidiarrheal Water, Lactic Acid Bacteria, Lactase Raw, Mummy Love, Montmorillonite Powder, Antibiotics, etc.
Cooked apples: Cooked apples are fresh apples that are cooked in steaming or microwave ovens. The effect of raw and cooked apples is completely different. The pectin of raw apples can make mice laxative, but the pectin of cooked apples can absorb gastrointestinal bacteria and toxins. Coupled with tannic acid, it has the effect of astringency and diarrhea. However, the effect of rat apple is limited, and it is generally only suitable for relatively mild soft stools.
Lactase raw: The effect of lactase raw is average, and it can only be used for soft stools that are not serious. Lactase is not easy to produce in water, and it will precipitate in the kettle. It may be a bit troublesome to clean the kettle later, so it is generally eaten directly by the rat or ground into powder and sprinkled in the rat food.
Maca Antidiarrheal Water: Maca Antidiarrheal Water is also called Maca Green Water. Maca green water is better for soft stools and mild diarrhea in hamsters. However, the main function of Maca green water is to regulate the stomach and intestines, and it does not affect the diarrhea of the virus. Maca antidiarrheal water is to be drunk directly, so there is no need to add water, and it should be consumed as soon as possible to avoid spoilage.