What to do if the hamster fell from a height or from a table

The owner of the rodent should not only be careful, but also find out in advance what to do if the hamster fell from a height. The fact is that lowland animals have no concept of height at all. You can often hear that the hamster fell off the table, just running to the edge and not stopping. The owner released him literally for a minute to clean the cage.

Sources of danger

Fall with furniture

Worse if the floor is tiled. But even a relatively soft surface (linoleum, carpet) will not protect the pet from injury: hamsters do not know how to roll over and group themselves in flight. Fortunately, if a hamster falls off furniture, it can get off with a slight fright.

Fall from hands

If the hamster fell from a height of human height, damage cannot be avoided. The animals have an independent character and can break out of the hands of a loving owner, slipping out and falling to the floor. It happens that suddenly a hamster bites painfully, and a person involuntarily throws a tiny rodent away.

In a cage

Even in their own house, a pet can climb up the bars of the lattice cage and fall down. Therefore, multi-tiered dwellings for hamsters are not recommended.

Consequences of the fall

Shock

If a pet that has just fallen off the table rushes like a bullet under a sofa or to another secluded place, the animal is very frightened. Stress is dangerous for hamsters, so you have to wait a while before catching a pet.

The owner wants to quickly inspect the “skydiver” and make sure that he is in order. But if you start to pick out the fugitive with a mop, scare and grab it with your hands, the consequences of such care will be more dangerous for the animal than the injury itself.

The extreme degree of nervous shock is shock. In this state, the fallen hamster seems to be stunned: it lies on its back or on its side without moving for up to 5 minutes. Waking up, the animal intensively digs the litter, hides. Djungarian hamster or Campbell’s hamster can die due to stress alone.

Help: put the animal in a cage, keep warm and do not disturb for a while.

Fractures

In a state of shock, the pet can actively move even on broken limbs. Therefore, it is necessary to draw conclusions about the consequences of the injury the next day after the fall.

If a hamster’s foot is broken, it swells up, may be red or blue, unnaturally twisted. With a closed fracture, the rodent simply moves unnaturally, limps. When open, a wound and bone damage are noticeable.

With a fracture of the spine, the hind legs will be paralyzed. If, in addition to the ridge, internal organs are damaged, the animal will die. When only the spine is broken, the animal will survive if the functions of urination and defecation are preserved. Paralysis of the pelvic limbs is most often irreversible, but a disabled hamster will be able to lead an active life.

Damage to internal organs

If, after the jungarik fell, he bleeds from the nostrils, the owner thinks that the hamster just broke his nose. However, if the hamster fell from a great height, and the blood comes not only from the nose, but also from the mouth, this is a contusion of the lungs. Foam from the nose and mouth is a sign of pulmonary edema. In both cases, the pet cannot be helped.

When falling from a height, a hamster can damage any internal organs, which the doctor or owner only guesses about. Bleeding due to rupture of the liver leads to the death of the animal. When the bladder ruptures, the animal does not pee, and the stomach increases until the pet dies.

The Syrian hamster is the largest of the decorative ones, weighs 120-200 g, but even they have difficulty in diagnosing (ultrasound, x-rays), and in dwarf hamsters it is almost impossible.

Fracture of the incisors

Hitting the muzzle, the hamster can break the long front incisors. The problem itself is not fatal, but can lead to more serious problems if the bite is not corrected. After a tooth fracture, the paired incisor does not grind down and grows excessively: its length is adjusted by cutting it with an ordinary nail cutter. Until the incisors recover (about a month), it is difficult for the hamster to accept solid food and a special diet is required.

Conclusion

What happens if a hamster falls from a height depends not only on the circumstances of the fall, but also on the level of luck of the pet. When the injury has already occurred, the pet is not too much to help. Even a veterinarian is more likely to give a prognosis, rather than heal the animal. Therefore, the main efforts should be directed to the prevention of injuries in hamsters. This is careful handling, a suitable cage and walks exclusively in a special ball.