It is normal for hamsters to drink lots of water ?

Question

i just brought a new hamster..

from what i know is that hamster don't really drin alots, but my new hammie is special.. she drink alots of water and urine alots too..!

she doesn't really have a big appitite..

her intake of food is quite normal..

just don't know why she drink so much.

can anyone please tell me is this normal?

Answer 1

yes it is normal for some its really healthy to!

Answer 2

i don't mean to alarm but.... i had some hamsters that i got from my boss about a year ago. they were fine for a couple months and then all of the sudden the one started drinking so much that i had to refill his water bottle sometimes 2-3 times a day and the cage needed to be changed more often due to how bad it stunk from all of the urine. unfortunately i naively did not take him to the vets in time and i lost him only 2 weeks after he started this. take you hamster to the vet asap and hopefully you can save his life.

Answer 3

Drinking water excessively and urinating excessively can be signs of diabetes in your hamster though in a few rare cases, normal hamsters can drink lots of water too. I would suggest you take her to a vet to rule out the same so that you can rest assured that your hamster is just normal.

Diabetes is most often seen in Dwarf Campbell Russian Hamsters but can affect other species.

Hamsters that develop diabetes will show symptoms of excessive drinking, excessive urinating and wasting. Other symptoms may include low body temperature, shaking and trembling and at worst a comatose state.

Veterinary treatment should be sought immediately. A pedialyte solution in the water bottle will help to avoid dehydration.

In some cases the feeding of a sugar free diet will help. If your vet recommends a sugar free diet this can be achieved by feeding a good quality seed mix, alfalfa, fresh vegetables such as carrots, turnips, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower daily and some boiled egg. Commercially processed food treats should be avoided because of the molasses and corn sugar they contain and fresh fruit should be avoided because of the fructose.