Eye problems

[oblivious_frog]

I'm worried about my hammy Spike. I just checked up on him and one of his eyes was closed. I tried to gently open it like I usually do, which normally opens it up and its as if nothing was wrong, but this time he just kept is closed, occasionally opening it slightly. So I put a little dab of water on on it to see if it would help. Anyone have any

Comments

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Try not to worry too much. Older hamsters do tend to get sticky eyes sometimes and it's usually completely normal.

I've had lots of eye problems with one of my hamsters, and one thing I can recommend is bathing his eye in a saline solution. Add one teaspoon of salt to a cup of boiling water, stir, cover it, and let it cool until it's lukewarm or completely cool (doesn't really matter as long as it won't burn him). Then stir it again and use a piece of cotton to bathe his eye a few times with the solution (moving in an upwards direction) which might help to clean off any gunk that may be causing his eye to be closed. We've used this method a few times (it was recommended on a forum I read a while ago) and it sometimes causes the eye to open, but sometimes it just cleans it.

If that doesn't work, you can try (very gently) to prise the eyelids open, if he'll let you. (Kitty just bites me when I try to do that so I don't bother anymore!)

It does sound like a normal problem, though - especially in an older hamster. As long as he doesn't seem to be in any distress and it doesn't happen too often, I don't think there should be anything to worry about. Have a lot at this site for more information: http://www.petwebsite.com/eye.htm

Good luck with little Spike! :)

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Also, you may want to read the community tag for "eyesight and eye problems" here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/hamsters/tag/eye+problems+and+eyesight :)

[oblivious_frog]

Thank you soo much.
His eye is somewhat better today.
If it gets stuck again I'll try the saline trick.
:)