How to Give Oral Medication to a Hamster

Being a responsible pet owner means giving proper care to pocket pets such as hamsters, as well as cats and dogs. Hamsters can be fragile at times, but they can also be easily nursed back to health. A common risk to hamsters is a skin rash-induced infection caused by the use of wood chips for bedding. If this occurs, your little guy will bounce back quickly with the aid of an oral antibiotic. Although it might sound like a difficult task it is actually very simple.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Syringe

1. Prepare medication and have it handy. If the medicine came from the vet, it is probably already loaded in the syringe. If not, put the medicine in the syringe now. The syringe you will use plunges the medicine into the hamster's mouth; it does not involve injection.

2. Remove the hamster gently from his cage. Hamsters can become easily stressed, so do this when things are quiet and calm.

3. Carefully set the hamster down on the counter, while maintaining contact with him. Ordinarily they do not like to be held for too long and they become restless, so try to keep things moving along so he is still in a laid-back manner for the administering of the antibiotics.

4. Make the hamster "smile." To get the tiny plunger syringe in his mouth without wasting medicine you have to get his mouth to pull open wide and stay open. You do this by grabbing on to the skin behind his head area. Hamsters have lots of skin back there so you will not hurt them by pulling back on it to expose his "smile."

5. Once the mouth is open wide, quickly place the syringe in his mouth and push the plunger. The plunger will quickly shoot the medicine out of the syringe and to the back of the hamster's throat.

6. Release your grip on the hamster's skin and cup him securely in your hands to comfort him. Hamsters prefer small spaces to wide open areas. Then get him back to the familiarity of his cage right away and leave him alone to relax and recover.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your hamster has plenty of appropriate things to chew on, especially following something stressful such as taking medicine. Hamsters become very nervous when their routine or environment is bothered, and they chew when they are nervous. You want your little guy to relax after his medicine so his little body can focus on recovering from the sickness. So it is important that he be left alone to chew and carry on his business without being disturbed.
• Infections are easy to fight, but they get worse fast and if you wait too long to treat it the hamster's little body will become overwhelmed and he will die.
• Avoid wood chips as bedding as they are too coarse for the hamster's sensitive skin, especially for older hamsters.