red pee found on running wheel

[cosmo2024]

Hello
Today I had spotted that my hamster had red pee on his running wheel. Immediately after this I rang the vet and booked a consultation to see them tomorrow. However, doing some research I have found that it could be from beetroot in the food that he eats. He currently eats chubby cheeks hamster food which does have beetroots in it. The consultation for the vet was quite expensive (£90) so I dont want to spend that money if it is just from the food he's eating. I will check to see if he pees again in his wheel tomorrow before I take him in and decide what to do then. He doesn't seem in any pain and his behavior is the same, he hasn't made any squeaks or anything when I held him. He seems to be in order looking around him.

 

[cosmo2024]

Also his poos are normal.

 

[Maz]

Hi. Yes beetroot can make their pee discoloured. Have you checked his feet as well? Sometimes if a foot is bleeding it gets on the wheel then they pee in the wheel and it looks like blood stained pee.

You could keep an eye on things for a few days before deciding on a vet appointment, although if it's the same food, it may discolour the urine again. It looks almost brown on the wheel rather than fresh blood.

Could you maybe remove the beetroot from the mix before he has it for a few days? And see if it happens again?

If it is blood stained urine then that could be sign of an infection and antibiotics would most likely be prescribed.

I had an incident with our first hamster where I thought it was blood stained pee in the wheel. It turned out to be a piece of food he had taken in the wheel and pee'd on