"Sticky"eye?

[clacombe]

Cinnamon came out tonight with the lid of one eye partially shut- kind of like when you have sleep in your eye and haven't totally gotten rid of it. There was no puss or redness. I tried to gently wipe at it with a clean warm cloth, but that's not very easy with this guy. I confess I didn't blanket wrap him and force a close wipe.

He seemed in fine spirits, but of course I'm concerned now. I cleaned his inside toilet and fed him and then he went into hiding so I couldn't harrass him further, but if it gets worse rather than better I'll have to find the closest vet for an exotic. Anyone with this experience? What are the odds that it's just something age and sleep-related?

 

[clacombe]

Cinnamon came out tonight with the lid of one eye partially shut- kind of like when you have sleep in your eye and haven't totally gotten rid of it. There was no puss or redness. I tried to gently wipe at it with a clean warm cloth, but that's not very easy with this guy. I confess I didn't blanket wrap him and force a close wipe.

He seemed in fine spirits, but of course I'm concerned now. I cleaned his inside toilet and fed him and then he went into hiding so I couldn't harrass him further, but if it gets worse rather than better I'll have to find the closest vet for an exotic. Anyone with this experience? What are the odds that it's just something age and sleep-related?

Happy to report that cinnamon's eye looks fine this morning. I was feeling a little too anxious to wait all day at work to check on it. So before I left, I took the lid off his chamber just to see if he was awake under there so that I could see the eye and he was in his sleeping area, but he looked up with two full open eyes

 

[Socks Mum]

That's happened to me as well. Socks came stumbling out of his nest with one eye tightly closed. I was worried about it, but he came out again later and it was OK again. As he is a bit older now, though, I would monitor it more closely these days. Socks is about 14 months now

 

[Maz]

Glad it opened up. The bathing seems to have worked It might not open straight away but you must have loosened it. And yes it is like getting sleep in their eyes How old is Cinnamon now? It's very common with older hamsters - it may happen again and you just do the same thing again. Is he handleable at all?

 

[clacombe]

That's happened to me as well. Socks came stumbling out of his nest with one eye tightly closed. I was worried about it, but he came out again later and it was OK again. As he is a bit older now, though, I would monitor it more closely these days. Socks is about 14 months now

Cinnamon is about 19-20 months, so I was also thinking- might be age- related! Better than an infection!

 

[clacombe]

Glad it opened up. The bathing seems to have worked It might not open straight away but you must have loosened it. And yes it is like getting sleep in their eyes How old is Cinnamon now? It's very common with older hamsters - it may happen again and you just do the same thing again. Is he handleable at all?

I think you were right.And that's what I was hoping, that I had loosened it up. 19-20 months. In some ways, he is very handlable. I've just never handled him to do anything that included more intimate prodding than snipping off a piece of bedding that had become so tangled in his fur that it wouldn't pull out, so I was trying to brush at the eye without upsetting him by holding him too tightly or in a way that he wasn't used to, and of course, every time I tried to swipe at it, he would start moving his head, which make sense. I think if it happens again and I feel like I need to brush at it with a warm wet cloth, I might try the method of wrapping him in a towel so that he won't be squirming against my hand but he'll also be able to be held still enough to get a better wipe.

 

[Maz]

I've usually managed it while they were on the sofa near me without actually swaddling - as they do wriggle a lot if you try and swaddle them. So I think you did the right thing. They don't like it, but sometimes the eye frees up straight away and then they're much happier and realise you were trying to help