Does the eye of your beloved hamster bulge? Wanna know why does this happens and how to treat it? Well, there could be a lot of reasons behind this situation. It could happen due to an injury, infection, and even due to holding a hamster tightly. No home remedy is suggested in such cases. You should take your hamster to the vet as soon as possible.
Seeing your hamster’s eye bulging out is one of the worst sights for any hamster owner. Hamsters are super cute, and seeing them in pain is unexplainably awful. Before jumping to the solutions, let’s find out the reasons behind the bulging of eyes in the hamsters.
Are you also worried about your hamster’s health due to its bulging eye? Stay tuned to find out ways to deal with this condition.
Science Behind Bulging Eyes In Hamsters
Exophthalmos is the scientific term used for the bulging eyes in hamsters. Proptosis is also another term used by scientists and medical professionals for this condition. Most new hamster owners are not aware, but the bulging of eyes is pretty common in hamsters.
Exophthalmos is a condition that you shouldn’t take lightly. Delay in the treatment of proptosis can lead to complete loss of eyesight for your hamster.
Reasons Behind Bulging Of Eyes
Bulging eyes are not something that is inevitable. There could be multiple reasons behind this serious medical condition. Learning about these reasons will help you in taking care of your hamster more properly.
Following are some of the major factors which lead to bulging eyes in the hamster:
Injury
While running or playing or even while moving in their bedding, hamsters can hurt their eyes. Therefore choosing the right cage should be on your priority list. If you have two or more hamsters in one cage, chances of deadly fights are always there. One or both of the hamsters’ eyes can get damaged during these fights.
The damage to the orbital region of the eye usually leads to proptosis or bulging of the eyes.
Infections
Infections in the tissues of the hamster’s eyes can also lead to bulging of your hamster’s eyes. Infections can form due to numerous reasons. Most prominently, infections are caused due to the untidy environment of the hamsters.
If you are not cleaning your hamster’s cage properly and regularly, he is always at the risk of getting an infection. Injuries near the eye area can also lead to infections. Therefore, you should keep a keen eye on the small body of your hamster.
High Pressure
There is no need to tell that hamsters are very small creatures. New hamster owners usually get pretty excited, resulting in injuries. Especially when children are playing with hamsters, they can get scared and hurt the hamsters.
If the hamster is held tightly from behind its neck, its eyes can bulge out. This is why you should be well prepared to handle the hamster gently before bringing it home. The bodies of the hamsters are not designed to be held tightly.
Shock
Hamsters don’t have very big hearts. In fact, in the wild, these little creatures live alone. Any sort of surprise can shock hamsters effortlessly. A sudden shock can also lead to bulging of your hamster one or both eyes.
This is why it is recommended to keep hamsters away from cats and dogs. Cats and dogs can get excited to see the hamsters, which leads to actions that are shocking for hamsters.
Symptoms Of Proptosis
Most of the time, it is pretty obvious whether a hamster is suffering from exophthalmos or not. Still, if you are confused, look for the following symptoms in your hamster for diagnosing proptosis:
- Discharge From The Eyes
- Signs Of Pain
- Bulging Of The Eyeball
- No Blinking
- Lost Appetite
If your hamster is suffering from exophthalmos, it will exhibit some or all of the symptoms mentioned above.
Solution Of Bulging Eye
The part you have been waiting for has finally arrived. For all DIYers, there’s a piece of bad news. It is not recommended to treat bulging eyes with home remedies. It is because of the complexities involved.
As mentioned earlier, there could be multiple reasons behind the bulging eyes of the hamsters. On that account, treatment of bulgy eye may vary depending upon the severity of the condition, the reason behind and other factors.
Diagnosing the reason behind a bulgy eye of a hamster is also a little tricky. Therefore, you should leave this job to the expert as well. The best treatment for bulging eyes can only be devised by an expert vet.
Following are the treatments that the vet may advise according to the condition of the eye:
- Antibiotics
- Eye Drops For Keeping Eyes Moist
- Surgery
- Surgical Removal Of The Eye(s) In Worst Case Scenario
Hence, don’t waste time and rush to the vet as soon as possible.
FAQs
We have answered some bulging eyes-related questions to help you deal with the situation more appropriately:
The condition in which the tissues surrounding the eyes of your hamster swell is called Pink Eyes. The medical term used for pink eyes is Conjunctivitis.
Put its cage in a dark and calm place. Ask children to stay away from that room for a while. Keep its cage clean to prevent any kind of infections.
This is a very sensitive matter, and it is advised to visit the vet without wasting any time. Delay, in this case, can lead to loss of sight in the hamsters.
Hamster’s Bulging Eye Explained
Noticing that one or both of your hamster eyes are bulging is not pleasing for any hamster owner. In this post, we learned that, from injury, infection, holding tightly to sudden shock could cause this problem. Moreover, we learned that it’s emphasized not to take things into your hand in this matter.
The treatment of the condition depends upon the cause of the proptosis and the eye’s condition. Therefore, the best rule of thumb is to take your hamster to the vet without delay.
