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Hamster w/ no Eyes!
hi, i have a Syrian hamster about 2 months old, and she has no eyes. She isn't blind, but was just born with no eyes. The vet says she's fine in all other ways. if she gets pregnant by a normal hamster, what are the chances that her babies will have defects? Also, what do you think she sees? Blackness, or nothing or what?
Thanks!!!
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If the vet is happy that her quality of life is fine, there is no reason why she should not lead a relatively normal life. As she knows no different, not being able to see should not cause her distress.
As there are no eyes there, so no receptors etc, it is unlikely she would even see blackness, as to do this, there needs to be some trace of vision or ability to function at this level.
I think it would be unwise to allow her to breed, as if it is a genetic 'blip', it is something any offspring she may produce would have a 50/50 chance of inheriting. As hard as this may sound, if she were in the wild, nature would eliminate an animal with a defect of this type as they would be unable to protect themselves and would therefore not have the chance to reproduce. The genetic fault would then not be passed on.
Hamsters are by nature solitary animals from the age of 6-8 weeks, so to keep her away from any potential mate should not be a problem.
As she is unable to see your hand approaching her, I would suggest that, as hamsters do need to be handled regularly, you do so by moving your hand slowly towards her so that she has the opportunity to smell you and not react with surprise and a possible bite. Other than that, don't let her run free as she could get into trouble, let her run around in a hamster ball, and just ensure that, due to her problem, there are no hazards that a seeing hamster would be able to cope with.
You are in the lucky position to give a handicapped animal a chance of a good and happy life, I hope this information helps and I wish you the best of luck.
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