My hamster has a peice of plastic in her mouth

Question
My russian dwarf hamster got the plastic part from an earbud. I think she has it stuffed in one of her cheeks right now. Will she swallow it or spit it out? What will happen if she swallows it? Should i take her to the vet? Please help!!

Answer
Hi Janine

Thanks for your question - sorry for the delay in responding.

How is your hamster? Has the piece of plastic re-appeared yet?  Usually when a hamster pouches an item there isn't a problem with it.  At some stage they remove it.  The only problem with pouching solid items is if they scratch the inside of the cheek pouch when removing it.  

If you gently touch the cheek pouch can you still feel it in there?  If so you could gently try to ease it out but unless it is causing her a problem I would be inclined to let her remove it.  

Should it damage the inside of her mouth and there is a different smell coming from her then she might have infected it - in which case a vet might need to remove the foreign body and flush out her cheek.

I hope she is OK.

Regards
Sheila