Hamster dry skin patches

Question

Hamster spots  

hamster spots 2   Hello,
We have had a sweet adorable hamster for about five months. We have recently noticed some dry bald spots on her underside. There is one spot right above each of her legs. I occasionally see her scratching these spots. I have checked her all over and find no more spots.Other than these two spots she has a very healthy looking full coat.She does not appear to scratch anywhere else and I can find no evidence of bugs.My thought was that if it was mites we would see more spots. Am I right in thinking this? She appears happy and active and is eating well. She does seem to have grown some lately and her nipples are more prominent. We use carefresh bedding in white and natural. I also wanted to see what your opinion on vitamin drops for hamsters is. I have attached some pictures of the spots. Thanks for any help and advice you can offer:)

Miranda

Answer
Hi Miranda

Thanks for your question and photos.

It is hard to know what this is.

It could be a number of things.  Firstly, it is always worth ruling out mites.  With Syrian hamsters this is easy because you can buy the medication in pet shops or on-line.  Beaphar make a product called small animal antiparasite medication - check it is the one for hamsters.  If you can't get this make you must get one that contains the drug Ivermec.  This is applied externally to the back of the neck and repeated a few weeks later.  If you can't get hold of it your vet can treat, but it will be a lot more expensive.

Hamsters have scent glands on their hips and these are often dry and sometimes the hamster licks them a lot.  This is normal.  In some hamsters they are more prominent than in others.

The photos you have sent indicate it is more on her underbelly near her nipples.  Are her nipples prominent?  Is there any sign of redness, swelling or pus? Female hamsters can get mastitis which can make them sore. In which case you would probably need to see a vet to get antibiotics.

If this is just a dry patch, then you could apply some aloe vera, or if it looks a little sore, teatree cream which is a natural antiseptic and can be bought from pet shops.  Both of these should be safe for her.

Some hamsters do lose fur in varying parts of their body and this can be for a number of reasons, hormones being one of them.  in these cases it is hard to treat.  However,if this is due to some sort of infection/irritation etc. then it should be treatable.

If her condition gets any worse then I would advise that you get her seen by a vet just to rule out any other cause.

I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila