cookie

Question
hi. i have a black bear hamster called cookie. a couple O days ago she started to get really oily and she will normally take food strait away but she hasn't been taking it and when i put food in her bowl she normally takes it away and hides it. she also normally loves going into her ball and runs around for ages but she comes over and sits by my foot at the moment. she also smells different.

there are only two things that i think  could have caused it . she got a new cage recently, and my old hamster used to play on the lego as my brothers played with it and we got it out the other day and cookie was sniffing around it and she would rub her head on bits and was scraching loads

do you think any of these caused it?
and do you know what's up with her?

Answer
Hi Emily

How old is your hamster?  How long have you had her?

The fact that Cookie rubbed herself against the lego is normal - hamsters have two scent glands on their hips (sometimes you can see them as two black spots, on other hamsters you can't see them easily).  When they are put in a new environment they tend to roll around so that their scent is everywhere.  It sounds as though this is what she was doing.  Hamsters also have very bad eyesight and rely heavily on their sense of smell and therefore they sniff a lot especially when they are in new places.

If she is relatively new to you, then this could explain why, her behaviour has changed with regard to storing food.  Some tend to stash everything, others leave it in their bowl.  Sometimes once they get used to their home they don't stash as much as they know there is plenty of food available.   

Females come into season every 4 days and they can give off a strong scent.  They can also release this smell if they are scared.  It could be this that you are smelling.  If Cookie has smelt another hamster, (or if she is startled at any time) she could release this smell.  Also, if a female is in season and smells a male's scent anywhere, the female tends to be very quiet, and goes quite rigid.

Regarding her greasy fur this is easily sorted.  If you buy some 'chinchilla dust' from the pet shop and put some in a low dish for her, she can roll around in this.  It is good to let her to have a dust bath every now and again, but it is important it is this special dust as this is safe for them.  She will make a real mess when she rolls around.

Apart from this how is she?  Is she bright and eating normally?  Her change in behaviour lately may be absolutely nothing to worry about, and it could just be that she is adjusting to her new home.  If there are changes in her eating/drinking, if she starts to look dull, or there is any discharge from her rear end, then it would be worth getting her checked out.  Sometimes female hamsters can get uterine infections that causes them to become very dull, have a pus like discharge coming out of them which smells and they sit hunched up - this needs treating urgently with antibiotics.  In cases like this, it is obvious that they are unwell.

I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila