Syrian Hamster, seems to have fever,,,

Question
Hi, quick question, suddenly tonight while sleeping i heard my hamster bitting the cage quite desperately which he normaly dosent do, at the moment of taking him out I straight away noticed his neck was really hot. I waited a while just to make sure it was not muscular (given the cage bitting excersise) but anyway was still hot, on the other hand his nose, ears and feet where cold. It seems to have less hair in the back of the neck than all around the body.

Thanks in advance,
Carlos

Answer
Hi Carlos

This is a difficult question to answer.  Hamsters do bite the bars a lot - some more than others.  Sometimes this is out of habit, boredom or other times it is because they need to keep their teeth short as they continually grow.  They can wear a bald/sore patch on their nose if they do this a lot.  Does your hamster have plenty of toys to chew?  I find that wooden toys are best, or coconut shells, or the special 'snack shak' houses you can get from some of the large pet shops.  They can sleep in these as well as eat them. Also make sure he has some hard biscuits - you can give ones designed for hamsters, or small dog biscuits are OK too.  

Hamsters feet and ears are often cold compared to their body, and therefore I would not think this is anything to worry about.  It is only a problem if there is a clear circulatory issue - i.e. feet are blue because of lack of blood supply etc. that you would need to worry.  

With regard to the heat your hamster has around his neck - what is the skin like there? Is it red, sore or flaky?  I wondered if perhaps he has mites and has been scratching and the skin is inflamed - hence the feeling of heat and the lack of fur.  If so, it is easy to treat this. You need to get an anti-parasite medication - you can either get this from the vet, or it is now possible to buy this in some pet shops.  If you buy it in the pet shop it is a liquid, and must contain a drug called Ivermectin.  If you are going to medicate him, follow the instructions carefully.  A link to the medication is: http://www.petstuffgalore.co.uk/small-animal-products/flea--mite-treatments/anti...

Please let me know if this helps at all or if there are other symptoms that might shed light on what is wrong.

Regards