Blood

Question
My sister blew on her teddy bear hamster because he was biteing the cage.  his nose started to bleed.  it stopped but now there is a scab.  what should i do?  he is now making noises.  i am scared.  i feel bad.  he is making noises like hipcups.  is there anything i could do?

Answer
Hi Brianna

Sometimes hamsters do rub their noses sore if they continually bite their bars.  I suggest you just let this heal on its own.  If it looks like it has infected you might need to apply an antiseptic, but I usually find that they heal on their own if you don't touch them.

Has he got plenty of things to chew?  Sometimes hamsters just have a bad habit of chewing bars, but also it is important that they chew a lot because they need to keep their teeth short as they continually grow.  If you put a wooden house or tube in his cage, or you can buy special houses/toys called 'snack shak' which are edible, then these can help stop a hamster from chewing the bars.  It might be worth a try.

Regarding the noises.  Some hamsters do make a strange squeaky sound - this is normal.  It is almost as though they are chatting.  The sounds you need to worry about are squeals, or snuffles as these indicate fear or a cold/breathing problems.  Other sounds, such as the squeaking or snoring are normal.

If you are in any doubt at all, then you might want to get someone to have a look at him, but I don't think it is anything to worry about.  Some of mine squeak when they come out of their nest and they are foraging for food - I quite like it when they do this as I feel they are having a chat!
Regards