Bald patches on sides

Question
Hello,
I have a syrian female, about 10 mos old. I have noticed some thinning hair on her head, not bald but a little thinner than I remember, but didn't think much of it at first.

A few weeks ago she developed bald spots on her sides, I think right at the scent glands as a dark spot is on each side right in the middle. The bald patches are about the size of a dime or little less.

I took her to the vet and some samples are being sent for analysis, but the vet didn't have much first hand knowledge of hammies and couldn't tell me much, well anything really, so I thought I would look for some expert advice.

I am wondering if this hair loss could be environmental. I have removed a chinchilla sand bath area from her cage, gone back to carefresh bedding (was using soft-sorbent), and after a week noticed no change in her coat. I will next be removing the potty litter I was using, replacing it with some carefresh in the potty.

All of these products were listed as safe and natural, but perhaps she has some sensitivity to them.

Have you had hair loss issues like I have described on the sides in any of your hams? Other than the hair loss, Ms. Cheeks is as wonderful as the day I brought her home.

I am ever grateful for any thoughts you would like to share on this.

Answer
It's very hard to tell what can cause a hamster to lose hair without some sort of skin swab. In regards to the litter causing it, you would likely see a very itchy ham, with red spots on the skin as well as the hair loss. If the patches didn't look red or inflamed, I would rule out the litter causing it. You really don't need a sand bath for a hamster, that's pretty much a chinchilla only thing. Hams clean themselves very diligently, and do not need to bathe in sand to keep clean, extra grains being trapped in the fur might agitate the hamster, they really don't like things in their fur. I have never had any of my hams lose hair anywhere on their body fortunately, so I don't have much experience when it comes to hair loss. The fact that the hair loss was around both scent glands and not just one, or anywhere else on the body, to me points to it being something natural and not an outside factor causing it.