thinnig hair / baldness / discoloured scent gland

Question
I have a syrian hamster who is two and a half years old. About two weeks ago, I noticed a small black spot near his scent gland on his right side. It looks almost like a scab. It has not grown, but it is still there, and I just noticed that his skin is a sort of grey colour in the same area on his left side, although the grey area spans a much larger area, and it looks almost like a liver spot on a person would look, it is not raised and scab-like. He may have always had grey skin in some areas, I don't know if it's common, but he is also balding around his neck and is losing his fluff elsewhere, so it may have just been covered by hair before and now the balding is showing it. Do you have any idea what could be causing the black spot on his side? It hasn't moved, and he has them nowhere else, so I don't think it's mites. It also has not grown and does not stem from a bump under his skin, so I don't think it's a tumor. Could it be from old age? Also, I know baldness can occur from old age, but I worry that I'll assume it's his age and it will turn out to be something worse. I'm trying to avoid a vet appointment because they're so expensive and he's almost reached his age limit anyway, but I love him so much and don't want him to die because of neglect. Do you have any idea what this spot is, why his skin seems to be greyish, and what his balding is from? I can take pictures with a digital camera and send them to you if there's a possible way to do it. Thank you so much!

Answer
hi jillian,
it sounds like he's got a really good mummy as you obviously care so much!

i don't think the black spot or the greying skin is anything to worry about as most of my hamsters have developed a similar blackish area around their scent glands later on in life too, and were absolutely fine. the colour of it comes with age and as you quite rightly mentioned, it becomes more apparent because the hair starts thinning as they get older.
hamsters lose hair as they get older. it can fall out in clumps or just generally become thinner all over the body. if the hairless areas are of a normal skin colour then everything is fine. it is when the areas are red that you need to be concerned about mites. mites irritate the skin folicles and that makes the hamster scratch. it is the scratching that causes the area to become red and sore.
if he isn't scratching then chances are its not mites, but you need to keep an eye on him to ensure it is not him that is pulling his own fur out, as this could be an indication of mites.
if you can upload pictures from your digital camera onto your computer, you could email them to me if you're still concerned. just let me know if you want to do this and i will give you my email address.
hope this helps. thanks for your question, jewel