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static · 04-02-2015, 03:13 AM

I have a few questions about my Campbell's dwarf hamster. As a bit of a back story, I took him home from the pet store I work at 6 months ago (he was pretty mean and feisty, so no one wanted him). He became much nicer when he was brought home, although he has always been a biter no matter what I try. He was diagnosed with diabetes (surprising, considering we don't feed the hamsters fruit or sugary pellets at work, although I shudder to think about how well they are bred). After changing his diet and experimenting with fenugreek seeds, his glucose and ketones have stayed normal aside from some hiccups along the way. About a week and a half ago I noticed he was not running on his wheel, so I tested his pee and he had trace amounts of ketones (less than 0.5 mmol/L). He had also lost about 3-4 grams. After treating with 50/50 water and plain pedialyte, turkey vegetable baby food mixed with ground up pellets and seeds/grains, his readings have remained normal and his weight is back up for the last 3-4 days at 49g. Despite this he spends most of his time sleeping, mainly coming out to eat and drink. Today I noticed around his rear (about a centimeter above his tail) a decent sized patch of thinned fur. It's not bald, but the fur is noticeably shorter and thinner. I have not noticed excessive scratching, and he is on kaytee paper bedding. He always has a chinchilla volcanic sand bath dish in his cage which he has always used regularly. I'm wondering what can cause these symptoms? He gets a pretty varied, protein supplemented diet, so I would assume it wouldn't be vitamin related. I'm not sure of his exact age, as we don't get birth dates for any animals except the large bird species, but he was a full grown 50 grams when I got him and he had only been at the store for a couple weeks before I took him home. I have been told dwarfs are considered sexually mature around 4 months, does that imply that dwarfs are fully grown at that age? Or can they be fully grown earlier than that? If he could have been as old as 4-6 months already when I bought him, does that mean he could already be experiencing age related baldness?
I'm really at a loss for what to do, I'm booking a vet trip in the morning, but as great as my vet is I don't know how often he experiences hamster baldness in his practice and hope that maybe some of you might have ideas as to what might be happening.

04-02-2015, 03:13 AM
static Newborn Pup Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 23	Dwarf hamster fur loss and lethargy I have a few questions about my Campbell's dwarf hamster. As a bit of a back story, I took him home from the pet store I work at 6 months ago (he was pretty mean and feisty, so no one wanted him). He became much nicer when he was brought home, although he has always been a biter no matter what I try. He was diagnosed with diabetes (surprising, considering we don't feed the hamsters fruit or sugary pellets at work, although I shudder to think about how well they are bred). After changing his diet and experimenting with fenugreek seeds, his glucose and ketones have stayed normal aside from some hiccups along the way. About a week and a half ago I noticed he was not running on his wheel, so I tested his pee and he had trace amounts of ketones (less than 0.5 mmol/L). He had also lost about 3-4 grams. After treating with 50/50 water and plain pedialyte, turkey vegetable baby food mixed with ground up pellets and seeds/grains, his readings have remained normal and his weight is back up for the last 3-4 days at 49g. Despite this he spends most of his time sleeping, mainly coming out to eat and drink. Today I noticed around his rear (about a centimeter above his tail) a decent sized patch of thinned fur. It's not bald, but the fur is noticeably shorter and thinner. I have not noticed excessive scratching, and he is on kaytee paper bedding. He always has a chinchilla volcanic sand bath dish in his cage which he has always used regularly. I'm wondering what can cause these symptoms? He gets a pretty varied, protein supplemented diet, so I would assume it wouldn't be vitamin related. I'm not sure of his exact age, as we don't get birth dates for any animals except the large bird species, but he was a full grown 50 grams when I got him and he had only been at the store for a couple weeks before I took him home. I have been told dwarfs are considered sexually mature around 4 months, does that imply that dwarfs are fully grown at that age? Or can they be fully grown earlier than that? If he could have been as old as 4-6 months already when I bought him, does that mean he could already be experiencing age related baldness? I'm really at a loss for what to do, I'm booking a vet trip in the morning, but as great as my vet is I don't know how often he experiences hamster baldness in his practice and hope that maybe some of you might have ideas as to what might be happening.