[Pebbles82]

Hi again. I wouldn't do the cage clean right now. As you said, she's had a few changes recently, with the bedding and the new sand bath, plus you have a cold. I would just spot clean it with gloves on. So just take out the odd handful of wee'd on substrate and put a new handful in to replace it and mix it up again. You can leave her in the cage to do this, and do it in a kind of slow relaxed way rather than a vigorous quick way so it isn't so much of a whirlwind for her. This will probably do as a partial clean for now. If one area is particularly wet you could just take handfuls out as far down until you reach dry bedding, or if all the way down to the base, just wipe that one area with a damp cloth and put some new substrate in in that area. Don't bother cleaning toys right now. If her house is wee'd in then you might need to take it out and give it a rinse and dry it well (I think it's plastic isn't it, so that should be fine). If her nest is dry, leave it, if it is wet, try and just remove the wet part and leave a bit of dry behind, then add some new nesting material.

In other words - do the minimum for now. Not just for your cold, but to minimise the disruption and stress. Also you must be feeling unwell so maybe you need to just rest up a bit for a few days. I know I get stressed if I'm feeling unwell and trying to keep going! Just do the minimum, rest up and observe her for a few days.

All these things to think about with hammies can be worrying, but she is pootling around doing her own thing meanwhile. When you are feeling better you can do a bigger cage clean if necessary.

Has she been using the sandbath either as a sandbath or a toilet? If she's been using it as a toilet then the rest of the cage shouldn't be too bad. If the rest of the cage is dry, just scoop out the soiled bits of sand and add new. Sand does a good job of soaking up the wee so you can see the wet bits.

I know you are worried about costs and so on. Worries always seem worse when you're not feeling well, so see how she goes in the next day or two and not worry about what is causing it right now. You will get practical advice for specific issues on here, but we don't know your circumstances. However stress is bad for hammies, and she may pick up on your stress. It might be mites, it might be the new sand bath it might be something else, we don't know. A vet would know and that will cost some money, so maybe just give it a day or so, see how she goes and you will be feeling a bit better by then. If you are feeling ok today then a visit to the vet is a good idea. If you haven't got a travel cage, then maybe just take her cage along. Do you know of a small animal vet in your area? Check them out. If there is more than one, ring them and see how much they will charge for an initial consultation. Sometimes a one-off consultation isn't too expensive, and if you are having financial difficulties, tell them and they might do you a deal.

Your little ham has had a new cage, new substrate and so on, all quite recently, so she may be feeling a bit stressed. I would also be panicking if I found a bald patch like that and would probably observe for a day and then decide to go to the vets to see what's what. I wouldn't put the new house in yet.

Hope this helps. We've been through the possible things she could have rubbed her fur on and ruled most of them out I think. An allergy to something could cause fur loss, or some other reason for scratching. But if she seems well enough in herself, then just do the spot clean, talk gently to her while you're doing it and give her a healthy treat afterwards. A small piece of veg (thumbnail sized) or a piece of apple maybe (same size).

Definitely don't get her wet though! And make sure she has lots and lots of paper nesting material in the cage after spot cleaning. Not sure how cold it is where you are but it is blooming cold here at the moment. So she can have a big cosy nest to keep warm in. Is the room warm enough? Just asking as you seemed worried she might have gone into Torpor. If it's a cold room she will need some heating in there. And maybe a heat pad, heat lamp or similar near the cage at night after the heating goes off. I don't know what your climate is in your part of the world!

Anyway, try not to worry. I find taking action relieves worry. But if you are worried about the cost of a vet visit, I can understand that, but needs must. Even if it means asking someone to help.

As for the igloo - I think a lot of people use that smaller igloo for Syrians and find it fine. The only issue would be if it's cold and there isn't room in it to build a big nest, but if she is cold she would probably abandon it and build a nest in a corner of the cage somewhere. Plus she can dig down a bit underneath it if necessary. Charlie's first house was a small plastic pod even smaller than the igloo! He had a nice wood house in his cage, but no he decided to build his nest in the little plastic pod house that came with the shelf and he packed it so full of bedding and food that the top kept popping off lol. But he really loved it because it was round and he could curl up inside it. You could always add a cardboard box in the cage with a door cut out and if she wanted to move her nest she would. If she didn't she would just use the box as a hidey place.

One last thought - I can't quite see what the new bedding is. Is it wood? Some hamsters can have allergies to wood bedding, regardless of what kind of wood it is, and that can cause scratching and hair loss. They can have an allergy to any kind of bedding really, although paper or cardboard is usually hypoallergenic.