[actual junk]

Norbert (Syrian Hamster) is coming up to be 1year and 10months, so he is officially becoming an old man, but I'm a little worried about him. He seems to be struggling more with grooming himself (he's long haired so I've always helped him out a bit but he's needed more help than usual lately). The last couple of days he has started to look a little..damp? under his chin and on his belly, and he's begun making little clicking noises. His water bottle seems to be working fine, and next door are getting some work done to their house so I don't know if it's just the noise stressing him out but his little clicks seem a bit too consistent for that? I am considering taking him to the vet, but I don't want to stress him out unnecessarily, especially as he's getting on a bit.

I also can't tell if he's a bit matted around his genitals? I will try to include pictures to show you what I mean about the odd 'damp' look he's got going.

Basically I'm wondering if anyone has experience with similar symptoms or has any advice on whether a vet trip would be the right move here.

Thanks