Question about green patch on the sides of hamster??

[2hammies2luv]

right above Romeo's legs on his side I noticed he has these green patches about the size of an american dime...maybe just a tad smaller. I know that male Syrians have those glands on their hips but could this be what this spot could mean?? he is a white so something of color would show up easily on him. I can't seem to feel any lumps that I can tell but he moves so much when I try to feel around so what I do feel I am assuming is his muscles and joints...ack! anybody have any ideas?? :?

[Emma]

Hip glands aren't usually green I don't think.....it's been a while since I had a syrian with prominent glands, but I'm pretty sure they weren't green! Both males and females have them, but they're often more prominent in males, they can look like dark spots on the skin and might be a bit greasy.



I did a quick net search to try and find a picture of hip glands but couldn't find one.....would you be able to post a photo of Romeo's green patches?



(p.s. anyone know a British coin the same size as a dime!)

[2hammies2luv]

Thank you Emma for replying :) I figured I should try and take a picture of Romeo so I can explain this better but my kids swiped the last of my camera batteries(I guess the big speech I gave them and the sign stating "DO NOT TOUCH! mom's batteries" was not enough) :?



Anyhow when my husband gets home from the night shift I will try to get into the city and get some more so I can post pics of both Romeo and Juliette!



PS I used the comparision to an American dime because I figured most people would know what size that is! how about the size of a small thimble??

[Emma]

Hi 2hammies



I found this picture on the VIN (veterinary information network) posted by a vet asking if they were normal structures.....I'm not sure if it's ok to post the photo here but I can't give you a link to it as VIN is members only. I haven't found any similar photos anywhere on the net. I don't know if this is a male or female hamster, it is dark-haired though, the scent glands almost look like scabs.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/funkyvixen/hamsterhipgland.jpg



If anyone else has a picture of their own hamster's hip glands please post it and I'll delete this one.

[peanut25]

Bandit has the same exact thing. I will try to get some pictures of his if I am able and post it. I thought they were some type of beauty mark like humans have.

[flogging_molly]

green? sounds strange, scent glands aren't green, hmm, thats a strange one

[babyboos]

They can often have a greenish tinge to them depending on the colour of the Syrian. In other colours they are dark grey or brown and some almost black like in the picture Emma found at VIN.

[Emma]

Just to say since this thread started I have seen greenish-tinged hip glands....it was a paler hamster and the owner had just noticed them as the hamster was older and fur starting to thin etc. So yup, apparently green can be normal!