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Old 02-23-2012, 08:38 PM   #1
Cheetah
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Unhappy "Greasy fur" and Red Skin

So my local animal shelter got 7 hamsters in (parents and their babies) but since their a cat and dog shelter only, they needed foster homes. They said they provide EVERYTHING so i thought I'd try fostering (my first ever hamster by the way!) I looked up some quick things about them (Didn't really find anything i didn't know already, guess years of rodent research does that to you ) and picked a hamster up on Saturday (one of the babies, i think they said he's about 2 months-ish) The stuff they gave me was less than ideal... He was in a ridiculously small cage that i wouldn't allow any living thing to live in besides.... no absolutely nothing. It also had a "soft plastic" wheel with bars. Though the worst thing was the shavings... they were pine.
I ended up taking him anyway thinking i could just replace that with my own money. When i got home i found some weird black beetle in the bag of the shavings, I didn't really linger on it 'A single bug got in the bag, so what?' But the universe loves to prove me naive and about 2 days later i found one of these beetles in the hamsters cage. I quickly checked the pine bag again and found it was air dried, meaning fungus, bugs etc were all attracted to the wet wood while it was drying. The bag got chucked outside and the pine was replaced with some aspen i got.
Sorry about that long story Now to the current problem... the next day after that he was scratching, cleaning and biting his back a lot (it looked like biting, might have been more cleaning) and his fur almost looked greasy. But again I didn't linger on it too much. The day after his fur was dramatically more greasy (though still not too bad) but i was hoping he was just getting in his long fur from his father and that was making it appear "clumpy". But now today there's no mistaking that there's something wrong. He appears to have lost some fur on his back where he was itching, or its just pushed aside. Either way i can still see his skin, which looks redder than normal, his ears also seem redder. His fur also got suddenly VERY greasy appearing over night.
Does anyone know whats wrong with the poor hamster? I almost became a foster failure till this happened D= Did he get mites or some other bug from the horrid pine they gave him? Is his fur just really greasy and making him itch? (trying to get him to use a sand bath but he's still unsure) Or did he have an allergy to the pine that has yet to go away... or is it the aspen he's allergic to?
Almost forgot! His behavior is fine. He eats (i see him eat, so i know he's not just hoarding and leaving it) drinks and is still active. I also put some veggie oil on the wheel the day before this all happened if that has anything to do with it.

It's 8:30 now, I gotta go see him. He already expects me to come, its so cute <3
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Old 02-24-2012, 06:13 AM   #2
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Default Re: "Greasy fur" and Red Skin

I think if there is an allergy it will be to the aspen as it seems to have appeared since he went onto it, so I'd change back to woodshavings asap to try and confirm its an allergy or rule out allergies as the cause.

If that doesn't solve the problem I'd probably head to the vets with him as whatever it is has hit hard (another reason I'm thinking allergy) and its best to get a professional opinion before trying to treat at home.

I do think it will be an allergy to the aspen but all I have to go on is what I've learnt rather than experience I'm afraid.
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Old 02-24-2012, 07:18 AM   #3
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Default Re: "Greasy fur" and Red Skin

Poor little one, I hope you figure it out soon!
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Old 02-24-2012, 03:57 PM   #4
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Default

I was hoping it would be an allergy too =/ Any opinions on Critter Care? Thats the cheapest stuff that isn't wood-based here i think.

He seems to be doing better since yesterday night. I'm wondering if it was just stress since that was the first time i did a full change of the cage? Either way i decided to get some Critter Care to replace the wood, its better nesting material anyway so I'm sure he'll appreciate it. ^^

Last edited by souffle; 02-25-2012 at 03:49 PM.
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Old 02-25-2012, 03:48 PM   #5
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Default Re: "Greasy fur" and Red Skin

He may also appreciate a sand bath to roll in to help condition his coat. What type of hamster is he?
If you can get something like a chinese takeaway dish and fill it with chinchilla sand (not the dust it must be the sand) he will enjoy rolling to clean his fur up. These are essential for dwarfs really as they have such dense fur.
Another reason for greasy coat is a too small wheel where the spindle rubs the back. Often these have been oiled as they squeak and this rubs on the back as the hammie runs.
Glad he seems to be settling and hope he is soon nice and calm
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Old 02-28-2012, 05:07 PM   #6
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Default Re: "Greasy fur" and Red Skin

He would be a Syrian =) I'm having some problems again, his fur is still greasy and he sneezes a lot. The scratching seems to have gone down to "normal hamster scratching". What i thought was biting his back was actually him cleaning his scent glands i think (they do that when their happy right?) He went in the sand bath so I put some sand on his back (I know your not supposed to but i was worried about his fur >.< Plus he didn't run away or flinch when i did it so he doesn't seem to mind) After that his fur looked like normal hamster fur but 2 days later it was greasy again. Anyone know whats wrong with the poor hammy? =(
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Old 02-28-2012, 05:24 PM   #7
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Default Re: "Greasy fur" and Red Skin

I know its not a long term solution, but could you leave the sandbath in the cage all the time? I'm not experienced enough to be sure what (if anything) this could be so all I can really suggest is leaving the sand bath in.

We've got a hamster who looks "Scruffy" most of the time (we named her Scruff ) and it turns out that a sand bath makes a massive difference to how she looks, if she's had a sand bath in the past hour or two she looks almost normal, but then gets steadily more "scruffy" until her fur hits its worst and stays there until she has a bath again lol
We still haven't worked out exactly what has caused her fur to be so different, but I think she shows some hams do just need to use a sand bath really often. Its definetly not a bad thing for her health so we don't worry about it


Sneezing makes me think he's either caught a cold or is finding his substrate too dusty though.
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