Found dried blood on my ham! she has dry skin & fur loss. what to do?

[cookiemonster88]

first of all, hello! this is my first post on here and i'm hoping to get some good information on how to help my hamster Ella.

she's a 20 month old syrian hamster and has been losing her fur for a couple of months now. this wasn't too alarming to me because it happened to one of my other hamsters who lost all his fur but lived to 35 months.

i just took her out of her cage and noticed she had a little bit of dried blood about halfway between her scent gland and her head, if that makes sense. i've never seen blood on any of my hamsters before (she is my 5th) so i'm pretty concerned. she lives in a savic hamster heaven cage and has carefresh bedding and pets at home woodshavings. mostly woodshavings because she only goes in her penthouse (where the carefresh is) a couple of days after she's been cleaned out then she blocks up the entrance with the carefresh lol

i'm worried the woodshavings might be irritating her skin, and maybe the tubing as well (although that's where she spends 90% of her time). what can i do to stop her getting any more cuts (i presume that's what happened for there to be blood there). i never did anything for my hamster Oliver (my other hamster who went bald) because he never got any cuts so i don't know what to do for Ella. please help!

[Erin.R]

Hello, and welcome. First thing I would say is take out of the cage if you can, and go over it throughly to make sure there is nothing sharp in there. There was recently a member that had a haster that kept getting cuts (pretty sure more than once). They found that one of the tubes had been chewed somewhere and there was a sharp piece sticking out.
If there's nothing that comes up from checking the cage I would seek a vets help. Hamsters have such a small amount of blood and it sounds like yours had a decent cut, or bled quite a bit.
So do you think she has dry skin as well? I know you said she was losing fur. I would think even with dry, cracked, skin you would not see blood all in her cage.
As I said check all toys, edges, tubes, and anything in her cage first. to be sure and that will help to narrow down what may be going on

[Skeever]

With a cut in that position, I have to ask. Is she using a wheel? Is she a long hair?

Someone posted pics of a hamster with strange cuts on their back a few weeks ago...One of the mods pointed out it was most likely hair getting caught in the wheel axis and being pulled out....causing irritation and minor abrasion?

Could you post a pic of the cuts?

Or similar idea, a tube or piece of the cage that could be doing a similar job on her skin/fur?

[kyrilliondaemon]

You say she's losing fur? Does she still have fur on the area she cut? I'm wondering if she's scratched herself by accident or something (we had an elderly roborovski who did once or twice)

[cookiemonster88]

thanks for your answers. to answer your questions, i am pretty much 100% certain it's not the wheel. she has a big wooden wheel which has a hidden ball bearing axis, so it's just a chunk of wood (which she doesn't and hasn't chewed. likes to wee on it but hasn't chewed it). she's short haired btw

i couldn't actually see any cuts, i just presumed that's what must have happened for there to be blood there. i couldn't see an actual cut, just a bit of blood. it was a very tiny amount of blood but it did alarm me

i am taking her to the vet on friday to rule out any underlying causes (wanted to take her today but work wouldn't let me as we had an important staff meeting) and thinking of changing her bedding to all carefresh as everyday her eyes are glued together too. i'm thinking she's just scratched herself. her skin is very dry looking, but like i said my other hamster Oliver had the same and was completely bald, save a few strands, but it never seemed to bother him much so i thought Ella would be the same. but if she's scratching and tearing her skin because it's so dry i'll have to put a cream on her. i've seen stuff like johnsons tea tree oil cream, would this be good for her?

thanks for any answers

[Skeever]

I have a LH and the wheel is pretty safe, and I still find stray, no doubt long shedded hair a bit if I don't need to clean it for Ziggy marking manias I wish I could remember the exact thread here....there were pics of the cut made by hair winding around the wheel bar....I know Souffle recognized it.

If you're not seeing the cuts, though. A vet trip is good proactive care either way though. IS she still scratching?

[cookiemonster88]

there are no bars on the wheel though, it's just a chunk of wood. with little indentations.

i'm not sure if she's still scratching because i haven't been here all day. she always scratches regardless you know, like hamsters do. but i'm gonna keep an eye definitely to see if there's anymore blood on her

[Skeever]

True, I'm hoping if my hams were itchy it would be more noticeable than they're usual long haired grooming obssessions...which I'm guessing is even more involved than short hair grooming obsessions?

A rough edge, or a slip, slide, fall may have caused a one off cut...hopefully, no more signs of cuts

[twix and oreo mates4life]

You should give her a through check for anything that could be causing it

[cookiemonster88]

Originally Posted by twix and oreo mates4life

You should give her a through check for anything that could be causing it

i have already