Hamsters missing a nail?

charcobain · 03-12-2015, 01:51 PM

I noticed he had a little black dot on his "toe" from the day I got him, I wasn't sure if it was pigmentation or bruising so I just curiously looked and noticed he's missing a nail on that toe, he doesn't seem in pain, doesn't mind me lookig at it, could be of been born without it or had it removed while at the pet store because of infection ect? He seems fine without it, just curious and concerned.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 03-12-2015, 02:11 PM

One of our syrians is missing a few claws, we've got suspicions about why he doesn't have them but we'll never know for sure. It doesn't affect him at all

Thin Lizzy · 03-13-2015, 12:08 AM

If he doesn't show any stress or pain when you touch it then I wouldn't worry!

**kyrilliondaemon** · 03-13-2015, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thin Lizzy

If he doesn't show any stress or pain when you touch it then I wouldn't worry!

Just incase anyone has a ham like Teddy... Be careful when checking if a ham is in pain when his claws are touched. With Teddy we judged if his claw-less paws were ok by watching him walk and use them, he seems completely happy using his paws and putting weight on his toes so we trust they're ok.
His absolute terror of claw trims means we'll probably never be able to touch his paws ourselves, we just have to trust he'd show signs of a problem with his paws if his missing claws were an issue. I doubt many will have a ham quite like Teddy in that respect but thought it was worth mentioning all the same