Is this blood?

Nat · 04-06-2015, 10:35 AM

I've been away for 2 nights and my mum has been feeding Dolly.
I came back today and cleaned her cage out to find these (what I think) specks of blood. It's in the place where she likes to sit and clean herself. It looks like maybe it was her foot given how dotted around they are.
I checked her feet before and all 4 look fine so I'm abit puzzled.

I'm more worried as to what she may have hurt herself on, pretty much everything in her cage is wooden and I've checked them all and none have any obvious sharp bits on them.
Do you think it IS blood??
(I think the lighter red patch is the remains of some pepper I gave her).

Snowz · 04-06-2015, 10:49 AM

I have seen that wheel and the wheel can cause the hamsters feet to bleed because its very sharp on the edges. I have seen a photo of a hamsters feet bleeding because of that wheel but maybe its not blood? not sure.

Nat · 04-06-2015, 10:59 AM

I've checked the wheel, it's completely smooth as I sanded it down and check it regularly. Also there's no blood on the wheel

BrainGirl · 04-06-2015, 11:23 AM

It does look like blood, but it looks spattered, not "printed" if you know what I mean. Could she have injured her mouth or nose slightly and sneezed?

Nat · 04-06-2015, 11:29 AM

Hmm, thanks BG I never thought of that, I'll try and have a good look at her nose/mouth when she wakes up...

Oatmeal_Cupcake · 04-06-2015, 12:41 PM

Yes, to me, that does look like blood that was sneezed. Not to scare you, but Kit Kat left blood like this in her sliver bowl that she would bathe in right before she died. Kit Kat was diagnosed with a tooth root abscess. She got a cut, I'm guessing in her mouth and it got infected. She passed as a result of this. I kick myself for not seeing blood sooner.

I do have a picture of her silver bowl if you want me to post it as reference. I took it for the vet and I just never got around to deleting the picture.

Hopefully things play out differently for you and hopefully the blood doesn't develop into anything. Hopefully it isn't blood at all.

Nat · 04-06-2015, 12:47 PM

Oh dear, I really hope it's not that!
I tried checking her nose/mouth (as well as you can check a wriggling hamsters mouth that is!) and everything looks normal to me. She's also eating/drinking/playing as normal.
Can anyone offer any advice on how to check a hams mouth on your own without a vet?

Oatmeal_Cupcake · 04-06-2015, 01:01 PM

I cant offer any advice on that. But when Kit Kat left blood I tried checking her and she looked fine. It checked her nose, feet, toes, eyes, tail, everywhere. I could never find the source of it. In the beginning it was a drop here and there so I thought it was something else because she never had blood on her. She always acted normal too. It wasn't until I was taking her to the vet that I noticed a lot of blood like this and finally connected the pieces together.

We ended up rushing her to the vet when I noticed she had developed a swollen eye and lost a lot of weight. At the vet they noticed she had a bump on her nose, near her swollen eye.

So like I said, either she cut her mouth or it was a result of one of the times she got scared and jumped out of my hand and hit the floor.

twix and oreo mates4life · 04-06-2015, 01:50 PM

it does look like blood to me. My hamster, Oreo had some blood like that too, only when we brought him to the vet, he had infected ears. Could that be your problem?

Nienna · 04-06-2015, 01:55 PM

I really hope that isn't anything serious, Nat!

I have little direct experience with hamsters.... Though from rat owner's perspective, I'd say that's porphyrin from a ratty sneeze. (Rat tears/nasal secretions are a brown-red in color.) I have no idea if hamsters are the same, though; and I've yet to read anything that would indicate it.