Please help! Lil hamster toenail accident

[angelham]

Hi everyone this is my first ever post,

My Syrian, Angel, has just scared the life out of me.

She chews on her bars every evening (despite numerous chew toys I've bought... I just can't seem to ween her off them), I was stood watching her for a good 10 minutes, then suddenly she started shrieking and clinging to the bars of her cage as though she was stuck on there.
I've never heard a noise like it. She wee'd in fear (!!1). She is a brave and friendly little girl and I've never heard her make a panicked noise before, even when I first took her home.
I tried to undo the cage to help her but she'd managed to undo herself. She immediately ran and hid, then started washing herself and resumed back to normal.
I then noticed that there was blood where she'd been clinging to and she's ripped her little nail off by trapping it in between the cage bottom and bar.

I really don't know what to do , I think she must've got her teeth/tooth/jaw(?!?!) stuck in between the bars and began to panic, then freaked herself out and ripped her toenail in her effort to remove herself from them.

What should I do???? I'm concerned about A) her teeth and how it happened, and B) her nail/toe!!!


PLS help! I'm a very concerned mum atm and feel so guilty, poor lil ang

[racinghamster]

First off, I would change her cage. Bar chewing is dangerous as you have found out and it can do real damage to their teeth. Pulling a nail must be painful. Boil some water in the kettle and add one pint to a sterile glass jar. Add a teaspoonful of salt and mix it in. Allow it to cool down and when warm/tepid, use a cotton pad or ball to clean her toe if it`s bleeding or swollen. Better still, if it is swollen or looks very sore today, see your vet. The vet will check her teeth at the same time to make sure she hasn`t broken or slackened them.

How is she this morning? x

[Thin Lizzy]

Firstly, Hello and Welcome to HC.
Some hamsters will stop bar chewing, but it sounds like Angel has hurt herself by getting her mouth stuck on the bars and hurting her toe, this will have given her a right fright. Yes you could get her a bar free home, but, I'd wait and see how she is with the cage, this fright might deter her from chewing on the bars from now on. It's never easy seeing your ham in distress. I had a similar problem with my youngest and she doesn't do it now. She was doing it during a 5week period when I wasn't well and had very little contact with her and it was her way of telling me she wasn't happy.

[angelham]

Thanks guys,
I checked up on her last night after I'd gone to bed and she was perfectly happy chewing the bars again I think she's overdramatic!! I opened the cage and she ran on to my hand so she seemed normal the silly girl.

Looked this morning and she's ripped her nail upwards so it's almost vertical, although it appears to just be a scab atm which is good. I'm going to keep an eye on it, my worry is possible infection. Teeth/mouth area seems fine too thankfully.
- Do you think I should ring to vet's just incase?

I've just ordered her a terrarium this morning, should put a stop to it... I've been wanting one for a while now and never had the funds.

Hamster Cages: great selection at zooplus: Small Pet Terrarium Kerry

V excited to kit it out

She's only ever had wire cages before, this one is slightly bigger too than previous ones so maybe it is her way of letting me know she'd like a bigger home (?)...or maybs she's just naughty

[Plumcore]

If your syrian was in a cage smaller than the one you bought now, then yeah, an upgrade is probably what she needed. Though the 75cm, might not be enough either in the long run.

Bin cage would be bigger and cheaper, but depends how good you are at diy.

[angelham]

Originally Posted by Plumcore

If your syrian was in a cage smaller than the one you bought now, then yeah, an upgrade is probably what she needed. Though the 75cm, might not be enough either in the long run.

Bin cage would be bigger and cheaper, but depends how good you are at diy.

The answer to that is not good :P

What I can't understand is how shops sell these cages claiming to be suitable for Syrians when they're clearly too small? I went to every pet shop in the city I live in today to find something bigger and better, but ended up online as they were either significantly smaller than what I've got now or made entirely of bars which I've given up on after last night's incident.
I'd never even seen a bin cage or a tank cage before following various ham instagrams or browsing ham forums

[racinghamster]

Hi angelham. The tank cage you ordered will make a difference especially if it`s slightly bigger than the cage she is currently in. Albeit not overly big for a Syrian, but your hamster gets out to play and no doubt has a good wheel to run on, so these do compensate somewhat.

Is her toe swollen or just the nail seems pulled upwards? Chances are if she`s running around on it and not holding the foot up or seems lame (not wanting to put weight on the foot) it may be a case of saline bathing and see how it is in a few days, although obviously you can see her physically so if you feel seeing your vet is best, then by all means do so. If it`s superficial, it should heal okay but you need to be sure it doesn`t swell up or become infected. Just keep an eye on it.

Just for the sake of it, here is an image of a Bin cage for you! They are basically made from clear plastic storage boxes. They can be bought in large sizes like 100cm long and meshed, or an old cage front used on the front by doing some DIY with a cutting tool. I was never a big fan of these because most of the time, they were used without any proper preparation and not meshed or made to look like a proper cage, but as you can see from the image, when done properly, they can be good habitats for hamsters. x