Advice please

Louiserose · 11-26-2015, 01:57 PM

Hello,

I hate to just join this forum and straight away ask for help but I really want to help this little fella. Yesterday I took a male hamster in from a family member who was not looking after him very well and i couldn't just leave him like that.

She said she recommend him at a pets at home store about three and a half years ago so he is at least that age but she doesn't know how old he was when she got him. He was in fact sold to her as a female, hence his name "Bella".

The poor little fella seems to have a slightly crusty left eye which is half closed. I used some cooled boiled water on cotton pads to gently bathe it and he opened it after that but today I've noticed its the same again. I've done the same and it doesn't look too bad now.

I've also noticed since yesterday he's lost a patch of hair from his back by his shoulder blades. The skin looks very dry and wrinkly where the hair is gone.

Does this sound like a skin condition to you or could it just be down to old age? My vets are closed until tomorrow morning now and I didn't want to leave it till then in case there is anything I can do to help the poor thing. He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, thank god hut it doesn't look nice.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Pebbles82 · 11-26-2015, 02:55 PM

Hi. I should think tomorrow morning would be ok for the vets if you make him comfortable

It does seem like he might need something for his eye, if it's an infection. You could gently bathe it again (sorry just read you already had). Three and a half is a great age for a hamster! He is a very old man! One hamster year is approximately 40 human years so he is about 140 years old!

Just keep him cosy with plenty of bedding and nesting material. He might be low in some nutrients if his teeth have gone bad or broken or dropped out, so you could ask the vet about nutrition as well as his skin and eye. Meanwhile you could try supplementing his hamster food with a bit of scrambled egg and some boiled vegetables (which will be soft). Just a tiny bit of veg each day - maybe a thumbnail size piece.

Not sure what substrate (litter for the bottom of the cage) you have, but make sure there is at least 3 to 4" in there, and put out a big pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper in the cage somewhere so he can make a cosy nest (sorry if you already know this). It's the safest nesting material - so if he has any fluffy bedding, then remove it and put the toilet paper strips in. I just take a few sheets of toilet paper and tear each sheet into 5 or 6 strips lengthways.

Assuming his nesting material isn't some kind of synthetic fluff though, it's best not to disturb his nest as that stresses them. Also as he has had a change of environment coming to you, try not to do much cleaning in his cage for a week or two. You could spot clean the odd handful of wee'd on substrate every few days if it's a bit smelly and just replace that with a clean handful. If he hasn't pee'd in his nest then just leave it in tact.

And you could talk to him gently so he feels safe with you

Louiserose · 11-26-2015, 03:06 PM

Thank you so much for the advice, he has wood shavings on the bottom of the cage. She said he's always had that, is that going to be causing more problems for him? He currently does have fluffy bedding so I'm going to go and remove it and put some toilet roll in. I can't believe he's so old! Do you think maybe the skin condition could be to do with his age?

WinnieTheHam · 11-26-2015, 03:12 PM

That is a very great age for a ham, bless him. Hair loss is normal in elderly hamsters. If he scratches that area a lot he may have some sort of skin condition. Syrian hamsters usually groom quite often though but if he grooms that area obsessively then speak to the vet about it and see what they think.

It'd be best if the cage he is in has no levels and that he can easily access food and drink. Serendipity has given you good advice. You can also feed porridge (made with water) which I'm sure he will enjoy a lot. If he struggles to eat it from a bowl you can spoon feed him some. If he struggles to eat the boiled veggies you can always make a puree out of them so he doesn't need to chew very much. It'd still be good to offer him some hard foods occasionally so his teeth can stay trim.

In my past experience elderly hamsters do tend to get crusty eyes but it may be a good idea to take him to a vet to see if there's an infection.

Pebbles82 · 11-26-2015, 03:14 PM

If he's survived this long with wood shavings he's probably fine with them. Hamsters do lose hair as they get older, and get wrinkly too! It might be he has a skin condition too - it could be a sign of ageing or it could be something that needs treating, especially if it is causing discomfort.

Hmm tricky that he has fluffy bedding. It is dangerous and can get wrapped round limbs and cut the circulation off. But it could also stress him a bit having it removed. If it's the j-cloth type bedding it would be ok, it's the cotton wool/polyester type stuff that is dangerous. Anyway if it is the bad stuff, give him a huge pile of the toilet paper strips! And a couple of treats to distract him from the change - a small piece of banana might go down well and is also soft. Scrambled egg is soft and a bit of a treat too.

Louiserose · 11-26-2015, 03:32 PM

Thank you so much. He doesn't seem in any discomfort with his skin and if I'm completely honest his eye doesn't look sore or inflamed, it's just crusty. I'll distract him with some goodies while changing his bedding. He was asleep when I went to do it so thought best to wait until he was awake as I didn't want to upset him. I'll let you know what the vet says when I speak to them tomorrow. I really do appreciate your advice. Hamsters aren't my speciality, I'm more of a dog person but couldn't let him sit there being ignored bless him.

Louiserose · 11-26-2015, 03:48 PM

I forgot to mention he is in a one level cage so everything is easy to get to. I've just changed his bedding over to shredded toilet roll and he seems very happy putting it all in his bed now.

Pebbles82 · 11-26-2015, 04:16 PM

That's good news! He sounds like a lovely little guy - he's lucky to have you. Yes do let us know how he gets on at the vet. It's lovely to hear of a hamster of that age. Any photos you get of him would be nice too!

Thin Lizzy · 11-26-2015, 09:40 PM

Louiserose Welcome to HC.
Good on you for taking the little ham in and giving him a forever home, what a brilliant age!
Toilet Paper is what I use and I put loads in as it keeps them warm and they can have lots of fun setting up the bed/nest.
Have you made Mr Bella an appointment at the vet?

greysome · 11-26-2015, 10:28 PM

Hi Louiserose,

Welcome to HC! Your ham is very lucky you decided to take him in and give him a better home. The poor dear deserves it!

I really don't have anything to add on to what others have said/advised but I thought I would let you know that if the wooden shavings are dusty, I think it's possible it could irritate your hammie's eyes. I have a robo who had eye issues when I took her in and though part of it was due to an old untended injury and the bedding in her previous home, she still had bouts where her "bad" eye would get stuck here and need to be cleaned out. After a while, we (the vet and I) figured out that it was the aspen I had her partially on (she had different bedding in different parts of her cage then). When I switched completely to the other bedding, her eye improved and I don't remember the last time I had to clear her eye. I think I only had to clean it another couple of times after the switch in the beginning. To be clear, I don't believe it was the aspen itself that irritated her eye, but rather that it was a dusty bag of aspen.