Questions on my rescue hamster

[JaunnaKEspland]

So yesterday I went to our local humane society and adopted two male Syrians. One reason why I chose them right away was because they were caged together in a small cage. One male (Jerry) has scars on his face and his coat is in terrible shape. The other male (Tom) is huge in size and so far have not seen any issues other than a few scars on his face. I am taking them to the vet tomorrow, but I don't know what to do with Jerry. His coat is so terrible and his eyes are always squinty, but with no discharge or anything. His size is almost half the size of tom as well. Their breathing is good as well. It almost seem like he is just so weak. I do have them separted already and their personalities are blooming! I love my new boys, but I just have never had a hamster in such bad shape. Is there any hing I can do about his coat?

[Amethyst_ice]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

So nice you decided to take on these two boys.

I would imagine the scars are from fighting as you rightly know syrians should mot be kept together (and suprised the rescue did not know this). The size difference may have been from food dominance also.

The vet should be able to give them a good once over and a few weeks settling in their own cages on a good stable diet should improve their coats in no time.

His coat looks ok to, the black colour often has white roots so can make it look a bit "spliit" but a little olive oil over some tiny bits of fish such as tuna would go down a treat and be much welcomed im sure

Good luck and look forward to hearing how the boys progress

x

[cypher]

Welcome to HC.
Well done for taking these two boys on, I'm sure they'll both do well now they are separated & have a good caring home.
Jerry doesn't look too bad in the photo, as well as fighting Tom may have been preventing him from getting to the food so it's most likely that he's undernourished & will pick up with a good diet & a little time to settle.
I always give a few flax seeds/linseed to help keep coats in good condition so maybe you could try adding a few of those to his daily mix.
Keep us posted on how they get on.