Help for My Hamster

HammieMomSilverSpring · 09-19-2016, 06:25 AM

BALSAL (short for Break a leg shake a leg, my child named her) has a chronic issue with sores around her mouth. I thought she was chewing her water bottle, so I removed it and gave her a water dish.

Every six weeks or so BALSAL decides to do something to her mouth somehow. She ends up with sores or scrapes around it. Usually I take her to the vet, he giver her an antibiotic and the Dentahex(?) mouth rinse used on dogs and cats, and then it heals up.

I usually wash sores twice a day, either with saline solution or dawn dish soap and warm water, then put manuka honey on them after the vet's treatment.

The problem is that they are recurring about every six weeks. She's got one scar and after this last bout she's probably going to have a worse one. I think it is related to wearing her teeth down but I don't know how to stop it without removing everything in her cage so she won't have anything to wear her teeth down at all. Any ideas? I'm pretty sure its related to chewing on stuff, but I can't confirm. A pic of hamster's latest scars (on both sides of mouth) and her wooden bridge (which has chew marks all over it in one place) are attached.

Please help! It gets expensive to take ham to the vet every six weeks and then the antibiotics are even more, plus I'm sure it's not good to keep giving them so often.

PS The manuka honey was suggested on a forum here and it's great.

-HammieMomSilverSpring

souffle · 09-19-2016, 07:02 AM

I can't see the pic. Is she in a barred cage at all?
It is possible she mas misaligned teeth that are somehow rubbing the mouth when she chews. I'd get the vet to check the teeth alignment.
There is also a virus in hamsters that does cause lumps around the mouth that can break down to sores.
Can you try and reload the picture please? You can attach it via the forum or upload to somewhere like photobucket and post a link.

HammieMomSilverSpring · 09-19-2016, 08:27 AM

Oops! Here are the pics. The other side of the mouth is pretty much the same.

IMG_1927.jpg

IMG_1925.jpg

racinghamster · 09-19-2016, 08:35 AM

My first impressions are those look suspiciously like bar chewing injuries? Does she chew the bars on her cage? If she does I would get her into a Bin cage or a tank-style cage to stop this damage as it could become infected. I wouldn`t dab anything on the skin I would leave it to heal now, but keep an eye on it just in case. Can you get a tank cage or make a Bin cage for her?

cypher · 09-19-2016, 08:43 AM

I don't know much about the virus souffle mentioned but it does look like bare chewing injuries to me too.
If it is from chewing the bars then a short term option while you try to sort something out is threading cardboard through the bars, she'll probably chew that which is fine you just need to replace it if she does, you can also attach card with cable ties, if it's something that's become a habit though a tank style cage would be the best choice in the long run.

HammieMomSilverSpring · 09-19-2016, 09:25 AM

I like the cardboard idea. I'll give it a try.

racinghamster · 09-19-2016, 09:37 AM

Blocking the bars can work sometimes, but hamsters that chew cage bars can be an indication that something is wrong. The cage may be too small, she`s got into a habit that she can`t break, or typical behaviour for attention seeking.

Personally, I have used barred cages myself in the past, but given that hamsters will climb the bars and fall, or chew at the bars are two negatives for me. Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted....

I only used a narrow barred cage once for my Syrian hamster and then switched to the Perspex cages. They are fantastic homes and although they have no bars, the hamster is safer. For a Syrian, you would be looking at a Zoozone 2 or similar sized tank cage or Bin if you wanted to make the switch. x

flowerfairy · 09-19-2016, 11:54 AM

One of my hamsters chews the bars of her cages sometimes. She is in the barney which is about 100cm by 50cm soma reasonable size. I thread cardboard and give her new toys regularly.

She likes herbs or other treats hidden in loo roll middles and loves apple wigs to chew on.

Hope you find a solution for your sweet hamster.

Erin.R · 09-19-2016, 12:33 PM

To add to racinghamsters concern about barred cages....I have had 2 hamsters get their little legs stuck in those critter trail bars whilst trying to climb, one that had to be pts and the other I just happened to be standing right there so got to him quickly enough, these were dwarves not syrians though. I can tell from the pic you have the two or three story critter trail cage. A syrian really needs much more floor space than these provide. It would be much cheaper for you (no vet visits) and less painful for your hammy to change her cage to a decent size bin. Also, Syrians need bigger wheels than these cages provide so she may not be running on it as much as she needs to. Just a few suggestions to help your hammy as I can tell you really love her

HammieMomSilverSpring · 09-27-2016, 09:43 AM

Hi, thanks to all who replied.

The last cut is healed up pretty well now. I decided to go with the Habitrail OVO cage as it has no bars, is expandable, and was not as pricey as the Zoozone 2 cage. Although I just found it on another website for about $40 less

She seems to like it well. I noticed she is chewing on the plastic a bit so I also purchased the cardboard mazes for the inside of the main cage area. Now to wait it out and see if the sores recur....the plastic may not be any better.

As for bin cages, I just googled it and that looks like a really interesting idea. Our family is pretty crazy these days as we have two kids, a hamster, a rabbit, and a small business, but maybe I'll give making one a try.

Any suggestions for making the OVO cage a suitable home?

PS I really do like hamsters. They are so interesting. When I had them as a kid they were always escaping, but I am so enjoying this one as an adult. She has quite the sweet personality and even likes to be petted (surprise to me!).