Hair Loss

nanaliveshere · 05-31-2017, 01:01 PM

Hello everybody! this is my first post in the community and I'm glad I finally found one that has lots of activity

I have a syrian hamster called nana, she is around 1 year/ year and a half (we dont know for sure, when we adopted her they told us she was about 10months or so) and she's been with us since september 2016.
She is playful and likes to be outside, we started giving her pets at home food (thats the one she was eating when she came) and eventually changed to Nature's touch. I also give her pepper, spinach, rocket or cucumber most of the days.
I was looking at her today and I thought her hair looked funny, like messy and like she didn't had so much, and I remembered that a couple weeks ago I thought the same thing but my boyfriend said she looked fine.
I cleaned the cage this week and didn't see any hair laying around but I'm pretty convinced that she has less hair now.
She is still going around in the ball and runs at night, but I did notice she is not liking the food so much, only the fresh one.
I was wondering if, before taking her to the vet, can anyone advice me or tell if I'm being paranoid? this is only my second hamster and the first one was sick many times so I'm a bit paranoid after all

I have some pictures but I dont know why the forum doesn't let me upload them

Thank you for all your help!

BorisPasha · 06-01-2017, 04:28 AM

Hello and welcome to HC

Sorry to hear about Nana.

Does her hair appear to be missing/thinner all over or is it missing in patches (like behind her ears)? Is she scratching more than usual?

I think there is a restriction for new members on posting photos so hopefully you'll manage to post some soon.

I think Harry Hamster is the best food for Syrians (though I don't know by how much as I don't have syrians myself) so it might be worth switching her food, especially if she doesn't seem to be liking the nature's touch. Is she not only eating certain bits of it, or just less of it?

Also what type of substrate do you use? Does the skin seem red where the fur is thinner?

cypher · 06-01-2017, 05:25 AM

Hi & welcome to the forum.
I saw your photo in the other thread but it isn't clear enough to see if she has any hair loss or not tbh, maybe if you have more photos it would help.
I would switch to Harry Hamster food anyway, the Nature's touch food doesn't have a great range of ingredients so it is possible she may be lacking some nutrients that could cause some hair loss, try to give a wider variety of veg too, if you're not sure about which are safe just ask.

nanaliveshere · 06-01-2017, 09:05 AM

Thank you everyone for your answers
The hair appears thinner all over, she doesn't have any patches, nor scratches herself more than usual I think, and doesn't seem to have any soreness as well.

She is fine overall, she had always had a strange moody personality, like some days she is all fuss and some days just laid back.

ABout the food, she eats some but always leave left the same bits (small brown little logs, don't know what they are) I'm running out of food so I'll buy harry hamster this time. I found two different looking brands, one from "tiny friends farm harry hamster food" and another one that just says harry hamster, can you help me to figure out which one is it?
As substrate I only use woodshavings, then paper bedding and natural cotton bedding.

I will try to get a better picture today.

Thank you again all of you!!

AmityvilleHams · 06-01-2017, 09:43 AM

Cotton bedding must not be used at all

It will cause some serious if not potentially fatal intestinal blockages,along with the potential loss of limbs or teeth.Simple unscented undyed toilet roll is just fine for nesting and is completely safe unlike cotton or fiber products.

cypher · 06-01-2017, 10:08 AM

The Harry Hamster food was rebranded a while ago now so it is a bit confusing, Tiny friends farm is the new company name so the food is the same.

nanaliveshere · 06-01-2017, 10:14 AM

Well I just checked and is not cotton, they are called kapok pods (from rosewood's natural brand)
I had attached two more pictures and hopefully you can see a bit better

As I said I think her skin is fine, it doesn't look red or anything, can the fur loss be an age thing?

AmityvilleHams · 06-01-2017, 10:29 AM

Kapok is still not safe.It's just as indigestible as cotton and should not be used regardless of claims that are made by any brand

Pebbles82 · 06-01-2017, 11:27 AM

I laughed at her funny moods that you described

Not sure if you know but female Syrians come on heat every four days so that might have something to do with it.

Improving her diet sounds like the way to go. Out of the two bags you've seen I'd get the Tiny Friends Harry Hamster as it is the most recent packaging - the other one must be quite old. Most Hamsters eat just about all of it and it has all the nutrients required. Also a small piece of fresh veg every day. I keep broccoli, carrots, cucumber, baby corn and green beans in the fridge and give a different one each day. They keep for ages in the fridge.

If she is near 18 months old, then a certain amount of fur loss could be happening as an age-related thing. I also give an "extra" each day - either a piece of cheese, half a brazil nut, a few pumpkin seeds, a monkey nut, a piece of banana or apple. I think they get lots of extra fresh nutrients that way and nuts are good for protein which helps with fur condition.

Having said all that, there are some conditions that can cause fur loss, so it might be an idea to take her for a vet check. Before doing that I would ring round and try and find a vet that knows about hamsters. Exotic vets usually do.

nanaliveshere · 06-04-2017, 02:11 PM

Hello all
sorry for not answering before, I have exams al week and I'm kinda stressed.
I gave nana harry hamster food two days ago and she got crazy over it! I think she really liked it because she left almost no food in her bowl! We also bought a new house and new toys for her to enjoy ( a wooden tunnel to climb and hide and a seesaw).
I think she looks better now, less messy, I hope it was a nutrition problem after all.
Thank you serendipity, I didn't know female hamsters had this mood swings! when I told my boyfriend we were like omg it's true!
I will keep an eye on her to see if any scratching or weird spots come up, or if the hair continues to thinner.
I also removed all the bedding and just put paper bedding, she is building a fort with that and the woodshavings.
Again thank you everyone for your replies, I'm very glad I found this community!