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Old 11-13-2018, 01:01 PM   #21
rinn123
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

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Originally Posted by Ponymad2104 View Post
It's not commonly known but food allergies can present as skin irritations and hives, in humans and animals, the skin irritations can take longer to present than other allergies.
Yeah.. I'm afraid about that too.. but i did mix in this with her old food before and she was doing okay. If it was a food allergy are they more likely to get the symptoms right away(hours later or day after) or after awhile like a week or more?
I've read that it might be protein deficiency which causes itchy skin and hair loss too..
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Old 11-13-2018, 01:05 PM   #22
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

Ponymad2104 I do know & understand about food allergies but reactions like this are quite rare in hamsters & if it's not an external factor causing the problem it is more likely to be a nutritional problem or disease, you can't rule anything out in some cases but I find it helps to look at problems more commonly seen in hams first.

rinn123 it could be a protein problem but it does sound as though with the extras you are giving enough protein, it could be a vitamin problem too, vitamin A is another possible issue but it's guess work really & best to try to give the best diet you can manage.
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Old 11-13-2018, 04:57 PM   #23
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It could be a combination of things. She will have had the stress of a change of owner/environment - and that will lower her immune system. The scented sand could very well cause skin issues, allergy or irritation. Some hamsters have skin issues with sand. Anything scented would affect her, including the dilute insecticide. And ears and faces get scratched if irritated. Are her claws ok? If the claws get overgrown they can cause wounds when grooming - they scratch their head and ears a lot when grooming. If they've got too long then when you see the vet again you could ask them to clip them - it helps if a vet does it the first time to show you how as it needs to be done carefully and not too much taken off or it cuts the quick which is very painful for them and it bleeds. Just the very very end tips.

And if her diet wasn't balanced for a while that would add to being run down and not healing well as mentioned earlier. I also thought it could be some kind of fungal infection - impetigo in humans looks a bit like that.

Good that you're getting some Harry Hamster as then the feeding will be more simple It contains everything needed, the right amount of protein, no sugar and the right amounts of vitamins and nutrients - plus hammies tend to eat all of it - the pieces are the right size.

Changing their diet can cause stomach problems and diarrhoea so best to change it over gradually over a couple of weeks, adding a bit of the HH, then after a week 50/50 then by the end of the second week, switched over.

So just carry on with her current one with supplements is probably best. If she's getting the extras like the veg and freeze dried chicken she should be fine until the HH comes.

With veg I tend to stick to 2 or 3 things I can keep in the fridge and rotate them - if you can do 5 that's great! I prefer not to use lettuce at all personally - there can be issues with it - same with cabbage. But broccoli, carrot, cucumber, corn, cauliflower, peas, are all fine. Cucucumber, broccoli and carrot keep well in the fridge - carrots last forever in the fridge!

After you cleaned the cage with the dilute insecticide - does it still have an aroma? I know these things can really linger with plastic. If so (and bearing in mind hammies have a much stronger sense of scent than we do), it might be an idea to remove everything from the cage, give the cage a really good rinse or soaking with just warm water and dry it off, and then replace most of the bedding but try and keep the top part which will smell familiar and won't have been in contact with the cage base and put that bit back on top of the new bedding. Also her nest should be fine to put back as it was and most of her hoard. If she's been hoarding under her nest and eating from her hoard and the food was in contact with the stuff it was cleaned with that could have caused a reaction as well.

So all you can do is make sure there's no residue on the cage, give her a good diet and hope it settles down. I hope it isn't skin cancer - I think it's more likely a combination of environmental stresses and low immune system (and maybe nails a bit long?)

She does look really lovely by the way! What a face. And gorgeous fur. Does she seem bothered by it at all? The problem is wounds can get infected but the antibiotics should have sorted that.

Anyway nothing scented anywhere near hammies. The other thing that stresses them is being cleaned out too much - removes all their familiar scent. Just wondering, if you're using kitchen paper for bedding, maybe it's not too deep and getting soiled so you're needing to clean her out a lot. With deeper bedding you can go weeks without needing to do a clean out, and just "spot clean".

Maybe plain white toilet paper would be better - you can tear it up and it's more likely to make a deeper layer of bedding as lighter than kitchen paper. It's usually used just for nesting but would be fine for bedding as well. They will also use a toilet/litter tray if you put it in her chosen pee place (often a corner). And then the cage stays clean and dry reducing the amount of spot cleaning needed. Any kind of dish would do for a litter tray - sometimes a sand bath doubles up as a litter tray. So no syrians don't need a sand bath (and some can get skin issues with sand) - but putting a little bit in a smaller dish as a potty should be ok - if it's the right kind of sand! Which can be hard to get hold of. You can put something else in the litter tray though. Not sure what you can get. Shredded toilet paper would do but it gets soaked through quickly. Don't use cat litter though - that's bad for hammies. I think beech chips have been used. Anyway you then just empty the potty out every few days and replace it.

Obviously rinsing out the cage is a bit of upheaval for her but it shouldn't be too bad as long as she still has her familiar smelling nest.

As it seemed to come on so quickly it may just settle down. For wounds people usually recommend dabbing with saline (salt water) - very gently with a cotton bud or corner of a soft cloth - not wet though, just slightly moist. About a small teaspoon of salt to a pint of water. I put the salt in boiling water so it dissolves quickly and then let it cool or dissolve it in a bit of boiling water and add cold till it's only just warm - warm side of cold!

You need to be careful not to get her too wet though - not good for them getting wet, but a dab with a cotton bud to the wounds should help them heal up.

Other extras or supplements you could give for helping boost the immune system are hemp seeds and half a brazil nut once a week. Brazil nuts have something immune boosting in and are full of all the right nutrients apparently. (Shelled obviously!). Hemp seeds are supposed to contain every vitamin and mineral there is. I just put a pinch out on a dish separate from the regular food and they always get eaten.

Incidentally - she could be allergic to lettuce! It's part of the daisy family - has been known.

Last edited by souffle; 11-16-2018 at 03:31 AM.
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Old 11-13-2018, 08:46 PM   #24
rinn123
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

I see! Thank you very much! I appreciate it alot!! I will check on her claws when I get back home. I didnt wipe the base of the cage, but I wiped the outer part of the cage and the top parts of it where she couldn't reach, but as you said she probably can smell the scent very strongly. At first I thought that it would keep insects away, but I dont think insects seem to be bothering her.

She scratches quite alot and bites her legs abit. I also tried putting some coconut oil because her skin seemed to be dry and I thought it would help with the itch. She seems to be sleeping more but is still active when she is awake, although her time awake is shorter. I read that this might be a side effect of the antibiotics?
I tried saline solution for places close to the face! The others I'm using antiseptic and applying ointment, is that okay?

I dont really clean her cage that often! I put down many layers of kitchen towel and alot of shredded kitchen towels where she nests. And surprisingly she pees in her litter box , which I removed sand and replaced with paper pellet bedding after she started to have skin problems.

I'm probably going to switch to a paper bedding that looks like kaytee paper bedding after her skin problem settles down.

About spot cleaning, do I have to clean out her poops? Or is it okay to leave them in so I dont stress her out by over cleaning?
I see, I will not give her lettuce then and see how she does.

Last edited by souffle; 11-16-2018 at 03:32 AM. Reason: Havent finished writing
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Old 11-13-2018, 11:24 PM   #25
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

You don't need to worry about cleaning poo very often, it's dry & is fine to leave for a while so you don't have to spot clean that like pee.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Incidentally - she could be allergic to lettuce! It's part of the daisy family - has been known.
That does seem unlikely as daisies are one of the things you can feed freely to hamsters & I've never heard of a ham having a reaction to daisies or lettuce.
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Old 11-14-2018, 12:57 PM   #26
rinn123
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

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Originally Posted by cypher View Post
Ponymad2104 I do know & understand about food allergies but reactions like this are quite rare in hamsters & if it's not an external factor causing the problem it is more likely to be a nutritional problem or disease, you can't rule anything out in some cases but I find it helps to look at problems more commonly seen in hams first.

rinn123 it could be a protein problem but it does sound as though with the extras you are giving enough protein, it could be a vitamin problem too, vitamin A is another possible issue but it's guess work really & best to try to give the best diet you can manage.
I see! Could it be that she was previously not allergic to that thing then developed an allergy later on? Is Harry hamster considered as the best mix for Syrians on its own? I can get the supreme science selective hamster blocks. I read about mazuri lab blocks and higgins sunburst but I cant find anyway to get them here, not even online.

Last edited by rinn123; 11-14-2018 at 01:16 PM.
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Old 11-14-2018, 01:26 PM   #27
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

Allergies are possible but I still don't see it as all that likely really.
Harry Hamster is better than either of those other foods so I think you do best to just stick with the Harry Hamster on it's own.
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Old 11-15-2018, 09:47 AM   #28
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

Yes sorry for that obscure connection - I was thinking food allergy - people who are allergic to daisies can also be allergic to anything else in the same food family, which lettuce is.

Anyway it sounds like it probably isn't that but personally I wouldn't give lettuce again. Trial and error to see if anything makes a difference.

No don't worry about poops sometimes they eat them (normal) or hoard them for emergency food supplies - so unless they start taking over in a big way I would just leave those - means less cleanouts needed.
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Old 11-15-2018, 10:16 PM   #29
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

Thank you,guys!! I appreciate it alot.
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Old 11-16-2018, 12:08 AM   #30
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Default Re: Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere.

How is she doing now, is there any change, better or worse?
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