Dry skin

Engel · 01-20-2020, 08:44 AM

Hi all. I have had Lilith for almost 2 weeks now and I've noticed that she has some dry skin on her ears as well as just above her nose. It's not a lot and it's not red or irritated, just looks like dry skin with the odd flake.

She doesn't scratch a lot or rub herself against things. I haven't seen her bar bite either do doubt that would've caused it on the nose.

She isnt the youngest hamster in the world but she's not the oldest either. Roughly 14-16 months old. None of my other hams have it either and I haven't seen any visible mites nor do I suspect that it could be mites.

She's eating and drinking well and is very active. Bright eyed and loving life. She has kale almost every other day in small amounts and sometimes spinach too. She's on paper bedding and there's no obvious irritants either as I'm very careful with this as she does have a squinty eye so I'm very mindful of irritants.

Is there anything I can use on the dry patches like a moisturizer or should I just leave it for now and see what happens. She's a real chill ham and takes her eye drops like a champ so don't think she'll mind me massaging her ear

Ria P · 01-20-2020, 11:34 AM

I've seen coconut oil recommendations for dry hamster skin but haven't tried it.

AmityvilleHams · 01-20-2020, 12:40 PM

I would try coconut oil. Just be careful not to put too much on at once and make sure it gets rubbed in thoroughly, it may take some time to get the full impact but it can help massively with dry skin!

Engel · 01-20-2020, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

I would try coconut oil. Just be careful not to put too much on at once and make sure it gets rubbed in thoroughly, it may take some time to get the full impact but it can help massively with dry skin!

Ah ok thanks I'll give it a go. If I'm honest I didn't know hamsters could get dry skin I always thought there was a reason behind it. Thanks

cypher · 01-20-2020, 12:54 PM

I wouldn't apply anything, try giving a pinch of flax seeds daily & a drop of evening primrose oil on food once or twice a week.

Engel · 01-20-2020, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ria P

I've seen coconut oil recommendations for dry hamster skin but haven't tried it.

Thanks Ria I'll give it a go

Engel · 01-20-2020, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

I wouldn't apply anything, try giving a pinch of flax seeds daily & a drop of evening primrose oil on food once or twice a week.

All my hams have flaxseeds in their diets any way but I'll try add more

Engel · 01-23-2020, 04:13 PM

Ok guys been a while, here's Lils skin now. Note it's now mostly her nose. Any ideas? Or a trip to the vet? I'm getting in touch with the rescue (updates) so I'll probably mention it to them too.

cypher · 01-23-2020, 09:55 PM

It's a bit hard to see from the photo how bad it might be but if it's just on her nose it's possible she's been rubbing it on something or pushing it through the bars & making it sore, is there anything she could be pushing into or under with her nose in the cage that might do it?

Engel · 01-24-2020, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

It's a bit hard to see from the photo how bad it might be but if it's just on her nose it's possible she's been rubbing it on something or pushing it through the bars & making it sore, is there anything she could be pushing into or under with her nose in the cage that might do it?

She was a good girl and kept ever so still so what you see on the photos is exactly what it's like.

It is a possibility as she does stick her nose through the bars. I would say not a lot but I'm not in my room 24/7 so it's hard to say how often she does it.

She has started chewing the shelf in her cage which happens to be plastic...even though there's a 101 safe chewable things in there. So I'm going to take that out.