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Old 06-01-2020, 05:03 AM   #1
Andromeda_Horse
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Default Hair loss and scratching

Hello, everyone. I don't know whether I should post this in behavior category or this category, but here I am. So today, after some days, I decided to clean my Syrian hamster's cage. I hadn't cleaned it for some time since there is no fresh bedding available in my area yet due to high number of Covid-19 cases around me. Plus, a thinner bedding makes him stress out a lot, so I decided to delay the cleaning process. While I was cleaning the cage today, I found some reddish brown, a bit long bugs in his bedding. They looked kind of like weevils. My grandma tends to feed him, and she ends up giving him a lot of pellets which had led to lots of food debris. I immediately threw out the bedding and cleaned the cage and his toys with lukewarm water.

Also, the bugs might be the reason he is having some hair loss lately, and he scratched himself a lot to the extent he wounded himself. It is honestly stressing me out a lot, since I don't know whether it's the bugs or him being stressed. He was always kind of stressed because the pet store we bought him from treated him horribly. He keeps on making insistent attempts to escape and is hyperactive even we let him out to play, though he never hissed at us or even bit us in anger.

What can I do in this situation? I don't know if I can take him to vet right now because of covid. I don't want him to suffer, and I don't know much about what to do since he's my first ever hamster.
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Old 06-02-2020, 02:42 PM   #2
NutMega870
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Default Re: Hair loss and scratching

I'm not sure about the bugs (yuck), but tons of scratching and hair loss might mean your hamster has mites. sorry i'm not that much help
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Old 06-02-2020, 09:36 PM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Hair loss and scratching

The scratching may have been from the bugs, it's hard to say without knowing what they are.
He's probably stressed by the cage clean too & it will take a while for him to settle again.
I would keep an eye on him for now, if he continues to keep scratching then I would contact your vet.
You could also give him some extra flax seeds & a drop of evening primrose a day to help his skin & coat recover, used together they can really help but you would still need to contact the vet if there is an ongoing underlying problem.
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Old 06-04-2020, 12:00 AM   #4
DobbyTheSyrian
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Default Re: Hair loss and scratching

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andromeda_Horse View Post
Hello, everyone. I don't know whether I should post this in behavior category or this category, but here I am. So today, after some days, I decided to clean my Syrian hamster's cage. I hadn't cleaned it for some time since there is no fresh bedding available in my area yet due to high number of Covid-19 cases around me. Plus, a thinner bedding makes him stress out a lot, so I decided to delay the cleaning process. While I was cleaning the cage today, I found some reddish brown, a bit long bugs in his bedding. They looked kind of like weevils. My grandma tends to feed him, and she ends up giving him a lot of pellets which had led to lots of food debris. I immediately threw out the bedding and cleaned the cage and his toys with lukewarm water.

Also, the bugs might be the reason he is having some hair loss lately, and he scratched himself a lot to the extent he wounded himself. It is honestly stressing me out a lot, since I don't know whether it's the bugs or him being stressed. He was always kind of stressed because the pet store we bought him from treated him horribly. He keeps on making insistent attempts to escape and is hyperactive even we let him out to play, though he never hissed at us or even bit us in anger.

What can I do in this situation? I don't know if I can take him to vet right now because of covid. I don't want him to suffer, and I don't know much about what to do since he's my first ever hamster.


When i brought my hamster home, he had little bugs on him and my vet said they were flees.
They tend to grow in unclean conditions,
So i got him treated and then recently in April he started itching again. I have a thread about it too. So it turns out he got mites due to the change in weather and the flees kind of make a hamster more susceptible to mites. Idk how it works. But i was awfully worried both times.
I would suggest using toilet paper as bedding if u can afford it, cz keeping the same bedding for a long time is what happened at the pet shop i got my hamster from and the next time I went back it turns out my hamster dobbles' brother died cz he was too tiny and couldn't handle it.

Im no vet and I would suggest VERY STRONGLY to meet a vet
What my vet asked me to do was buy selamectin for kittens weighing 1-5kgs. It treats mites, flees, ticks, and other parasites.
In india we don't have hamster specific medicines.
I had to put ONE SINGLE DROP on his neck every 15 days , 3 times. She showed me how and where to do it. If u can get intouch with a vet online would be great too


AGAIN PLEASE DONT SELF MEDICATE. IM NOT A VET

Just sharing my experience! Really dont want to be of any harm to ur hammy. Maybe u could try uploading some pictures too. There's very knowledgeable people on this forum
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Old 06-05-2020, 12:22 AM   #5
Andromeda_Horse
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Default Re: Hair loss and scratching

Thanks for the replies and kind advice, everyone! Rocky (my hamster), isn't scratching as much as he had been a few days ago. His injury has healed for the He does appear to be a bit distressed because of the cage clean, but otherwise, he's eating well and not scratching himself too bad anymore. I am keeping an eye for him for now, to check whether I need him to take to a vet. I am from India too, so it's kind of difficult to find a vet around here. I tried to give him flaxseed, but he just refused to eat them because he's too picky.
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Old 06-07-2020, 06:10 AM   #6
Thin Lizzy
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Default Re: Hair loss and scratching

If he's still scratching then I would use a spot on treatment, when I've had to I used Bob Martin's Spot on Treatment.
However if there's bald patches then I would see the vet where they'll do treatments every 4 weeks. I had to do this with my hamster Archie and after a few rounds he got better.
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