Syrian cut on back and hair loss

[Churchill012]

Hello. We have today noticed our 21month old Syrian Hamster has a small cut on her back, along with loss of fur in that area. Although the cut is small there appears to be a graze or some kind of raised skin there too. She allows me to touch it without her being in any discomfort and is eating/drinking/running as normal. Just trying to establish if we need a trip to the vets or not. Thanks in advance.

https://ibb.co/mbm5VT6
https://ibb.co/nBsSbQS

[cypher]

It looks as though it will probably heal on it’s own so I wouldn’t think you need to see your vet unless it gets worse.
The main thing is to find the cause, they sometimes get patches like that if they’ve been rubbing against something sharp or rough in the cage so I would check everything over for any rough edges or sharp bits, it can also happen if they have a tube or something with an entrance hole that is too small.

[Pebbles82]

Wheel rub can do this too. Does the wheel have a spindle? Also at 21 months she is getting older - could she have fallen off something and landed on something hard or sharp? (Even a bendy stick bridge can cause injuries if landed on from a height). They can start to get weaker back legs as an early sign of ageing - I noticed this with our first Syrian when he couldn’t climb into his Sputnik (from a low height) - didn’t quite have the strength in the back legs). On the flat he could zip about though.

It might be the time to start lowering things in the cage - eg platforms - and having food and water at ground level and most toys at floor level - so she doesn’t have much reason to go on the platform.

What cage is she in? Some cages are quite tall and it can be a long way to fall.

To help the wound heal and avoid infection you could just dab it with a cotton bud dipped in saline. Or some people use thyme tea which is antiseptic. A teaspoon of salt to a pint of boiling water for the saline then let it cool till only just tepid. You don’t want to soak the cotton bud so it soaks the hamster either - just a little bit. Or the corner of a cloth eg instead of a cotton bud. Same with the thyme tea.