Hamster's scent gland

mortim3r · 09-20-2020, 03:34 PM

Hi, I hope this is ok to post. I've had my hamster for 10 days now and have only just managed to get a proper look at him where he's allowed me to stroke him.
His right scent gland looks greasy? And the furs around it clump together a bit. I also feel like it's a bit rougher than the one on the left which is perfectly clean/what I'd expect. I think I've seen him a couple days ago reaching around to this spot maybe it's been irritating him. Does this look like something that needs to be seen by a vet or is there anything I can do to help him/will it clear up?
Sorry I hope the picture is clear enough.
Thanks so much.

EDIT: It's not scab-like and doesn't look infected or anything. He does have a sand bath but I'm wondering if maybe something is wrong or he's just not very good at cleaning himself??

LunaTheHamster1 · 09-20-2020, 03:55 PM

If you have just got him, I think he is just marking/scenting his cage. I highly recommend you don't clean his cage out for at least a couple of weeks, you should see it settle down. Do you see him rubbing against things a lot?

mortim3r · 09-20-2020, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

If you have just got him, I think he is just marking/scenting his cage. I highly recommend you don't clean his cage out for at least a couple of weeks, you should see it settle down. Do you see him rubbing against things a lot?

That's a really helpful thing to note. I don't notice it but he does tend to sit in corners against sides where I assume looking back he's doing that! He also spends most of his time burrowing and has TONS of bedding so maybe has been trying to make all of that smell like him. I haven't been trying to clean as he does keep it very tidy but will definitely stick to that for a while then. Thanks so much for the reply.