Thanks. Is there anything I can do to make her less nervous at strange things handling her?
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Originally Posted by Nancy's Hamsters
Wash your hands really well, and then put on the gloves, but be expecting her to be a bit nervous at the strange new things trying to pick her up. Just move her to her ball or the tub and clean the cage and then return her quickly with as little interaction between you and her as possible until the cold is gone.
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Also, is there any chance of her escaping the tub? I don't really like the ball idea because it is very flimsy and if it weren't for me watching her she would have gotten away and lose in the house. Even though I put tape, she sometimes pees in it so the tape gets lose and it comes off and then the lid gets loose and...... "Freedom at last!" She says
Any way she could escape the tub? Do you think I should take a napkin and just wet the sides down just a
little bit so if she try's she immediately slips back down?
If you don't place toys where she can climb up and reach the sides of the tub I can't see her being able to escape and you most definitely do not want any water around her as that could make her sick from getting wet.
Be sure to plug the drain part so she won't harm herself there.
I'd just set back a bit so not to share your cold germs and see if she can get out and once you know she can't then go clean her cage and get it all ready for her then collect her up with the gloves and back into her cage. She'll probably enjoy the play time in the tub and the chance to stretch her legs.
Should I start being concerned now?
She usually starts running on her wheel around 9pm or 10pm but she hasn't! I managed yo get her to come out of her igloo by standing about 3-5 feet away and making clicking noises but couldn't get a good look at her leg. So I know she hasn't gone into topor (which I was worried about when I first saw she wasn't in her wheel) but she isn't in her wheel. I will try to get a good look (and maybe a better, less blurry, picture) tomorrow. I don't know if I
should be concerned but I am.
In stead of wasting precious time with a photo that nobody on this form can diagnose accurately. Take her to a Vet as we can not give any medications to help her nor can we tell what is going on via a photo. Each day you waste with taking photos and just getting suggestions mean one more day you won't know for sure what is going on.
Like her lack of wanting to wheel could be nothing or it could mean she is ill and in need of immediate Vet care to get well. If it ends up mange mites the longer you delay the harder it is to cure her.
Do you think it could be something else? Just about a week or two ago, I wanted to give her a bath and everyone said no. I was wondering if she had mites because she was scratching a lot. No one know for sure but they asked what bedding she had. I said that she had cedar or pine shavings. They said that it is really bad to have pine or cedar bedding with a Syrian. So they said switch to aspen bedding. I did that just one or two weeks ago.
They also suggested, to replace a real bath, to get her a sand bath. I used my own plastic container (and if you think she lost fur on the sharp edges then no because all the edges are rounded) and put Chinchilla Bath Sand in. Not the dust. The sand. She has been using it regularly.
I was wondering if the sudden change might have something to do with the fur loss?
Here is the package of the bath sand she uses:
Here is a pic of the bedding she has:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy's Hamsters
Cushings usually doesn't occur on a young hamster. It could be internal mites(the kind that live under the skin and need a vet to do a skin scraping to look for mites under a microscope. Early stage Demodex mange mites don't cause much itching so no scratching.
What size is her igloo as if it is the medium size(mostly recommended for Syrians at stores) that may be where she is rubbing as for a Syrian it really should be the Large Guinea Pig size to avoid a tight squeeze through the door opening.
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BTW, she has the small igloo from amazon. But don't worry. She is getting a new hideout around Christmas. Or should I just give it to her now? Really need to know so I can just do that when I clean her cage today. Thanks