[CharlieHamHam]

Hey all, I posted last week on the account of Charlie having a red chin. He is a Syrian hamster and his cage has no wires or any obvious hazards that he may be rubbing against.

Last week I noticed that Charlie’s chin was inflamed and red. No peeling skin, it just looked like it hurts. Tonight, when I went to feed him, I noticed that there were red splotches on both of his front legs. Not on the back legs. Sorry that I don’t have any pictures. His chin is completely red and the spots on his legs looks like a rash that a human would have. Here is the kicker: Charlie is acting completely normal. Not one thing is wrong. He doesn’t appear to be hurting, and he is eating with no problems at all. I clean his cage once a week, but recently I have changed to doing a major spot clean weekly where I remove all the soiled bedding and leave any bedding that is fine. I completely clean the cage once a month. One idea that I have is that possibly Charlie is getting an infection from bedding that has been sitting in his cage for too long. Also, no different food at all. No changes whatsoever in his cage for at least a month now (no new toys/decorations).

Obviously, I would take Charlie to the vet, but there are complications. First of all, the virus is preventing me from going anywhere far. Also, the price of a vet trip isn’t really affordable. And, there are absolutely no exotic vets anywhere close to me. At this point, I really need an at home solution.

I am grateful for any help at all. This is really stressing me out.