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gettons_1980 · 06-23-2020, 01:11 PM

Hello everyone,

I am new member of the forum! Apologies for the length of this post but it is very important I provide the full context.

3 June 2020

We have two female Russian hamsters (9 months old, one probably a pure white russian, the other one a mixture?) living together since last November. They are quite close, play and sometimes sleep together and one is clearly dominant on the other.
Usually the play/fight involves a lot of squeaking, chasing and one surrendering to the other, never with bloodshed. The dominant one tends to lick the underbelly/genital area of the other, and a couple of days ago we noticed this one has a sore skin in the area.
There are some scratches too, difficult to say if caused by the fight itself or by something else in the cage. We are quite sure these scratches are fairly recent.

7 June 2020

The surrender hamster is getting better, and the scratch(es) healing properly with this this cream twice a day https://www.vetsend.co.uk/bunny-nature-care-gel/

I kept searching for expert vets and found other two wich provide remote assistance. One of them being somewhat expert of exotic animals (Acorn House Vet) , and the other one instead not so expert (Vets-now.com). Both, however suggested to keep an eye on them and taking further the already in place precautions, namely when I give them food, not only to use two separate bowls, but also place them on different levels (if cage allows, which is the case for me). This because feeding is one of the most critical moment and in fact sometimes they play/squeak when they get food.

Since then we put them back together, and will be monitoring the situation as it goes. I really do want to separate if and only if it is really needed (but obviously well in time before it's too late). We will be seeing a specialist next week that is supposed to have an expert on exotic animals (Lawton & Stoakes Veterinary Surgery).

Attached is a second photo I took yesterday, 2 days after we put them back together.

21 June 2020

I re-joined the two hamsters together 2 weeks ago. Over the past two weeks I did notice a few squeak but nothing major. AlsoI have been checking everyday in serach of potential skin lesions and everything was fine until this morning.

Today I feeded the dominant one first,after a good 30 mins the other one woke up and had some food too. All was fine, but at some point I have heards more concitated squeaks, so I went checking, and found again the dominant one licking (or possibly doing something else) on the other hamster's belly. I took a quick footage (so I have something to share when asking for advices) and made sure they stopped fighting/playing/whatever-ing they where doing. I noticed a very small red dot on the surrendeder, and quickly decided to separate them again for the day as I was about to go out.

I have just got back home, and checked what I thought it was a minor scrach, and it appears very similar to what I saw earlier this month.

Again, I am not sure if the skin lesion is just an accident as they are only playing or anyway not fighting at all

OR if this is a fight and chances are it can get worse anytime soon.

This is the footage of what I call "fight" :https://streamable.com/jngjpx

Bottom line

Again, I would be really glad if someone could shed a light on this.

Unfortunately, after things got better, I decided to cancel the appointment with a specialist not only because I thought there would not be the need any longer, but also because it would take 40 mins by car and thought it was not worth it for the hamsters.

I am not sure what to do now, currently they are in two different cages since 20th morning UK time.

06-23-2020, 01:11 PM
gettons_1980 Newborn Pup Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 15	Dwarf hamster skin lesions Hello everyone, I am new member of the forum! Apologies for the length of this post but it is very important I provide the full context. 3 June 2020 We have two female Russian hamsters (9 months old, one probably a pure white russian, the other one a mixture?) living together since last November. They are quite close, play and sometimes sleep together and one is clearly dominant on the other. Usually the play/fight involves a lot of squeaking, chasing and one surrendering to the other, never with bloodshed. The dominant one tends to lick the underbelly/genital area of the other, and a couple of days ago we noticed this one has a sore skin in the area. There are some scratches too, difficult to say if caused by the fight itself or by something else in the cage. We are quite sure these scratches are fairly recent. 7 June 2020 The surrender hamster is getting better, and the scratch(es) healing properly with this this cream twice a day https://www.vetsend.co.uk/bunny-nature-care-gel/ I kept searching for expert vets and found other two wich provide remote assistance. One of them being somewhat expert of exotic animals (Acorn House Vet) , and the other one instead not so expert (Vets-now.com). Both, however suggested to keep an eye on them and taking further the already in place precautions, namely when I give them food, not only to use two separate bowls, but also place them on different levels (if cage allows, which is the case for me). This because feeding is one of the most critical moment and in fact sometimes they play/squeak when they get food. Since then we put them back together, and will be monitoring the situation as it goes. I really do want to separate if and only if it is really needed (but obviously well in time before it's too late). We will be seeing a specialist next week that is supposed to have an expert on exotic animals (Lawton & Stoakes Veterinary Surgery). Attached is a second photo I took yesterday, 2 days after we put them back together. 21 June 2020 I re-joined the two hamsters together 2 weeks ago. Over the past two weeks I did notice a few squeak but nothing major. AlsoI have been checking everyday in serach of potential skin lesions and everything was fine until this morning. Today I feeded the dominant one first,after a good 30 mins the other one woke up and had some food too. All was fine, but at some point I have heards more concitated squeaks, so I went checking, and found again the dominant one licking (or possibly doing something else) on the other hamster's belly. I took a quick footage (so I have something to share when asking for advices) and made sure they stopped fighting/playing/whatever-ing they where doing. I noticed a very small red dot on the surrendeder, and quickly decided to separate them again for the day as I was about to go out. I have just got back home, and checked what I thought it was a minor scrach, and it appears very similar to what I saw earlier this month. Again, I am not sure if the skin lesion is just an accident as they are only playing or anyway not fighting at all OR if this is a fight and chances are it can get worse anytime soon. This is the footage of what I call "fight" :https://streamable.com/jngjpx Bottom line Again, I would be really glad if someone could shed a light on this. Unfortunately, after things got better, I decided to cancel the appointment with a specialist not only because I thought there would not be the need any longer, but also because it would take 40 mins by car and thought it was not worth it for the hamsters. I am not sure what to do now, currently they are in two different cages since 20th morning UK time.