My hamster fur is missing :(

[x3wishesx]

Ive had my hamster since february, He is a quite big long haired syrian, on the back of his neck some of his fur is missing and he seems to itch quite a bit as well, rubbing his back against the cage. I have been to the vets and got some drops for him which was applied 8 times every 2 weeks. the vet said it could be mites. i have finished the treatment now but i think it is coming back. ive been using a special cream for small animals so soothe skin. but what do you suggest i do? take him back to the vets? or shall i buy some drops from the pet store? but does anyone know if it is the same as the stuff from the vets? is it any good? im so confused :???:

[Tammy22]

Hello,

welcome to the forum, i am sorry that your hamster is ill.

It does sound like mites, but there are other causes of itching and fur loss. What makes you think the condition is coming back? Is your hamster still itching? Is the skin red or does it look red or painful? Has the fur started growing back at all?

When i get an outbreak of mites here i use 'Johnson's Hutch and Cage Spray Insecticidal' to get rid of the mites, but it does need to be used very carefully and the hamster needs to be monitored at all times when the spray s being used.

Do you have other hamsters? as all hamsters will need to be treated.

The first thing you need to do is completely take apart the whole cage and clean it and preferably disenfect it too. Any toys that are not washable such as cardboard, paper, wood etc. should be throwed away and only things that are completely washable should be kept. Leave everything to dry completely.

While i am doing this i usually put a small amount of shavings in a bucket (travel case / bow etc.) and spray it with the Johnson's spray - you will need to keep mixing the shavings up until all of them are covered with the spray. Be careful not to use too much and not to make the shavings wet, but make sure everything is covered. Then put your hamster in and let him dig around in there until you are ready to put him back in his cage.

Once the cage is dry and put back together you should replace the shavings and again spray them all over with the Johnsons spray, making sure to mix the shavings up and making sure that all the shavings have been covered with the spray, but again not wet!

I do this to all of my hamsters and cages if i get an outbreak of mites and it usually gets rid of them.

Just be careful though, as i only ever use it on hamsters that have no sores or open wounds or raw skin, so if you hamster has any of this it is probably best not to use it!

Also, please remember that all hamsters have a very small amount of mites, but the mites usually only become uncontrolable and cause problems when the hamster has other underlying problems or is stressed, so you need to sort out this problem first, because obviously if there is another problem and they are stressed, then the mites will just come back straight away.

I hooe this helps - if you do this and it doesnt make any difference then it may be something completely different, but keep us posted and let us know how you get on :)

Good Luck,

Tammy x

[fluffymunchkins]

i think tammys said the majority of it :)
Welcome the forum, i hope your hammy does get better soon!
It could be an allergic reaction if mite treatment does not work, have you changed bedding or food recently?
But i the treatment worked the first time its most likely mites again.

like Tammy said, hamsters normally only get badly affected by mites if thgeir immune system is low, so their could be another problem.

i wish him well thoughts xxx

[x3wishesx]

thanks to both of you :)
he hasnt got any sore /red or cracked skin so thats all good, his fur was growing back. but it looks really thin again. i will go and get some of that johnsons spray tho, luckily i am getting a new cage today or tommro so that will take care of the cage problem.plus i have brought him lots of new toys so all his old ones can go.

thanks so much for your help :) xxxx

[souffle]

Is the patch of missing fur only in one area? The commonest cause of missing fur on the back is a wheel which is too small and the fur is catching on the spindle. The wheel should be at least 8in diameter. Sometimes long haired hamsters can build up static as they run and the fur stands up and catches in the spindle anyway. Check the wheel for fur caught in it.
We once had a hammy that had a bald spot on his neck then we noticed he liked to sit in his hooded potty and look out. He was literally rubbing all his neck fur off! we took the hood off and it grew back! Check his toys are not sharp in the door ways etc.
Hamsters often rub themselves against the cage to spread their scent from the hip scent glands. It does not mean they are itchy. Itchy hams scratch a lot with their claws mostly. Hamsters will scent more if you clean them out a lot as they scent mark their territory. Try and not over clean and see if he stops rubbing. Every few days is too much and once a week maximum (we leave ours two weeks) with wee corner cleans every few days is plenty.
The invectermin spot on drops are OK to use for hamsters but if the vet thinks it is mites then they really should do a skin scrape to confirm before lots of treatment because you don't want to treat something that is not there.
You could add some debittered brewers yeast to his porridge and a sprinkle on his food as this helps the coat grow. Also a drop of codliver oil once a week in some babyfood can help. Hammies do lose fur with age and if can get quite thin in places.

[roboticnat]

yeah her hamster is a fully grown long hair
and he's in a rotastak cage setup so the wheel isn't big enough
so what you said is probs right
could be the wheel as he is very arched and rubbing his back across the wheel
good job i just brought x3wishesx a new hamster cage for her hamster lol
and a 8 in wheel
so hope that works =]

[fluffymunchkins]

Ah i was wondering why is was a bit of a coincedence you were both from Halesowen :)

[roboticnat]

lmao yeah :P
brought her this
hamster/mice/ferrets/rats cage on eBay (end time 28-Jul-10 18:17:34 BST) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180538799020&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT)
gonna collect it today =]
she now owes me 45 quid :P cuz of assories too lmao

[wofunny]

Wow!! I wanted that one :)

[fluffymunchkins]

ah cool, i was wondering who bought that, glad it was you :)

[roboticnat]

haha seems good
got to wait till half 3 to pick it up
can finnaly get her chunky syrian out of that way too small rotastak cage
they really should put it's not suitable for fully grown syrians
as like souffle said it could very well be that
we all know how small those wheels are
and he's a long haired hamster and pretty big lol

[Hope]

Yeah I spyed that cage too - it looks fantastic - glad it went to someone on here!

[x3wishesx]

yeah i deffo think its the wheel now you mention it. and he does rub alongside the cage so i think as you said thats not itching. ill see how he goes in his new cage and i will keep an eye on his fur to see if it grows back or not he will be so much happier in this cage. :)
xx thanks for all your help :)

[souffle]

A hamster who has ripped or rubbed the fur out over a period of time may not grow it back as the roots can be damaged. You should not worry if it does not grow back as long as the skin looks healthy. Stop all the mite treatment until you see if the new wheel does the trick because a lot of chemicals wont help him feel good if they are not needed,

[roboticnat]

yeah we found out it was the wheel as whern taking the old cager apart i took apart the wheels to check and there was lots of fur trapped in them
so has to have been that
nice advice =]
we would never have thought of that

[Tammy22]

Great News that it isnt mites :)

I hope the fur grows back soon!

Tammy x

[x3wishesx]

ive brought him a flyin saucer running wheel. so theres no chance it will catch his fur now

[Hope]

Thats good - glad that we managedto track down the cause, (wonderful ppl on HC! :-) )hopefully the little guy will get on with his flying sacuer better now :-)

[Smysha]

Damn - can you imagine getting the hair on your neck ripped out? It's a really sensitive area!

I suppose I do it to myself all the time so I guess the hamster can get over it too. (Don't worry - I don't rip my neck hair out - just other places!)

Glad to hear your hamster isn't sick!

[Amethyst_ice]

can i suggest you plastikote the cage when u get it? Its awesome just would be a shame for it to get all wee soaked.

glad you found out the problem, was first thing i thought when i read your posts. :)

also, just noticed on your pic in hammy of the month you put hes going to be a daddy with his girlfriend...ermm....can i urge you to not jump into breeding,there are lots of topics on here of people jumping in and not having the best results. Also are your hams pet store hams? if so breeding should be a no no.

anyway welcome to the forum and looking forward to seeing more pics x

[x3wishesx]

yeah they we picked them both up from pet stores, it was a future planned thing we havent done anything yet because im trying to do a bit of research, How come you cant breed pet shop hams? this is my 1st ever hamster so im not very experienced.

[Hope]

Breeding pet shop hams is not recommened because none of their history is known. By looking at generation lines you can tell all sorts of things that help with health and longgevity of the pups and future lines. Your pet shop hams could have come from lines that are very sickly and die young, but you would have no way of telling as they are mass poduced in hamster farms for sale in big commercial pet shops. It also helps when breeding to prevent the corssing of two incompatable genes ie the white belly gene. I do not breed myself and only know the very basics, hopefully someone else can help you out further.