Hammy spends a great amount of time scratching

[pharnok]

My hammy scratches himself a lot when awake. Is this normal can hammies get fleas? Would a dust bath help him?

[souffle]

Hamsters do like to groom themselves quite a bit and often groom immediately after handling to get rid of your scent really!!!
Is he scratching at one place or just all over?
It is possible for hamster to get parasites such as mites, lice and fungal skin infections. They can catch them from other animals, wild and pet, or from bedding which has carried it to them. If you use hay as bedding they can get mites from this. They can also develop allergies to sawdust and household sprays, disinfectants etc which can cause itching.
Part the fur and see if you can see any redness, scabs, dry skin or fur loss. If you can a trip to the vet is needed to have the cause identified and treated. If you think it is an allergy change his bedding to plain white toilet roll ripped up and maybe try a paper based substrate such as carefresh rather than wood shavings. As hamsters get older they are prone to dry skin and fur loss and you may want to supplement the diet with some porridge such as ready brek and a yeast tablet crushed over his food. Also a drop of cod-liver oil can help.
Hamsters should never have chinchilla DUST as it can be dangerous to them. They can have Chinchilla SAND but it must be sand (we use the Charlie chinchilla) and you can put it in a shallow dish or hamster potty. Most will roll then use it as a potty.
I hope he is just normal grooming as they are clean little critters. Keep us posted

[pharnok]

He seems to bite or lick (it's hard to tell) himself on both his legs. He seems to do it most when he is in the tube. I tried looking at his fur but I can't seem to see anything.

[pharnok]

Here is his pic.
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[lau200]

scratching can also be as a result of boredom, so make sure your ham has plenty of toys, however mites is more likely.

i do have a hamster who scratches constantly but his is a psychological issues, he is a rescue ham with many behavioural problems, but i think it is unlikely that this is what your hamster has.

to tell from a pic we would need to see the underneath, the area that he is scratching. a good way to see is to put him in a glass jar or other clear object

[souffle]

He is gorgeous. He is a sable banded hamster. How much time does he spend scratching? Maybe the tubes tickle hime if they are quite narrow.

[pharnok]

Not that much I suppose it could be the tube he really didn't start do this until I got him some tubes for him to play in.

[souffle]

I think he is just grooming actually Ours will spend a good 5 mins preening themselves every few hours or so.