help me please!! hairloss on my ww x hamster!

[thelittleteacup]

hello everyone!

was playing with bon bon this morning and ive noticed a balding spot starting under her chin and reaching the middle of her belly!

i am so worried, it is not sore or inflamed skin underneath appears normal

does anyone know what this is, it appeared almost overnight

she is a little overweight i think, well very chubby but she is active enough

she lives in a 40 litre tank, i feed burgess dwarf hamster, millet and fruit and veg, she uses a sand litter tray i did however stop using wilkinsons sawdust after someone said on here it was pine, i dont think its the sawdust though as ive always used that im using pets at home safe tissue bedding as substrate atm as i had a large bag to use up.

there is no evidence of fur on her toys so it isnt accidently being ripped off.

the bedding i use is sainsburys value tissue paper ripped up.

help me please! i am freaking out!

thanks guys x

[Tish36]

How old is Bon Bon?

It's probably just old age, a similar thing has happened to one of my hamsters

[thelittleteacup]

thanks Tish but she is just 6months old x

[laura]

Is it bad balding? Maybe see if it gets any worse... might have just been a bit irritated or something.

This happened to my hybrid hamster when he was around six months. It was something to do with this absess he had on his scent gland it seems, as when he had this removed in an operation his hair grew back shortly after and he has not had any hairloss since. His hairloss was on both sides, quite symmetrically around his back legs though. I'm not saying this is what is wrong with your hamster though... just that if it's not something like ticks, fleas, allergies or stress that it could be a sign that something else is wrong. Could be something to do with hormonal changes as I remember the vet saying that can cause hair loss, but glands tend to be very hormone related etc I think.

Take him to the vets and maybe check him for any lumps or anything else abnormal. Hope this doesn't freak you out and I would like to add that our hamster who had the operation recovered perfectly and is doing really well.