itchy new hammy

[aemb4]

hi, i have just got a 6 week old winter white dwarf hamster and he seems to be vigorously itching a lot. I'm a bit worried. Should i maybe use different sawdust type stuff? - i read that some of the wood shavings arent good for them. Or could it be something more serious?

[Fidgetthefirst]

Im not quite sure, but ripped up tissue is probably thebest, and cheapest bedding, but someoneelse will be able to help you more

[debs]

my dwarf was like that and he went all scubbie tURNS out it was the woodshavings.

[mangoandmimi]

What wooshavings and bedding do you use?

[wofunny]

it also may be the nesting material, if its the fluffy stuff remove it and replace it with ripped up tissue!

[SnickersTheFirst]

What bedding does he have? Also, what food is he on? - as some foods can cause allergies and itching too.

Also check for mites - slight hair loss and flaky skin.

[PeanutButter]

my hamster is also itchy i have ceder wood shavings and premium 8-1 hamster food.

[Hope]

Peanut - Ceder is very bad for hammies because of the smell - it can cause them to have breathing problems - I wolud change it to paper based litter or woodshavings.

Amb4 - dwafs do scratch a fair bit - when mine does he makes his shelf vibrate its so vigorous!! Have you checked him over for any bald patches, red and sore looking area etc?

[Artemis]

I had the same problem with my dwarfs using pine and cedar shavings. I switched to aspen and they stopped scratching every other second. Check out some other types of shavings, maybe at some of the larger pet stores. A lot of smaller ones I've noticed still only tend to carry pine and cedar even though neither is good.

[aemb4]

i have now switched to megazorb and problem seems solved!