help :(

[gav100]

i havnt been on here for a very long time but i was hoping someone could help me..
when i took gavin out of her cage tonight for a stroke i felt something really hard on her skin.. as gavin is quite fluffy i hadnt noticed it just by quickly looking at her but when i looked closer i noticed that her fur was balding and there was a scab just smaller than a one pence peice.. although she has been eating and drinking normally and being as active as normal i am still very worried that it is there. i feel very quilty for having not noticed it before as it doesnt look like something that has happened over night.. about a week ago gavin escaped and i have been very reluctant to get her out properly incase it happened again but i decided tonight was the night and have just noticed it. i am worried it may have happened when she got out as it is quite a drop from my dressing table to my floor and we have been puzzled as to how something hadnt happened to her but when we checked her over before putting her back in her cage we didnt see anything that worried us.. she just seemed a little scared and nervous. i am taking her to the vets tomorrow to get checked out but i just wondered whether anyone on here might be able to shed some light on the matter.

thanks

[fluffymunchkins]

It could simply be a scab formed from a cut, when my old roborovski cut herself a bit scab fromed which i mistook for a tumour, but after a month or 2 it simply fell off and revealed a small scratch which completely healed.

But there is the possibility its a cyst or a tumour, although its very unlikely it would get this big in such a short space of time. Definitley get it checked out asap, best wishes to her x

[souffle]

It sounds as if she has sustained a small injury when she fell and it is now healing over. She may have been licking at it hence the bald spot. It does take some time to heal and once the scab comes off a while for the fur to grow back. As long as it looks clean with no oozing or swelling I wouldn't worry too much as she sound to be behaving normally so it is unlikely to be infected.
I hope the vets put your mind at rest.

[gav100]

thank you very much guys.. i feel a little bit better about it now. i dont think its causing her any pain as when i touched it to see if it was she didnt flinch or seem bothered at all. is there anything i could do to help the healing process?

[gav100]

upon closer inspection of said scab i have noticed there is a small peice of sawdust stuck in the scab (i know many on here have an issue with sawdust but up until now i have had no problems with it and when i have bought other bedding gavin has dug it up and just slept on the plastic of her cage which cant be very warm for her so i have continued using sawdust) i really hope that i can definately get her in at the vets tomorrow.. i noticed it this evening so it was too late to call and book an appointment.. i am just going to have to get up at 8 to call and hope i can get her in, if not the next day. i feel awful for not noticing this sooner.. i've just been so scared of her pulling a houdini again and didnt want to handle her straight away so she could chill out about the whole ordeal but now i feel so cruel

[Hannah]

I hope you can get her in for a check tomorrow but if it's only a graze then im sure she will be fine. Don't feel bad because you are doing your best for her now. All hamsters escape at some point. It seems to be their favourite trick

[gav100]

and now she just majorly fell from the ceiling of her cage and caught the scab slightly.. i have a feeling this may be how she has done it, by catching the corner of her bed in the process of falling. i cant stop her from climbing about though, she'll just do whatever she wants to do. i dont think it has hurt her though as she is attempting the climb yet again :/

[gav100]

i swear she has a complete death wish.

[gav100]

got gavin in the vets today and turns out she has eczema, the poor little thing. vet prescribed some cream which i have to rub in very thoroughly which is hard when she is so wriggly.. after a while of distracting her with treats she cottoned on very quickly so not quite sure how i am going to manage this but should see an improvement within a week thank god it was nothing serious. thankyou Hannah, Fluffymunchkins and Souffle for your help and concern.

[fluffymunchkins]

Glad you got it looked at, best of luck with the cream and i hope it sorts it out x