Honey got very small dried poo and red bum with dried hard fur??

[Katarina]

I have picked up honey (syrian, 6 months) last night for her daily hug and play time (I had to wake her up at 10:45 to do this) and she looked un-groomed and her bum was a bit wet looking. on a closer inspection I've noticed that her bum is red and tiny bit of phlegm on it. I've put her back in and looked into her nest and every part of the cage but there is no sign of diarrhea, blood or excess urination. So I just gave her a one more hug and let her be in her cage. this morning I checked on her again and her bum is not so red but the fur around it is sticking out and looks like its been gelled (dried up into stiff peakes) I have washed her bum in warm cammomile tea and cleaned her cage from top to bottom - she has had a lot of tiny little very hard poos - the size of a pin head, only few were normal looking. (her last cage change has been 5 days ago) Nothing like her usual poo at all. She has nipped me when I wanted to look at her bum again, so I'm guessing she is a bit sore around that area. She is eating and drinking well thou. I'm going to call the vet in 20 min as they are on a break now. Does anyone have any suggestions about this?

PS: she is making this clicking sound at me for the last 2 days every time we have a cuddle.

[herajika]

I wonder if she is suffering from constipation, and if she has been straining, her bum might be a little red.

You might want to give her a little bit of olive oil to see if that helps her constipation. Olive oil is all natural and so even if she doesn't have constipation it is not going to have adverse effects on her.

I have read that the loud clicking sound is made when the hamster is annoyed and wishes you to leave it alone, while the faint ones are contentment. Mine does make the loud clicking sound when she is annoyed, for example, when I stop her chewing on the bars.

[Katarina]

well, hers were loud only when I was cleaning her bum. I havn't got any olive oil, will pop out to buy some. would evening primrose oil do? or normal vegetable oil? I've heard that thats fine to put on the squeaky wheel as its safe for them to digest this? thanks for your reply! (Can't get through to the vets, grrr)

[herajika]

I don't know about evening primose oil so I can't give any advice on that. Normal vegetable oil is OK too. My hamsters like oil and so I can just drop on a spoon and they will lap it up no problem.

Does Honey look a bit bloated and fat around the belly? I know when my hamsters have constipation they look a bit more bloated as usual.

I also massage the belly of my hamsters when they got constipated. I just hold them and *very gently* (I really stress this) rub in circles with my hand.