Over grooming?

[Trioxin]

I got my Syrian hamster Sherlock about five days ago, and I've noticed these past few days that he seems to be over grooming.

At first I thought he'd got little bald patches on his back, but they seemed to have just been very small wet patches of fur. Maybe saliva as he tends to run his face across himself a lot.

I've heard that hamsters tend to over groom when they are stressed, considering he's new could that be the cause?

I've also had to rearrange his cage twice due to lack of toys and then his wheel as it wasn't attached to the cage properly and I was scared it would be a little dangerous. So could this have been a factor?

When should I start to be worried with his excessive cleaning?

If it is stress, how can I help calm him down? I might just be a little bit paranoid since he's new. I just want to make sure he's comfortable and nothing's wrong with him.

He appears really healthy. Bright eyes, no crusts or discharge anywhere, nice coat, walking fine and quite an active little thing.

Hope someone can help or advise. It's probably just me over reacting as usual but I just wanted some opinions.

[Stockannette]

Are the wet patches one over either hip? If so, maybe they are his scent glands.

[GemmasMom]

Sherlock is probably marking his territory. My girls groom a lot when I change their cage It is stressful to move... just think when you move how stressful it is Keep his cage as stable as possible for a few weeks while he gets to know you and the cage! Good luck

[de4life]

If he's in a new cage it'll just be because he wants to mark his territory. I wouldn't worry about it, hamsters love grooming themselves. Sometimes it's due to nervousness, but they also groom themselves when they have new territory to mark and also when they're comfortable and relaxed. I'd only be concerned if he wasn't eating/drinking or acting in other strange ways.

[Trioxin]

Originally Posted by Stockannette

Are the wet patches one over either hip? If so, maybe they are his scent glands.

I didn't really take much notice to position, but he no longer has wet patches now so heaven's knows! I'll bear that in mind though.

Originally Posted by GemmasMom

Sherlock is probably marking his territory. My girls groom a lot when I change their cage It is stressful to move... just think when you move how stressful it is Keep his cage as stable as possible for a few weeks while he gets to know you and the cage! Good luck

Thank you. And I'll keep it the same for as long as I can now, I literally just needed to move things because I was scared of him hurting himself. Thanks for the assurance.

Originally Posted by de4life

If he's in a new cage it'll just be because he wants to mark his territory. I wouldn't worry about it, hamsters love grooming themselves. Sometimes it's due to nervousness, but they also groom themselves when they have new territory to mark and also when they're comfortable and relaxed. I'd only be concerned if he wasn't eating/drinking or acting in other strange ways.

That's good to know. Thank you. I was just worried it was from a lot of stress. He seems healthy enough so I guess he just needs more time to settle.

Thanks everyone!

[shiny]

I had a real panic about wet patches on my Syrian but it turned out they were just scent glands. They come & go, sometimes looking really wet, sometimes not. Useful thread with great photos on scent glands here: Syrian Scent Glands
Hopefully that might ease your worries a bit.

I'm sure your hamster will settle in ok, he's probably quite excited about all the new lovely things you have for him

[Trioxin]

Originally Posted by shiny

I had a real panic about wet patches on my Syrian but it turned out they were just scent glands. They come & go, sometimes looking really wet, sometimes not. Useful thread with great photos on scent glands here: Syrian Scent Glands
Hopefully that might ease your worries a bit.

I'm sure your hamster will settle in ok, he's probably quite excited about all the new lovely things you have for him

I think they might have been scent glands actually. There seemed to be a matching pair on either side of the hip. Although they don't look like the pictures the positioning is certainly right enough.

And yes. He's still very excitable and curious. I was probably panicking far too much! Thanks for the link and the help.

[Trioxin]

I'm pretty sure they're scent glands, and Sherlock's acting a little strange lately. He keeps digging and rubbing himself all over the place.

Am I right to assume this is probably scent marking? He seems a little dishevelled over it all.

I really do wish I knew when to be worried or not. :s

[shiny]

Yep, rubbing all his scent on everything to say 'this is mine!' My Syrian Teddy has dug all his Megazorb substrate around to landscape his cage just how he likes it, there's a massive tall den now underneath his Hamster Heaven shelf & he's made a lovely nest in it. I think it all sounds like Sherlock is showing normal behaviour & expect he'll calm down a bit soon.

If he's got irritated, red or sore skin from rubbing then I would be more worried & get hime checked by a good exotics vet but otherwise he probably just wants to get everything smelling of him

[Trioxin]

I've kept an eye on him and he's fine. It's normally if I sprinkle some new bedding over the top of the old and he digs around in it for a while then goes back to normal. His glands are bad some days, almost invisible the next. So he's a healthy little guy as far as I can see.