Going bald robo

prince_medion · 02-11-2014, 03:55 PM

Hello, I have a female robo about 18 months old, she has developed bald patches on her rear end, both sides, and she seems to scratch a lot.

She lives on her own in a a big ferplast duna fun, since her sister died a few months ago. I use Comfibed (its like thin strips of toilet paper) for her nest and a mixture of P@h wood shavings and carefresh naturals (the brown stuff one) for the general substrate.
She seems to be eating and drinking as normal although she is nowhere near as energetic and agile as she used to be but nonetheless she doesn't appear poorly. Now all my other hamsters seems to scratch quite often but not to her extent and they dont have bald patches, could it be mites or could it be the bedding? or something in the bedding? I have noticed the wood shavings and the carefresh smell a bit different from previous packs i bought.

I did use some tea tree cream on her at first and it seemed to help for a bit and her hair was growing back, but now its gone bad again if not slightly worse.

The Hamster's family · 02-11-2014, 05:21 PM

How long has the bedding been in the cages ?? Maybe do a cage change and NOT putting any woodshavings in has it's been known to cause skin rash of few hamsters...

Also, it could be mites but rule out the wood shavings parts at first...

=)

racinghamster · 02-12-2014, 05:07 AM

To be honest, it`s more likely to be the Carefresh rather than the shavings, but a lot depends on (a) has her substrate always been this mix of wood shavings/Carefresh? or (b) have you recently added one or the other?

She may have a hormone issue or another reason for this reaction. Robos can sometimes suffer from contact dermatitis, which might be due to being in contact with something new, be that substrate or something fed in the diet that isn`t meant for hamsters, for example dog biscuits or dairy.

Can you give more information on the above?

prince_medion · 02-12-2014, 08:29 AM

they always had the same substrate and I just changed and cleaned the cage this weekend, and i have not changed their diet except for a few treats like nutri-care. To be honest we think it could also be due to the fact she lost her mate, she seemed kinda lost and confused in the first day but we played with her lots and gave her a few treats and she then perked up. She's been fine after that and in fact she seems a lot more willing to interact with us since then. I just rubbed some more tea tree cream on her and ill see if it does work again. About bedding is there a reasonably priced alternative which is safer and liked by dwarve and I could find in the staffordshire/Wolverhampton area?

racinghamster · 02-12-2014, 10:54 AM

Have you noticed if her fur loss came about before or after you introduced the nutri-care? But you could also be right about stress/anxiety caused by the loss of her cage mate. I imagine this alone could cause her to feel a bit vulnerable. Tea tree (over the counter) creams smell quite strong sometimes so do make sure it is safe if ingested/licked off?

I would stick with the Pets At Home wood shavings alone. I use these for my older male robo and he has been absolutely fine on these. He`s always been bedded on them even in his previous home. They are actually quite good as far as wood shavings go as they are low odour, but just a little dusty. But compared to other brands, I prefer the Pets At Home brand. Just never use the scented shavings as these are not safe. I don`t (and never will) understand why they sell shavings with added irritants/oils like lavender or lemon. It`s quite ridiculous.

prince_medion · 02-12-2014, 03:44 PM

sHE started having nutri-care after the fur loss and seems to love it, i started giving her that to boost her up a bit as it says its good for a healthy fur. I also suddently remembered about something, she has a piece of natural cork that I use as a little wall under one of her platforms so she can hide behind it to feel safe. Also have you ever thought that your p@h wood shavings smelled a bit like resin/pine? mine does...

racinghamster · 02-13-2014, 02:00 AM

All shavings have a scent of fresh pine/phenols which is why they require airing out a couple of weeks before use. I remove mine from the bag and keep them in a storage box with no lid. This allows me to rotate the shavings by hand every now and then to shake them around and let the air at them.

It sounds to me like this isn`t a contact allergy, but could be dermatitis, alopecia or if there is any redness/flakiness/dandruff, it could be related to soriasis (can`t spell that word!) If her skin is okay and it`s more of a thinning of the hair, she may just have something internal causing it. There are so many if`s and but`s with hair loss in hamsters that only a vet could really do tests on it to determine the actual cause. But if it`s not actually bothering her in any way, I would monitor her for now and just keep an eye on it. x

prince_medion · 02-13-2014, 02:10 AM

Sha hasn'nt got any flakes or anything else apart from those bald patches which i think might be caused by over scratching bcause the area affected corresponds to the reach of her hind legs. she doesn't seem bothered much except i have noticed a lack of activities, I haven't seen her use the wheel or climb the bars or climbing frame for weeks, although she still marks, scratches about and hoards.

prince_medion · 03-05-2014, 03:33 PM

Good news! shes regrowing her fur!!! I have stopped using carefresh and used just wood shavings and also the cork stuff which looked like it started going moldy. I gave her plenty of protein rich food and some nutriCARE which is meant to be good for the fur.

Colby and the Dwarfs · 03-05-2014, 04:06 PM

Good! Glad she's getting better xxx