Should I be worried??

sy278 · 01-26-2009, 05:40 PM

Hi all,

Looking for some advice, whilst I had Nibbles out tonight for taming and exercise I noticed a patch in his fur that looks either matted or as if it has started to come out.

Nibbles is about 6 weeks old and appears to be short haired though these patches look as though they are long hair. Do some long hairs start off with short hair then shed it for the longer coat?

He has a much smaller patch the same on his other side.

I have uploaded photos of it here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/syoung27...eat=directlink

If anyone can advise I'd appreciate it. Not sure if maybe he has just been cleaning himself and left it wet making it look matted.

All advice much appreciated.

haziebabie · 01-27-2009, 01:09 AM

I'm no expert but he just looks a bit wet to me... He probably just needed to have a wash. Did you get him straight out of bed? Is he peeing in his bed or had he rubbed up against his water bottle? Check how he is this morning. I'm sure its nothing to worry about.

sy278 · 01-27-2009, 01:51 AM

Cheers I had a look at it after I posted last night and he was letting me examine it so hes not in pain, it seemed as though he possibly has just been over cleaning as hes not normally like that, although his entire cage was cleaned out on Saturday I cleaned out his house last night, and filled it with fresh bedding and removed all the food he had stockpiled in it in case he was lying on that and rolling on it and it was digging into him.

Will check how he is tonight.

souffle · 01-27-2009, 03:54 AM

It does look like Nibbles just has a wet patch either from his food or water bottle or he has wee'd in his nest. This is not uncommon with babies. The satin fur is very fine and makes it look worse. Try drying the area with a tissue and brushing through with a soft toothbrush.
They also have scent glands on the hips which you may or may not see as small raised, sometimes pigmented bumps. Males in particular often scent a lot and the hips look wet. You may see him rubbing against things to rescent them especially after a cage clean. They can occassionally get infected so if the look very red or discharge pus or are swollen see a vet for treatment.
Does he sleep in that little house? If the roof is tight fitting and it does not have a lot of ventilation in may get condensation inside from his breath which will wet him. He looks quite big for it so it may be an idea to buy him a bigger nest box like an igloo or even use a large cardboard box with holes in it.

sy278 · 01-27-2009, 04:32 AM

Yeah he does sleep in it and it is a very tight fitting roof, he tends to block the door and window up with bedding when hes sleeping but it does have a little chimmney, last night I did actually unclip the roof so it just sits on top so its not tight fitting to allow a little more air in.

Do you have any recommendations on the igloos? there seems to be a few variations of them.

souffle · 01-27-2009, 02:29 PM

We use this type made by Savic, with the little castle roof and they have holes for ventilation. There are three sizes, a teeny dwarf hammy one, a middle sized one for a syrian and a big massive one for maybe a rat. They are good as you can lift them up to see the hamster and get him out rather than poking him out a box if need be.
http://www.bestpetsupply.com/shopping/p ... ?prid=1726
(I know this a USA site it is just to show the style we have)

sy278 · 01-27-2009, 03:59 PM

Cool thanks,

Just to update he seems fine tonight, no sign of the disturbance in his coat. Think he must have got carried away washing last night.