Pasha's Ear

BorisPasha · 10-05-2016, 04:47 AM

Hello everyone,

Today when we had Pasha out we noticed that he has a little bit of a bald patch behind his ear. The skin is pink, not red, and he’s behaving normally. We haven’t noticed him scratching at it either.

Being first time hamster owners we wondered if anyone had any advice on what it could be or what we should do? Or if we should just keep an eye on it for the time being? Of course we will take him to the vets if necessary but don’t want to stress him out unnecessarily. He’s about 5.5 months old. The photos make it look worse than what it looks like because I’m trying to move his fur and ear out the way. Not easy trying to get pictures of a wriggly ham lol.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

cypher · 10-05-2016, 07:27 AM

They can sometimes get a bit of thinning behind the ears but that looks more like a patch from rubbing against something maybe.
For now I would just watch to see if Pasha is rubbing that spot against something in the cage & generally keep an eye on it.

BorisPasha · 10-07-2016, 02:27 AM

Thanks Cypher, he's a big boy and he likes squeezing in all sorts of small spaces, he's not careful either. He's a bit like a mini demolition truck to be honest

His ramp in his cage had a couple of rougher bits so we've sanded it down. It's not looking any worse today and is possibly looking slightly better. He's still behaving normally so will continue to keep and eye on him and if there is no improvement or it gets worse we'll take him to the vets.

Thanks again for your help

BorisPasha · 10-15-2016, 04:18 AM

Pasha's ear isn't looking any better, or worse, but we're taking him to the vet today just to be on the safe side. I'm sure he won't be looking forward to it and neither are we after the last time when he went to get his nails trimmed, he was one stressed out little ham.

Thin Lizzy · 10-15-2016, 04:43 AM

Hope Pasha's ear is him just rubbing against something. Fingers crossed that his vet visit is a lot calmer.

cypher · 10-15-2016, 06:44 AM

Hope the vet trip goes ok & isn't too stressful, if it's just a check on his ear it shouldn't be so bad.

BorisPasha · 10-16-2016, 01:57 AM

Thanks for the well wishes. Pasha was a lot better in the car this time at least, but he wasn't happy about the vet trying to sellotape the back of his ear so she could look for mites under the microscope. She couldn't see any evidence of mites but she put a spot on treatment on the area anyway and if it's not better in a fortnight we've to take him back.

He spent the journey home diving around under the substrate in his travel case trying to get it off lol.

The minute he got back in his cage he was off, away to the darkest and furthest away spot where no one can get to him. Seen him briefly last night came over to me had a sniff and rushed away back to his hidey hole. Made me feel a bit sad that he felt so scared and untrusting of us.

Keeping fingers crossed here he'll be ok and won't need another trip to the vet.

flowerfairy · 10-16-2016, 06:00 AM

Hope all is well and that he gets his fur back and starts to trust you again nice and soon.

cypher · 10-16-2016, 06:23 AM

Hope Pasha settles down again quickly, it is sad when they don't seem to trust you like they usually do after something stressful but they do normally get over it fairly quickly, a bit of quiet time usually helps then some nice treats when they are talking to you again!
Hope the ear is better soon too & doesn't require any more vet trips.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 10-16-2016, 10:24 AM

That's sounds so sad that he's afraid like that. Hopefully he overcomes his fear soon. It's frustrating when it comes to vets, as it stressed me out too. I'm glad they didn't find any mites on his ear. Hope whatever the cause will heal quickly