Thinning/discolouration/hair loss

[PaigelovesTimmy]

Hi Everyone,

Was hoping someone could help with this!

My Syrian hamster Timmy is roughly 1 year old and I have recently noticed a change in his fur. From what I remember and a photo I have from spring time, timmys back has always been brown, however when I got him out for play time today it seems to have thinned and looks pink which I assume is his skin underneath. What may have causes this? I have read that shedding of fur can occur in late autumn which would be around now but not sure... I have attached pictures of in April and now. The other thing is that he has always urinated and pooped where he sleeps (buried in paper bedding) which worries me in terms of his food store and if this could be irritating his skin (although I haven’t had this problem previously)

Here is more about his care for context
-lives in a detolf
- typically has 6 inches of bedding - this is sad for me as I need to build him a taller lid as the current one I have is flat and when filled high he bites the mesh
- has a large wheel
- water bowl cleaned every other day
- food scattered - happy harry
- veg every other day - typically broccoli, pepper, cucumber
- a couple of mealworms a week
- has Fitch paper bedding in one half and hemp bedding in the other with a sand area
- has a house with holes underneath, 3 hides, bridge, two tunnels, food ball with hay inside so I can hide veg for him to find.
- i used to handle him more often but he always seems afraid and that upset me. Now I typically get him out for playtime in his playpen (which has a couple tunnels/toys) 1-2 times a week

The only other thing I have noticed is he has not been running on his wheel as much. When I used to turn my lights off he would come out and begin running however the last week or so I have noticed he hasn’t been running on the wheel. Otherwise he seems ok, eating his food and drinking - I have checked for wet tail and although there is stool on his bottom it doesn’t seem concerning.

[SKB_Hamsters]

From looking at your photos his fur loss looks very similar to my Syrians who was diagnosed with cushings earlier this year. This is caused by hormonal imbalance. I do recommend seeing a vet preferably an exotics specialist if you can find one near to you as their is a treatment option - vetoryl which can manage the condition. This thread by Coco61 is really useful for cushings and has some picture so you can compare better with your Syrian Cushings and Treatment (my vets didn’t do blood tests as her symptoms were obvious enough)

Mites can also cause fur loss too but that usually is alongside irritated skin and often you notice your hamster scratching more. A vet again would be best to see as they can have a better look at the skin.

Is your hamster black? Hard to tell from the photos but black hamster as they get older their fur lightens and turns more brown - browning. So I wouldn’t be concerned with the change of colour.

[Lilafernim]

I agree with SKB hamsters about potentially seeing a vet.

I only recently joined this community as my hamster passed away, and there were very slight symptoms that I excused and now wish I hadn’t. (Not saying this will happen to you!) Just keep in mind though hamsters don’t have ways of telling us things and when in doubt sometimes it’s better just to go to a vets.

From a lot of research I think my hamster may have actually had a tumour anyway but I won’t go into that here, point is it isn’t the same as your hammie!

The reason I’m saying this is because I was going to order her some hamster multivits. From the reviews people quite often said about hamster fur loss and what a miracle these were in helping regain the fur.

I just thought this information may be useful to you.