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Old 09-11-2022, 01:52 PM   #1
Peanui
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Join Date: Sep 2020
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Default Dry and flaky skin + fur loss ...

Hello, I have a rescue male Syrian long-haired hamster (about 8 months of age) named Gablu who has extremely dry and flaky skin (especially near his neck and over his spinal region) and is having a lot of fur loss. His doctor has taken some of his hair (+root) samples to check for any fungal infection but the test results can take between 3-4 weeks to come. His doctor doesn't think that he has mites and the exotic vet has no way of checking it. I have been told that it's most likely not mites but have also been told that a treatment (for mites) with injections can be started. I do not know the associated risks and whether I should get something started without having full knowledge. For now, I have been asked to give him a drop of flax seed oil with his food for 4 weeks, a drop of multi-vitamins once every 2 days for 3 weeks, and a dry shampoo to be given twice a week. I haven't given him the dry shampoo after being told by many hamster boards to not do so as it contains water. I see more and more bald areas forming on his skin. He has received fur trimming. Can anyone please tell me what may be the problem? Can I help him by using some cold-pressed olive oil over his dry skin?

He lived in a horrible condition with his previous human for the first six months of his life. Many thanks in advance.
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Old 09-11-2022, 02:11 PM   #2
AmityvilleHams
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Default Re: Dry and flaky skin + fur loss ...

Nutrition can make a big difference in fur quality and just overall skin & coat health. As for vitamin drops, I would definitely not be doing those. Your base diet would cover everything needed if it's a good diet and adding too much excess vitamins can be extremely harmful.

Flax seed oil is the only good idea you've gotten from a vet, but you can just give regular flax seeds which will have an added bonus of being more enriching than just giving oil with more nutrients etc too.

Definitely don't use the dry shampoo. As for mite treatment, you really shouldn't ever use any sort of treatment like that on hamsters without a proper diagnosis which includes a skin scrape. Unfortunately a lot of vets seem to skip past that with hamsters but the treatments can be incredibly hard on their bodies & immune systems even to the point of toxicity, so understandably they should only ever be used with proper diagnosis when absolutely necessary.

Hopefully others can help add more ideas for extras to give for skin & coat health, but adding whole flax seed is a good start!
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Old 09-11-2022, 02:45 PM   #3
Ria P
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Default Re: Dry and flaky skin + fur loss ...

I don't understand why the exotics vet can't check for mites. Why doesn't he/she do a skin scrape and have a look under the microscope?
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Old 09-11-2022, 03:28 PM   #4
Peanui
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Default Re: Dry and flaky skin + fur loss ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams View Post
Nutrition can make a big difference in fur quality and just overall skin & coat health. As for vitamin drops, I would definitely not be doing those. Your base diet would cover everything needed if it's a good diet and adding too much excess vitamins can be extremely harmful.

Flax seed oil is the only good idea you've gotten from a vet, but you can just give regular flax seeds which will have an added bonus of being more enriching than just giving oil with more nutrients etc too.

Definitely don't use the dry shampoo. As for mite treatment, you really shouldn't ever use any sort of treatment like that on hamsters without a proper diagnosis which includes a skin scrape. Unfortunately a lot of vets seem to skip past that with hamsters but the treatments can be incredibly hard on their bodies & immune systems even to the point of toxicity, so understandably they should only ever be used with proper diagnosis when absolutely necessary.

Hopefully others can help add more ideas for extras to give for skin & coat health, but adding whole flax seed is a good start!
Hi, thanks a lot for your reply. I read quite a lot about his food and give him a mix of the following: Getzoo's basic hamster food + Vitakraft Syrian hamster mix + Science selective pellets. I also give him half a teaspoon of unflavoured and unsalted tofu every second day. Plus, he gets pieces of fresh veggies (hamster safe ones) once every two days. I also feed him pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, pecan nuts, walnuts, from time to time (not a lot). When I rescued him he was in a pretty bad shape and hence his doctor recommended a drop of multivitamins for 3 weeks at a stretch (once per day for the first week and once every two days for the next two), stop for 3 weeks and repeat. I also give him an eighth of a teaspoon of nutritional yeast mixed with his food, once a week.

I didn't give him the dry shampoo even though his doctor prescribed it. I will add some flax seeds in his mix from now.

As for the treatment, I was also very unsure and hence asked it in the board first.

I was reading a few other hamster boards recommending applying a drop or two of cold pressed olive oil over their dry skin. Do you think it may be an acceptable temporary solution?

Once again, thank you very much for your help.

Last edited by Peanui; 09-11-2022 at 03:40 PM.
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Old 09-11-2022, 03:29 PM   #5
Peanui
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Default Re: Dry and flaky skin + fur loss ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
I don't understand why the exotics vet can't check for mites. Why doesn't he/she do a skin scrape and have a look under the microscope?
Hi, thanks a lot for your reply. I had asked the same as I read from other places that simple skin scrapes looked under the microscope could give a good idea about mites. I don't know why she doesn't want to do that. There are no other exotic veterinarians in the area. I will ask her again this morning. Thanks a lot.
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Old 09-12-2022, 11:43 AM   #6
Stanza
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Default Re: Dry and flaky skin + fur loss ...

Sorry I’ve not really got anything to add other than keep up the healthy dry food diet with a few veg and nuts as you mentioned above. Sounds like Gablu is a very lucky hamster to have been rescued by you. Hope his skin issue resolves and he can enjoy his new home to the full.
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