My Hamster's Fur Looks Very Oily, What Does This Mean?!?

Question

On the top of her head is reallly oily, and it's spread out and looks spiky, like she's been nervous/worried or something? And it's all of her fur (all over her body). I haven't touched her yet. But I take very good care of her, and give her tons of attention. By the way, don't say "Well if you were a good owner, then maybe you should take her to the vet" because guess what? My vet is on vacation. And her sub. sucks.

Answer 1

Is it a dwarf hamster? Dwarfs have very fine hair, and sometimes produce a lot of oil. The oil is naturally used to keep them clean, but for some hamsters, it just builds up and gets overly spikey, like yours.

What the hammy needs is chinchilla sand. Chinchillas have similar fur, and similar oily skin. This sand collects the oils when they roll around in it. Just leave in a shallow, wide dish in the cage full of this sand, and your ham should figure out what to do. It is instinct.

If she is not a dwarf, the sand will still collect the oil. Give it a try, since there is nothign else you can do, like bathe her. If she has long hair, perhaps you can just snip it shorter?

Answer 2

well if she grooms herself its probably just her spit

Answer 3

if its a very young hammy, then its probably wet tail (do some research on the disease if u dont know what it is) if its middle aged or old then i wouldnt worry its probably just a messy hammy that doesnt like to clean itself. put a small dish of sand in its cage and see if yer hammy "bathes in it". that should take some of the greasiness out of his/her fur. then if u r concerned about it having a health problem, i would buy a multivitamin liquid that u can drop into yer hammys water. be sure to keep it very well watered and i would hold off on the treats for a while :) hope this helps!

Answer 4

It might just be oil. Hamsters produce a natural oil to keep their fur clean longer. Because she has long hair that's a strong possibility.

Answer 5

Its because you need to go to the pet store and but chinchilla SAND NOT DUST. The dust can cause respiratory problems so buy chinchilla sand. Then theyll be rolling in it a digging and other stuff enjoyable to watch. Then its fur will become softer and shinier.

Answer 6

this kind of coat is called a 'satin rex'. satin looks really oily but it isnt-  and rex fur curls upwards. if its dirty when you touch it, buy some chinchilla sand and your hammy will clean herself by rolling in it.

Answer 7

You might want to check out this link because it sounds like it could be wet-tail....

http://www.hamsterific.com/HamsterUniver...