My hamster is getting bald spots, and not burrowing when he sleeps?

Question

My male hamster has two little bald spots on his face. I've checked for mites but I can't say that I really know what they look like. We plan to call a vet, but for now, what else could it be? Also, instead of burrowing down low, he goes up in the highest point in his cage a lays on top of the bedding, why is he doing this?

Answer 1

This happened to my Guinea Pigs... it's just old age.

Answer 2

How old is your hamster?

Between the age of 1 and 3 years a hamster will start to show signs of old age. It will start losing its fur, sometimes leaving bald spots. It will become more apathetic. sleep more, eat less, and may find it more difficult to move around.

At this stage in its life you should leave it in familiar surroundings, greatly reduce risks of stress, and handle less frequently.

*********************************

Considering that he is only 8 months old, then it must be mites / mange causing the problem. In this case, there is nothing you can do other than to take him to a vet who can administer anti mite medicines on his fur.

If the vet confirms mites, then you will have to disinfect everything in his cage to prevent it from recurring.

Answer 3

he mite have mange   its a mite

she died a few months later

take her to a vet

Answer 4

bald spots come from a multitude of things, but if it was mites u would probably see them, and u couldn't do anything with medication for your hammy anyway, and your vet would give you something and would disinfect the cage, and it could also have been old age, but because he’s only 8 months you can rule that out

there are a couple more reasons why he has bald spots, weather could be a factor, if it has gotten very hot because of summer, then he could be shedding come fur because he is too hot, and i think it is probably because of the weather, because that would also explain why he is sitting on top of the bedding and not inside it, because it is too hot, try putting your hamster in a cooler room, but not directly in front of a vent, also take the cage out of the sun

other reasons could be that he has a skin infection, or from biting the cage, if it is a skin infection the vet will give something for your hammy for that, the other reason could be since the bald spots are on his face, it could be from biting the wires on the cage, continuous biting on the cage wires and case bald spots above the hamsters nose and below the jaw, give the hamster something hard for it to chew on like a nut instead, or a wood block, though they generally don't chew on the wood blocks, for more chew toys, read my previous answer:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

besides the fact that his cage is in a room too hot, i can't think of another reason for not burrowing, sorry

more info on bald spots, try this site:

http://petwebsite.com/hamsters/hamster_f...