My hamster is scabby!?

Question

Hi all, just wanted some advice. my otherwise healthy hamster has a few small bumps on him which are quite scabby. two on his tummy and one on his shoulder. he is about 16 months old and very healthy. anyone have any ideas what it could be? its not nites as i have treated that already.

Answer 1

this is easy to answer your pet probably has cut its self on something sharp in its cage. to prevent this take out anything that has sharp corners on it!my hamster had the same problem. you need to go to the vets and get it sorted straight away because it could lead to worse illnesses like cancer! make sure your hamster doesn't  bite the scabs on it because it could make it infected! hope this helps

Answer 2

Scabby skin and fur is a definite symptom of mites and mange in the skin. You say you have already treated your hamster for mites. How long since you did it? Perhaps the scabs were developed when the mites were there and if treatment was recent, then it is possible that it would take some time to heal. Also mites can recur anytime if the cage is not disinfected properly after the hamster was treated, so I would suggest you check up the hamster again for mites and also disinfect the cage thoroughly including everything in the cage and change the bedding completely.

Sometimes hamsters can develop an allergic reaction to their bedding and this can cause scabs and thinning of their fur too. Use only aspen shavings, carefresh or ripped toilet paper (unbleached, untreated and non-fragrant) for their bedding.

Answer 3

i think that if you have another hamster it might be fighting but if you dont i think that he kind of doesnt see where he is going and starts bumping ino things in the night and scratching himself

Answer 4

Are you sure it's not mange mites because the only thing that really gets rid of them is Ivermectin. You can get horse wormer at your petstore or rural supplies with Ivermectin as it's active ingredient (Equimax is usually the best, I use it for my horse as well-it's about $18 but there are cheaper brands(alternated of course so the worms don't get immune), so it has multi functions!) If you've had a scraping from the vets they aren't always reliable and often the mites won't show up. If you use the horse wormer give them no more than pea size dose orally (you might want less because that's a guinea pigs dose). If you are sure it's not mange mites, then it could be a fungal problem, like if it's scabby and bald in a ring shape it could be ringworm. You can treat this with an anti fungal wash from your vets which isn't usually any more expensive than $15 or so. If it's none of these then your hamster may be sensitive to a shampoo or other foreign substance that is causing irritation. This could cause it to be itchy and because of the constant scratching it would open up his skin resulting in scabs. So make sure you trim your hamsters nails to lessen the damage made to his skin. Could have just been in an energetic mood and accidentally cut himself on a loose bit of wire on his cage or something. It happens sometimes. Good luck with your hamster, I hope he gets better. :)