hey guys, my winter white looks wet and it looks like some part of it's body lost fur. idk but her skin like red red. looks like she's been scratching. what do you think is the cause? and how do i solve it? i have applied sone ointment that my girlfriend got from the vet previously. her's was also losing fur due to scratching. im just wondering if my hamster is going through the same problem?

My late robo had almost the same problem with yours. I bought it to the vet and was told that old hamsters might have hormonal problems and less resistant to mites. She took fur samples, investigated it and saw tiny mites crawling around it. I had the chance to see it under that microscope too. The hamster was given spray weekly, feed it with medicine via the syringe and weekly changing of bedding. The hamster manage to survive for another 6 months.

Actually my robo is also very old already, he died at 3.5 years old and had that problem at 3 yrs old.

i'm sorry to hear that. but your hamster is really lucky to be able to have been in the hands of a wonderful owner. because from what i've heard, hamsters only live for around 2 years usually. right? correct me if i'm wrong.

anyway, my hamster is still quite young. i think maybe around 4-6 months max? so i really dont think she's getting all these from old age. i have applied the medicine called Fobancort ointment, which was given to my girlfriend by the vet.

after i applied the cream, the whole night last night my poor little hamster was so uncomfortable she kept trying to rub the cream off her body. i could see her scratching and cleaning herself and rubbing her skin against the wall. :\

everything in her cage that i have used right now, i have used for 2-3 weeks already. now only got problem. i usually have seen her sleeping on her pee. do you think it could be the cause? but i've gotten her for about 4-5 weeks now. and she always sleep on her pee.

I think it's quite regular scene to see hamster sleep on the pee... not literally but on the sandbox with the pee... my current WW and my late robo do that..

It's better for you to take it and consult the vet.

yeah i guess i might. right now shes doing fine already. she dont try to get rid of the cream as much as yesterday already. i wanna ask, what kind of bedding do you guys use? i use mia bedding looks like those that they use for gerbils. i feel it could be uncomfortable for her. just wanna know what bedding you all use.

For me, I have used before wood shavings and now I'm using the recycled paper pellets.

i am using delikate bedding....quite soft....but my hamster is litter train...so i dont have any issue....

how do you litter train your hamster? exactly like the guide posted on the first page?

yup,
but i skip the 1st part , the litter box i was looking for was bloody expensive so i just skipped it.
instead, i continued with step 2,.
skipped step 3 also cos they cost about £9.99 for just 16oz which at that time was pretty freaking expensive (<---student here ok?) also, i have some doubt about their artificial chemicals used to produce that thing (NHC warned me about them too lol~).
Instead, i collected all those pee-soaked beddings and my hammy's poo and placed at his loo spot.
and the rest are as follows in the front page hehe. keep the poo and pee-soaked bedding near the litter spot ad replenish them with fresh ones when ure changing ure hamster bedding.

*btw, if you failed to do it, sometimes it takes up to 3 months, just dont:
1)shout at ure hamster
2)picked ure hamster and push his/her face into the litter spot
3)take his poo or pee-soaked bedding and tenyeh-tenyeh at his/her face

yup...just follow the guide in the first page....you can smell the bedding to identify where is the hamster pee...& trust me...you will know if its hamster pee or not...for my hamster...he will always stretch when he wakes up...then he will go & pee in his toilet before he start eating. So if you hamster do that too then you can find out where he pee....(but my hamster only do this if he wakes up naturally...if you wake him up , he wont bother doing it & will sniff sniff around)

yes as LuQEE said those litter may be expensive but once they are litter trained then you wont need to change the bedding more frequently...just change the litter....thus saves you money in bedding....

thanks! very informative! number 3 in the 'just dont' part is funny. lol. so what you all are trying to say is, dont need buy the the litter thing for them? just use their normal bedding and put inside their litter box la right? i use tissue can? right now the bedding im using looks like this:



anyway im taking my hamster to the vet tmrw. but she looks fine and her condition seems to be improving a little i guess, but im still worried la, so i guess im just gonna bring her to the vet for a check up. just to be safe.

well u can do that...and to increase the chances,
cut the pee-soaked litter straw into little bits(clean the scissors afterwards, or you'll get ..) and place where you put those tissues/pee area
*you dont have to buy litter box also can, like me hehe..since my hammy just pancut at the corner grill of his cage, ill just put everything there(poop+pee-soaked beddings)

hehe, yup, dont tenyeh tenyeh his droppings on that poor little furries...that is soo evil~

litter box can go as cheap as RM 10

reason to get a litter box instead of letting your hamster pee onto the cage is because their urine is very acidic
it will stain your cage and after many years might spoil
litter box is made of thicker plastic so wont corrode so fast plus its cheaper if you wanna throw a litter box after its stained rather than change the whole cage
sometimes, your hamster might choose to change corner
if no litter box. your change might have all corners stained cause he is trying out new toilet spots before sticking to one area

litter im using woody pet. its natural more natural than newspaper recycle bedding because its made of wood (non soft wood origin)
purpose of using litter instead of normal bedding is because it absorbs more, so your litter box wont stink
if you use normal bedding as litter, changing your litter box once a day might not be sufficient, especially if you use aquarium tanks as cages
woody pet is only RM 18 for a huge bag. used it for more than half a year still got half a pack

okay thank you! will make a trip to the pet shop to get a litter box and the litter after visiting the vet! thanks alot for all your helpful information. really help alot!

i would suggest to get the 'litter sand' too....i am using it & its really great in absorbing the pee. Plus when it come in contact with the pee, it will join together & form something like a rock...then all i need to do is scoop it out & put new fresh one if needed. But its up to you if you want to use bedding, woody pet or litter sand...but bear in mind bedding is the worst when it comes to absorbing the hamster pee.

Reason why we ask to put the wet bedding in the litter box is so that the hamster knows that is the place to pee. Also the bedding that you are using i believe is actually hay right? Those are usually for guinea pigs & rabbit. Not so suitable for hamster...(i read before somewhere )

just asking, do guys got shocked when u noticed/knew ure hamster(s) can fart loudly and can have nightmares?
i did, and they sounded cute~ haha

my hamster never fart before...probably not so loud so i didnt hear

must be a syrian habit i guess..haha

mine is syrian too

owh, diet maybe? cos i always gave him lots of beans hehe
loud like ppl fart haha

and sumtimes, if i let him out from his cage and explore the whole house, he end up having nightmares..no scream, but shreik haha