henry has a boo boo! :(
you guys im kinda of freaking out. i just noticed henry has a lil bald spot and a scab.
please help
so i just took him out for snuggles and i noticed his fur felt greasy on his back and when i parted it i found this bald spot. its like totally bald! not even stubble and a lil scab. all his beautiful soft fur is gone in that area.
its behind his head so i dont think he could have reached it with his mouth but then i remembered it felt matted and wet so maybe he did?!
i dont know!
i never saw it before so i think its new. but i dont know for sure. (i just checked my iphoto gallery and he definitely didnt have that spot before so its relatively new. could this have happened overnight?)
im so distraught.
i checked his house and didnt find any bloody bedding or fur clumps.
his wheel just has a small screw on it and not a knob that sticks out or anything so i dont think its from the wheel, but i checked and it doesnt seem to even touch his back.
i dont know what this could be from!
could it be a bug bite or mites????
does he need to go to the vet?
he seems ok otherwise... hes chewing on the bars of his cage right now and running about...
my poor lil baby...
here are some pics i took of it... to show placement and size..
thanks in advance for any help!
update:
hi guys thanks for the comments!
i was able to get henry a vet appt today with the local animal hospital and the vet was really nice. she said it looked like he did it himself since the skin was healthy and the hair looked plucked clean.
i dont know how he could reach that area but she said they can. anyway she gave him a drop of medicine and said to keep an eye on it. if it gets worse then she'll do a skin scraping but she said its not pleasant for the hams so she wanted to try this first. if it works he gets a second dose in 15 days.
i hope he gets better! he seems healthy otherwise. bright eyed and hydrated and active and eating.
i also threw out the aspen bedding and cleaned everything again and will try to keep an eye on him. i hope the visit today didnt stress him out too much. it was pouring rain and cold and just not a good time to be taking him out. but im glad i found another local vet who is nice and knows hamsters :)
please help
so i just took him out for snuggles and i noticed his fur felt greasy on his back and when i parted it i found this bald spot. its like totally bald! not even stubble and a lil scab. all his beautiful soft fur is gone in that area.
its behind his head so i dont think he could have reached it with his mouth but then i remembered it felt matted and wet so maybe he did?!
i dont know!
i never saw it before so i think its new. but i dont know for sure. (i just checked my iphoto gallery and he definitely didnt have that spot before so its relatively new. could this have happened overnight?)
im so distraught.
i checked his house and didnt find any bloody bedding or fur clumps.
his wheel just has a small screw on it and not a knob that sticks out or anything so i dont think its from the wheel, but i checked and it doesnt seem to even touch his back.
i dont know what this could be from!
could it be a bug bite or mites????
does he need to go to the vet?
he seems ok otherwise... hes chewing on the bars of his cage right now and running about...
my poor lil baby...
here are some pics i took of it... to show placement and size..
thanks in advance for any help!
update:
hi guys thanks for the comments!
i was able to get henry a vet appt today with the local animal hospital and the vet was really nice. she said it looked like he did it himself since the skin was healthy and the hair looked plucked clean.
i dont know how he could reach that area but she said they can. anyway she gave him a drop of medicine and said to keep an eye on it. if it gets worse then she'll do a skin scraping but she said its not pleasant for the hams so she wanted to try this first. if it works he gets a second dose in 15 days.
i hope he gets better! he seems healthy otherwise. bright eyed and hydrated and active and eating.
i also threw out the aspen bedding and cleaned everything again and will try to keep an eye on him. i hope the visit today didnt stress him out too much. it was pouring rain and cold and just not a good time to be taking him out. but im glad i found another local vet who is nice and knows hamsters :)