Hamster losing hair.. Help !

Michael N

I have a hamster nearly four years old and it's beginning to lose hair around it's neck and upper back.
Help ! What do I get or buy ? Or is he.. You know.
He's a much loved pet of my daughter so it's important.
Thanks

Zapperzy

Wow four years is a good age for a hamster! I hate to say it but generally hamster's hair thins out in old age. Is he losing clumps of hair or is it just thinning out? I would have always said mine thinned out along their lower back and rump so it could be something else. Whereabout are you in the country? Bairbre O Malley (based in Bray I think) I hear is experienced in hamsters, so if your near her then I suggest a visit.

Michael N

Thanks, daughter takes great care of him. I was worrying about that..
It's losing it in clumps and more by the day I'm afraid. Hamster is still energetic and climbing around an in his ball happy out though.
I'm living in cork

doolox

We had a hamster and it needed shots for mites because of mites. Also another dose of injections after 2 weeks when all the mites eggs would be hatched to kill off all generations of mites. Hair back to normal but the critter died 6 months later. Normally hamsters only live 18 months or so.......

Michael N

We brought him to the vet and he doesn't have mites but it's because of old age.
We got these drips to put in to the food for the hair, it was lacking some vitamin or something. Vet said he shouldn't last more than a few weeks though

Zapperzy

doolox wrote: »

We had a hamster and it needed shots for mites because of mites. Also another dose of injections after 2 weeks when all the mites eggs would be hatched to kill off all generations of mites. Hair back to normal but the critter died 6 months later. Normally hamsters only live 18 months or so.......

There's 2 types of hamster, dwarf and syrian, dwarves generally live about 2-2.5 years, syrians generally 2.5-3.5, obviously there's exceptions going both ways of those figures, (as seen here with the 4 year old), but they usually live much longer than 18 months unless there's an illness involved.

Michael N wrote: »

We brought him to the vet and he doesn't have mites but it's because of old age.
We got these drips to put in to the food for the hair, it was lacking some vitamin or something. Vet said he shouldn't last more than a few weeks though

Oh why did the vet say he'd not last more than a few weeks? Whats his overall condition like? Has he lost any weight or muscle tone? Is he still eating/drinking as normal? From what Iv experienced they usually start losing condition (even though they still eat as much) and the hair starts to thin out, after that happens they usually die within a few months, with my last little dwarf though he was hanging on too long, poor fella was in quite bad condition so I decided to have him put to sleep.

Hmm clumps doesn't sound like just regular old age, is he pulling it out himself or is it falling out? Whats the skin like under it? Is it healthy looking or crusty?

Whats his poo's like? Normal solids or runny?

Michael N

Hi, I can only presume it's because of his age. his hairs thinned out alot everywhere but it's completely gone at his neck and higher back. Im sure he's still eating and drinking. His skin looks fine.. As much as I know, no redness, looks alot whiter than the rest of his body though. Hair is falling out. I also noticed he's not coming out as early as he used to. Any ideas ? He'd usually be up at 7.30 when I'd come down for work but he's not anymore. His poo is normal.

Thanks, any idea what it is ?