concern for mites in long haired syrian

[2manyhamssz]

after i had finished spot cleaning tiggers tonight and was just holding her i noticed a pretty large and quite dry patch behind both her ears.

I dont hold her very often therefore dont know how long its been there but i know last time i held her there was a little patch there but i didnt really think much of it.

It obviously could be something else (any ideas??) but my mind went straight to mites when i saw it because of how common it is in long haired hams - but its a little bit odd because theres no other patches on her that have abnormally short hair.

thoughts??

 

[Maz]

How old is she? With older hamsters that is sometimes the first sign of fur loss - behind the ears . It’s also maybe more visible on dark coloured hamsters.

 

[2manyhamssz]

she's only apx 9 months wich is more what leads me to think its perhaps more likely mites than age? She's my first long haired ham so im not all that experienced in fur loss though. Is there any other signs to be able to tell mites wise?

 

[Maz]

Generally it tends to be on the body area and sore skin from scratching as well as fur loss. I think I would just keep an eye on it and if it seems to have increased (the bald area) you could get a vet to do a skin scraping. That's the only way to tell really - they do a skin scraping and look under a microscope.

Fur loss can be for other reasons as well. Diet, hormones etc. What food mix is she on? Low protein diets can cause fur loss in younger hamsters.