Lump on Scab Ear

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Breee2303

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Hello I am new to forums and not entirely sure how to work them. I have a Teddy Bear/Syrian hamster named Skittles who is about 2 years old. Early this month when I got back from vacation I noticed a scab on her ear, the person who was watching her said they didn’t notice when it appeared. It seemed to be healing so I left it alone and took pictures of it as it was healing. However, tonight I noticed a lump around that same ear, the left one. I’m really concerned and not sure how I can help her. Any help would bet very much appreciated, I’m cleaning her cage tomorrow to see if something in there cut her to cause the scab and the lump. I don’t know what would since everything is hamster safe, but if I find anything I’ll keep you posted.
Here a couple photos for reference and span out over some time.
1st photo - January 7th
2nd photos - January 9th
3rd - January 13th

I’m not snake to share the other photos due to them being too large of files.
 

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Hi & welcome to the forum
Sorry to see Skittles has a problem with her ear, it is very hard to tell what it might be, it’s possible she could have caught it on something & it isn’t healing but the lump is a concern, it would be best if you get her seen by a vet as soon as possible, they will be able to give you a proper diagnosis & treatment options.
I hope it’s nothing too serious but like us as they age their ability to heal isn’t as efficient & there is also a higher risks of a growth of some sort so the quicker you can get her seen the better.
Hope it isn’t anything too serious & she recovers well.
 
elusive said:
Hi & welcome to the forum
Sorry to see Skittles has a problem with her ear, it is very hard to tell what it might be, it’s possible she could have caught it on something & it isn’t healing but the lump is a concern, it would be best if you get her seen by a vet as soon as possible, they will be able to give you a proper diagnosis & treatment options.
I hope it’s nothing too serious but like us as they age their ability to heal isn’t as efficient & there is also a higher risks of a growth of some sort so the quicker you can get her seen the better.
Hope it isn’t anything too serious & she recovers well.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the advice and kind words. After some further research I think it could be abscess because she had the scab and it probably got infected. Im planning on taking her in on Monday as that’s the next day open for them. I’m so nervous because she’s so small and harder to “work on” if anything serious is wrong. I also loaded my other Syrain in November and that absolutely broke and I just really hope Skittles will be okay. Thank you again
 
Exotic vets are used to small animals so I am sure your vet will be able to help Skittles. Good luck and please let us know how the appointment goes. We will be thinking of you and Skittles.

I am so sorry you lost your Syrian in November.
 
Hello Breee and welcome to the forum. If you have any problems using anything on the forum, just message me :) . Maximum size for a photo upload is 2mb so photos usually need the file size shrinking. There's a post on that somewhere - I'll link it for you.

As Rainbow says, you've had excellent advice from Elusive, and glad to hear you have a vet appointment. How is Skittles in herself? If she seems fine in herself and acting normally, then I wouldn't worry too much ☺️

Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's an abscess, a cyst or a tumour but the vet should be able to help with that. I think it's likely they will prescribe some medication, because with hamsters it's sometimes trial and error. They might prescribe baytril (antibiotic) in case it's infection and also metacam (anti inflammatory/pain relief). The Metacam is more than just pain relief and anti inflammatory, it can also help prevent a tumour getting bigger or shrink it apparently. To be honest, by age 2, most hamsters need Metacam anyway as they are quite an age, and almost always have some kind of aches and pains - arthritis or toothache! So it's kind to give them it in their later years anyway. It tastes like honey so they like the taste of it and it's easy to give in a bit of soft food. Some will even take it from the syringe. Mine wouldn't!

So it will heal up if it's an infection. If it isn't an infection, it may just be something Skittles has to live with. They're unlikely to suggest surgery for a 2 year old hamster, and to be honest it isn't a good idea at that age IMO - unless it's to improve quality of life (eg a very large lump that stops them walking properly). So it's conservative care basically. But an infection needs treating straight away so you're doing the right thing.

Do let us know how you get on. I am also sorry you lost your other Syrian recently - these things are so hard - the grieving. Skittles must be a comfort. Have you thought about getting another Syrian? I found I like to always have two hamsters as it helps me cope better if one of them dies x
 
Resizing photos: If you use a computer with Windows on, there's a very quick easy way to do it (see link below).

If you're using a phone or tablet with apple or android, there are various apps, but they can be fiddly.

One easy way to do it from a phone is to email the photo to yourself! When you go to send the email it asks you what size you want the file to be - small medium or large or original size (that's on iphone - assume android is similar). Select medium and send the email. The photo is then in your email and you just tap to download it to your phone again. You then have two versions of the photo and one of them is the shrunk file size :)

Some people do it online using a program - someone may link that for you

How to resize photos in Windows Paint

Following on from discussion of easy ways to resize photo file sizes. Here is how to do it in Paint in Windows, which takes seconds if you're using a laptop with Windows on and is easy. Paint is built into Windows - just type it in the search box. You can then pin it to the start menu for...
www.thehamsterforum.com
 
Hope all goes well on Monday, let us know how you get on.
I’m sorry to hear you lost your other hamster recently, we all understand how hard that is & how much more anxious that will make you about Skittles being unwell.
 
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