Nose losing hair?

[hammieluvr]

Hey everyone,
My hammie seems as though her nose is starting to lose hair. this could be my imagination, as i have only had her for three weeks, but the little area above her nose seems to be almost balding. is this common at all? i dont know if she is really losing hair, she just seems to be. please tell me if this has happened to you and what you did. she is a "black bear", or syrian hammie. thanks!

[Chaos]

Does she chew on the cage bars? Some are obsessive bar chewers, no matter how many toys and other things they have. The constant rubbing on the bars can make them lose hair, its not really anything to worry about. If she doesn't have a lot of chew toys, add more to deter her from it.

[hammieluvr]

ok, thanks, chaos! she IS a constant chewer on the bars, so thats probably why. thanks so much. i was getting a bit worried. i have tried many things, such as chew sticks, blocks, and even :toiletpap tubes, but she still loves the bars! anyone got any other ideas about stopping her from chewing the bars?

[JaneG]

My hamster, Jelly, is a bar chewer too. She has a large cage and lots of toys, but there's nothing she loves better than chewing the bars. The top of her nose is bald too, but aslong as it doesn't get cut it wont actually hurt the hammy.

I've tried everything.. Hm, she stops if I like poke cardboard through the bars and she like chews it for ages, but as soon as she has it all (so it's not sticking through the bars anymore) she's not interested, lol.

I think for some hamsters it's just something they do, and there's not much you can do to stop them.

Some people buy like bitter apple sprays, or use watered down lemon juice on the bars, but I've never tried any of them. (I've been told by many people that watered down lemon juice on the bars is fine, because although lemon would be bad for them, it's not like they're eating a full lemon, and after one tast e they hopefully wont taste it anymore.. unless they like it? haha)

[TiaMaria]

hehe that happened with mine too, I have a diagram of what my dwarf Pebbles did...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/tiamariasalbum/Pebblesmissingfur.jpg

[pixibubbles]

There isn't any real way to stop a hamster chewing bars... all of my syrians bar one have done it... and they all got little baldly spots... it started at about 12 weeks old and tended to carry on for a few weeks and months and then they gradually grew out of it... they still do it but not so obsessively.

Chewing the bars means i'm ready to come out and play. it's normal healthy hamster behaviour... annoying... but just think of it as a human baby crying for attention.

dont worry about it... just keep an eye on the nose and make sure the skin doesnt get irritated or broken.. a little pink is normal but if it goes red then skin balm and think about the bitter apple stuff. They usually grow out of it in a month or so.

[TiaMaria]

They also chew on bars to knaw down their teeth, get some chew blocks for them.. :)

[JaneG]

I've had lots of things my hamster is *meant* to chew, but they decide to be difficult and chew something they're not meant to though :P I suppose chew blocks would work for some hamsters, but they never have for Jelly.

[Mighty Hamster]

Hee hee... our Hamster did that too - still does it although she seems to have realized when too much is too much (A.K.A. "I need to stop before my nose gets bald and cold again :) ") The fur grew back although she's blue and the fur grew back white so now she has a silly looking spot on her nose :)

[pixibubbles]

awww she sounds lovely mighty... it still might grow back the proper colour... could be that the bottom layers has grown back first?

[Mighty Hamster]

Thanks! It has been that way now for 4-5 months....just makes her the hammy she is I guess :)

[Stevie]

I've never had bar chewers, but that seems normal.

[ilovepink]

hehe my syrian never use to chew the bars much,only when i put her away and she wouldnt to come back out hehehe,she knew how to do it hehehe.
Its normal thou as it sounds alot of hamster do it.:D