# Baldness on hamster



## Sophiac0x (7 mo ago)

Hello lovely people, my hamster (7 months old) has developed 2 bald spots in symmetrical positions on his back, pictures attached. He seems happy and healthy and is eating and drinking normally, I read it could be a vitamin deficiency so I am supplementing with nutritional yeast. Should I take him to the vets to get him checked? 
Thank you in advance!


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I’d get him checked if he were mine.


----------



## anachronism (Jan 30, 2014)

They look to be his scent glands, syrian hamsters have 1 on each hip


----------



## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

Could be scent glands, depends where they are. They are on symmetrical location.around when hip of Syrian hamsters. Can't tell exactly where they are on the pictures but the surface looks like it.


----------



## MazTHF (2 mo ago)

Hello. The second picture is his scent glands - this is normal  . I can't see the first picture - it's blocked. They have a scent gland on each side and if you ever see them rubbing up against something, it's because they are scent marking it to either mark their territory or - to find their way around (they really don't see very well so they follow scent trails they've left). He won't need any supplements. Just a good quality hamster mix with the correct nutrients in - at least 18 to 20% protein in the first year. You can't go wrong with Tiny Friends Harry Hamster. It contains everything needed and the correct amounts of vitamins and nutrients. The only other supplement is a tiny bit of fresh veg every day. Initially just every 2 or 3 days till their tummy adjusts to veg. Then after a couple of weeks they can have it every day. They really love their fresh veg and look forward to it. Just a really tiny piece though - thumbnail sized. They tend to eat a small piece like that straight away. If there's too much they might hoard it then it could go off (they rarely hoard veg IME - they're usually excited and eat it straight away).

Going back to the scent marking and finding their way around - it's one reason why it's best not to do major cage cleans too regularly. As in - don't clean everything at the same time and spot clean mostly. If everything is cleaned out too often it removes all their scent which causes them to get stressed and feel a bit lost and invaded. It can actually trigger bar chewing as well. There's an article on cage cleaning tips to avoid stress here









Hamster cage cleaning


How to clean your hamster cage and avoid causing stress to your hamster. It's best to have plenty of depth of substrate and mainly spot clean your hamster cage. Avoid disturbing your hamster's nest and hoard.



www.thehamsterforum.com


----------

