Sick Help! does anyone know anything about hamsters?!?!?

[IlovemyRhino]

My hamster has a greenish brown patch on his belly we asked petco and they said it will go away and it was just pee since hes a male and it never went away!

 

[Dudleydoo]

Is your hamster a syrian or a dwarf? How old is he?

If he is a dwarf, the patch on his belly is likely the scent gland. Male dwarfs have a scent gland on their belly and sometimes it just gets dirty, you can either use a paper towel with warm water to wipe it, or typically they will clean it themselves.

If it is a syrian, their scent glands are on either side of his hips, so it could just be pee or something. Has he been sleeping a lot in his pee?

If it is a bald patch and his skin is brownish green then it could be a fungus of some sort.

It is hard to tell without a picture though. There is a hamster forum called Hamster Hideout, if you can't get enough answers here, you could always try posting on a forum specifically for hamsters. I am on that forum and they are really helpful over there.

 

[IlovemyRhino]

 

[IlovemyRhino]

I've had him for over a year. and I'm pretty sure he's a dwarf

 

[Dudleydoo]

Aww, he is adorable. I have a 2 year old male dwarf and they are the cutest things ever.

That is just his scent gland. Sometimes my male's scent gland looks like that and he usually ends up cleaning it himself, but there have been a few times I have taken a q-tip and warm water and just cleaned it off for him.

In my opinion, it looks normal and just like my dwarf's area. However, I can't tell in the picture, but if there is any green to it like you described it originally, scent glands can get infected, but the colour looks normal to me.

Here is a link that has a table to show what to watch out for with a scent gland, but to be honest, his looks perfectly normal...just now that you know it is there, watch for any changes with it because it will always be there, sometimes it will just be dirtier than other times. Scroll down a little ways to get to the chart.

Hamster's Scent Glands: What You Need to Know

 

[IlovemyRhino]

ok thank you