I know that this has nothing to do with sugar gliders and what everyone here is used to, but I am just going to ask anyway in hopes that someone here might be able to help me.
I have a little Russian Dwarf Hamster and I rescued it about 6 months ago. It is (or has been anyway) super healthy and eats really well-a really sweet lil' thing!!! Anyway, the other day, I noticed that she (I think it is a she) hasn't been playing as much as usual (all night every night) on her little wheel and playing hide the food in her cage, so I got her out and noticed that her little mouth was not closing right, but I couldn't see why. Today, I got her out and her mouth is much worse-very swollen-so I opened her mouth with a q-tip and looked at it really well and it has an ulceration on the bottom of her lower teeth around the gum area-it is very white and full of pus and also very raw. She can't really close her mouth and is having a hard time eating. She eats regular hamster food and mealworms. I am wondering if possibly a mealworm bit her. I don't know. Anyway-does anyone here know anything about hamsters? And if so, does anyone know what I need to do about this? I tried to put some peroxide on the abcess, but she tried to drink it off of the q-tip, so I stopped. Any help would be so greatly appreciated!! Attached is a few photos of her mouth abcess. Thanks-Oh and for those of you who don't know me-I sell mealworms to several members on your forum-vita-mealies. Thanks again!
Below is Chippers mouth on Saturday

Below is Chippers mouth on Saturday

Below is Chippers mouth on Sunday at its very worst

Im sorry to hear that about your hamster, but their isnt really anything you can do yourself. You'll need to take it to a vet. It doesnt look good, but im sure they can give you antibiotics for the little one. And maybe even let you know how that could have developed. Im sorry im not more helpful but this is one of those things you have to ask a vet about.

Thank you so much for your reply! We live in a small community with no ER vets on the weekends. I sure hope that Chipper can hold on until Monday when I can get her to the vet. Any suggestions to help me until then would be greatly appreciated. TKS again!

We have 4 of those kind of hamsters. We love them quite alot. They are so cute.

I've never seen anything like that before either. That baby really needs to go to a Vet though. I'm sure she is in alot of pain from that. It looks awful. I also have no idea what can help other than that. It's the same advice we'd give someone with a suggie who has a mouth ulcer like that. I personally wouldn't touch it or anything. It might burst and the infection would certainly get much worse. Please let us know how she fairs. Like I said we have them and I'd like to know what transpires and how it does.
(Educational purposes and I'll kinda worry for it now).

Keep us posted Please.

Will salt hurt her? Maybe some salt water on that Q-Tip might help. God I wish I knew. No ER Vet. Geez that's not so good. I hope someone who knows more can help. Is there a Russian Hamster web site you can Visit. My daughter looked them up when we got them to do research. She found something. I'm sure there's no Forum for them but maybe something.

I'm so sorry I wish I could be of more help. I'm not very educated on anything like this.

I would recommend trying to gently hold a warm compress to the little ones mouth, a hot/warm tea bag would also work for this. Until you can get her to the vet of course. :)

Just like in a human it will help draw out the pus from the abscess.

Awe poor baby wish I knew. Good luck to you and her.

i had 2 dwarf hamsters. but never got that. they recently passed. the second one died because her friend did. (depression) but we never fed them mealworms either.........

Please take her to the vet. When things like this happen, there really isnt anything we can do.

I would, however, suggest you keep her hydrated. Get some unflavored pedialyte and give it to her in a needle - less syringe. Im certain she wouldnt be eating or drinking with a wound like that in her mouth.

She really needs medical attention as soon as possible. Is there an emergency vet anywhere near? I know I have to drive over an hour away to get to one - and Ive driven it more than once for my dogs.

That breaks my heart. Please keep us updated.

Sounds like an infection. I would take her to the vet. Poor little hamster. My thoughts are with you. Let us know how she is.

please do. i would love to hear it will all be ok with her from all these dying suggies or un properly taken care of suggies!! let us know we are all rooting for u!!!

Update?

Update??

Can we have an update!!! its driving me insane!!

Thank you so much everybody for all of your replies and help! I got Chipper to the vet this morning (wow-what a long weekend) and it turns out that although it is not a common place for this kind of thing, it is a common occurence. When Hamsters and other rodents get older, they are very prone to get growths (both cancerous and non-cancerous). The vet said that usually he sees it more along the stomach area and under the arms. When he got the mouth opened and looked really good, he saw that the mass was growing from the inside of her lower lip and not her gum at all and that is why it was puffed out so much and making it impossible for her to close her mouth. The vet clipped the entire mass off and showed me what it consisted of-the tissue of it was very solid-no pus and no blood in it. More than likely this will grow back, but hopefully it will take awhile (although this one seemed to grow very fast-he said it was probably growing for awhile but got noticable the last few days)and hopefully it is not cancer. Chipper is so glad to not reach up with her little hand and feel that big monstrosity on her lip and she is eating like a little pig and running on her wheel! Thank God!! And thank all of you for your thoughts and concerns-I am so sorry that it took me awhile to get back to you-I have been trying to help her non-stop and worried to death!! Here is a picture of her after surgery!! MUCH BETTER-don't ya'll think??

im glad u got her there and all is well. i hope she doesnt have cancer. i want updates on her if u dont mind even if she doesnt get the cancer.i will be with u 2 the whole way if she does!!!
destinee

Thank you so much for your support! I love my little Chipper and this has brought us even closer!!! She wanted for me to hold her constantly while she didn't feel good. Now that she is feeling better, she doesn't want me to hold her all the time, but when she sees me coming, she jumps off of her little wheel and comes prancing over to see me-makes me feel good that she knows that I helped her (I really feel that she knows that). I didn't think that I would ever love this hamster like I do my 7 lizards (my babies in the pictures on my mealworm website), but this has proven that we can't help but love all of our pets the same-just like you can't love one child more than another!
Thanks again and I will definitely keep everyone updated. I just checked on her and the swelling from the surgery has gone down even more and she looks almost like normal !!!
Talk to ya'll later!

Yea!! Chipper looks MUCH better.

Oh! I wish I would have read this post sooner
I remember watching a eppisode of emergency vets with Dr. Fitzgerald and there was a little dwarf hamster with an absess in the lower mandible area. The did the same thing, snipped it off with a steril scalpul.
They said it is from decades upon decades of hamsters in breeding that causes them to quite often have cancerous tumors and infectious absesses!! This is very spayed, but a reason you get your animals from breeders I supose

A few people thought I was crazy for loving my little gerbil so much, and couldn't understand why I put him down and didn't just let him go on his own (I could not let him suffer he had had a stroke or brain cancer and was turning in circles). Even little hamsters and gerbils have little souls and personalities, and deserve the same love and respect that we all do. I am so glad to hear your little guy is doing much better, and I would also like updates on his condition. I know I miss my Topeak so very much, and I understand the love of our rodents!

quote:

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Originally posted by filly47

Even little hamsters and gerbils have little souls and personalities, and deserve the same love and respect that we all do.

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Of Course-All of Gods creatures have personalities and souls ! This little thing is so sweet-I will do everything in my power to make sure that the rest of her little life is as happy and pain free as possible!! The vet says that she is probably a "Senior Citizen" (as I said in my first post about her, she is a rescue hamster-I have had her for 6 months)and that is why this growth came about. He said that this may have happened before and had to be snipped and that may be why the people dumped her off-but I don't know. The way that I see it, if the people were heartless enough to dump her off, I don't think that they cared enough to have taken her to a vet and had the situation fixed if she had the growth before. As far as what I can gather online, they only live about 2 years-I get heartbroken very easily, so I will be devastated when Chipper does go-but like I said, I will make sure that the time she has had with me is the best time she had her entire life!!

quote:

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Originally posted by Hannah2010

Oh! I wish I would have read this post sooner
I remember watching a eppisode of emergency vets with Dr. Fitzgerald and there was a little dwarf hamster with an absess in the lower mandible area. The did the same thing, snipped it off with a steril scalpul.
They said it is from decades upon decades of hamsters in breeding that causes them to quite often have cancerous tumors and infectious absesses!! This is very spayed, but a reason you get your animals from breeders I supose

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Oh that is good to know that this Vet knew what to do! And good to know that it may be more common on the mouth than the vet thought.
Thanks!

Glad she's better! Poor little girl, I bet that was painful.

Camille, that is all that we can ever do. We never own an animal, we simply try to provide them with the best life we can offer for whatever time they are on this earth and love them unconditionally. She is in good hands, and you are a very caring individual!

Chipper wanted me to make sure that I thank everyone for all the wonderful support!!
UPDATE: Chipper is healing up nicely. The vet had said that the growth may grow back and that it may even grow immediately, but I have been looking closely and I don't see anything growing, but I also don't know how sore her little mouth is and don't want to pull or tug on her lip and hurt her, so I am just going by what I see on the exterior, which is no swelling and no fast large growth. When they snipped the growth, they apparantly cut her little lip a little on the outside, that is the little mark that you see. Where they had to cut the growth was inside the lower lip in between the lip and the gum-well you saw the horrible growth in the first photo. She still can't eat most of her hard food (seeds, nuts, dried fruit, etc.), but is eating her favorite vita-mealies mealworms, pupa, apple slices, carrot slices and is very much enjoying all of it! Here is an updated few photos of her being happy and her lip looking even more normal-She is sooooo adorable!!
Below: Can I have some vita-mealies pleeeeeeeease?

Look-I can close my mouth now-where did that huge monstrosity go?

Thanks again to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awwww! What a beautiful girl! I am so glad she's feeling better.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mollysmom

Awwww! What a beautiful girl! I am so glad she's feeling better.

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Thanks Wendi!!!

I'm so happy to hear this wonderful news. With 6 hamsters in the house and 4 of them being russian hamsters I immediately informed my children of this common problem. We will be watching them closely from now on. Thank you for the update and for this educational information. I feel more prepared now for this sort of problem. My hamsters want to thank you too....

WTG Chipper.....Get Well Soon!!!

I bet she is so relieved, even though she is still a little sore. I love that mealie picture. Sounds like she is very loved and spoiled!