Why is my Teddy Bear hamster losing his hair (for the second time)??
It could be one of these symptoms: HAIR LOSS: (Alopecia): Hair loss in older hamsters is frequently seen as a result of chronic renal failure. Loss of hair can also be the result of rubbing on the wheel, leaking water bottle or abrasive bedding. A low protein diet is also associated with hair loss, generally a diet with less than 16% protein. Or a secondary dietary problem is overfeeding “heat” producing grains and cereals, such as corn. This is easily remedied by increasing fruits and vegetables in the diet or by feeding half the dry grain/seed mix with boiled rice or puffed rice cereal. There are two different treatments for general hair loss: 1) one or two drops of cod-liver oil daily; 2) crush a yeast tablet (without garlic, which is hard on hamsters kidneys) in top of the food for three or four days, then decrease to once a week. MANGE: A very contagious skin infection caused by mites. Symptoms include excessive scratching and dry flaky skin. Additional symptoms include hair loss
