swollen nose

"clschafer72" <u34828@uwe> wrote in message news:73448f008ea66@uwe...
>I have had my hamster for a few months, given to me by a friend. Since
> yesterday, he has developed a swollen right side on his face. My daughter
> is
> aware of his "boo-boo" but at just four not to understanding. There is no
> eye
> drainage or other signs of discomfort. Can anyone help as to what might be
> going on?

Hi there, a few questions to start with.

What sort of hamster is he?

Is he eating, playing, pooping, peeing and otherwise being his normal self?

I'm assuming hes quite young?

Are you using the fluffy cotton wool style bedding - definitely not
recommended. Torn up white toilet paper makes a cheap safer alternative.

And is this your first hamster?

Syrians, otherwise known as golden, or teddy bear have very large cheek
pouches extending from the mouth to the neck area. To give an idea, one of
mine amazingly crammed a whole Twix bar in a pouch after my eldest was silly
enough to tease him with it (we got it back before he ate it - all that
sugar!!!!).

So I'm guessing that may be what you are seeing (bedding or food) but at the
same time you need to make sure it isnt something more sinister like an
abscess or growth. They can get abscesses inside the pouch if injured by
something sharp, and one of my very elderly hamsters had trouble emptying
her pouch after a stroke ( they occasionally get them like humans in very
old age).

If he is carrying on quite normally and theres no obvious signs like
bleeding, discharge, bad smell, scratching or rubbing at it, then try and
gently get a feel of the lump, and sort of picture the shape in your head.
Then watch him over the next day and see if it either grows or disappears
and see if you can feel it again the next day to see if its exactly the
same. If its the same then you may have a problem but I'm hoping that its
just normal pouching. If at any time he gets unwell or stops
eating/pooping/peeing a fast trip to your vet will be necessary.

Its a good thing to get the hamster used to being handled everyday, its
probably the best health check as you can spot anything different quite
quickly. And you should also watch him when you give him something like a
piece of carrot as you can make sure his teeth are OK.- they can
occasionally overgrow if they have nothing to chew on and most seem to
prefer cage bars to their wooden toys (unless its expensive furniture!!).

:o)



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