Dwarf Hamster Scratching

A lot of times I get questions from people about their dwarf hamster scratching.  Scratching isn’t an unnatural thing.  Even humans scratch themselves, we scratch our heads when we’re thinking about things, sometimes we have an itch on our nose that just gets worse and worse every second we don’t scratch it.  It’s not that there’s anything wrong with us, our nose is just itchy.  There was no bug or insect or our nose, in fact, there was absolutely nothing there!  What I’m trying to get at here, is don’t get too alarmed if you see your dwarf hamster really scratching herself.  There are two general categories you can put dwarf hamster scratching, harmless scratching and harmful scratching.

Harmless Dwarf Hamster Scratching
One thing that dwarf hamsters love to do, and I mean capital LOVE to do is groom.  These guys are ALWAYS grooming themselves, cleaning every last spot of fur on their bodies.  If they aren’t doing the basic hamster necessities of exercising, sleeping, eating, or chewing, you can expect to see them grooming.  And a lot of times people confuse this with excessive scratching.  Well I’ve got news for you, you’ve got nothing to worry about, little Henry is most likely just keeping himself clean!

Harmful Dwarf Hamster Scratching
Now sometimes, dwarf hamsters will scratch so much that they start to hurt themselves.  The poor little guy might start bleeding or even lose chunks of fur!  If this happens, there’s clearly something wrong!  Your dwarf hamster could have mites and this will cause your dwarf hamster to really be uncomfortable and scratch non stop.  If this happens, I urge you to take the little guy to the vet.  You’ll have to get your hammy treated and then clean out the cage very frequently (as mites will get into the bedding and you want to make sure to get rid of these pests for good.)

For the most part dwarf hamster scratching shouldn’t be a problem, if you’re still wondering about it, here’s a quick question about scratching I received a while back:

Paul Asks:
I adopted 3 boy dwarf hamsters from the Toronto Humane Society about 4 months ago. They are all healthy and happy and have a wonderful housing situation. I clean the various parts of their housing regularly and look for fleas. I also handle them regularly and have never been gotten a flea bite as a result. But the little guys seem to scratch at themselves a whole lot. Is there something that I should be doing? Otherwise they are happy, healthy and seem to be enjoying their life. They really have a wonderful set-up and I do keep it very clean.

But why are they continuously scratching?

My Response:
Hi Paul,

Happy to hear you’re taking good care of your hamsters!

The scratching could really be anything from just grooming (these guys love to groom themselves), to a rash (not a big deal), to mites (should be taken care of right away!).  If you suspect mites and sense irritation and discomfort or if the scratching becomes severe (starts to cause hair loss or sore skin) you should take them to a vet to get checked out.

Hope this helps,
George

It was a good thing that Paul was keeping everything clean and checking for fleas and you can tell he really takes good care of his dwarf hamsters and he was definitely right to be concerned about the dwarf hamster scratching because he did get his dwarf hamsters from a rescue.  If you want my best tips, techniques, and secrets for dwarf hamster care, sign up for my free newsletter below: