Hamsters are obsessed with cleanliness. As a matter of fact, they spend almost 20% of every day cleaning their bodies. Although you do not need to clean your hamster every day, you must check their eyes and ears regularly to ensure that they are in good shape.
If the hamster’s ears appear red, swollen or infected, you should examine them immediately. Observe the hamster at regular intervals to see if he is scratching his ears frequently, because there might be ear mites in his ears. If you ignore these symptoms, they can affect your hamster’s health.
Get in touch with a veterinarian as soon as you see that your hamster is scratching his ears excessively or when any of his ears are already full of ear wax. A Vet must also be sought when you spot any discharge, inflammation, redness or peculiar odor from the ear. The vet will provide instructions that you must follow in taking care of them.
As long as you are not 100% sure that your hamster has ear mites, do not presume that they really have the parasites, and therefore never treat them with an ear mite treatment. Instead, check the hamster’s ears thoroughly by getting a white paper towel and rubbing it in each ear to see if there are ear mites. You can also take your hamster into a dark room and check his ear with a flashlight. If you can see tiny black dots that are moving around, then you can conclude that he really has ear mites.
A hamster’s sense of hearing is very important to them because they use it to interact with their surroundings, and their eyesight is terrible. If a hamster loses this sense, he will be stressed out. Therefore, if your hamster has ear problems, address them immediately to avoid any further or long lasting complications.
Similar to the ears, hamsters usually do not need help with cleaning their eyes, but sometimes their eyes can get irritated. This irritation is caused by tiny dust particles and bedding material that can get into them. Examine their eyes immediately if you see wet fur near or around their eyes.
Clean the eye area with warm water and a cotton swab. If the eyes are still irritated after cleaning, you must visit a vet. If there are small cuts or minor injuries around the eye, the infection may spread to the other eye.
When your hamster’s eyes have a cloudy appearance, then he is probably suffering from cataracts. Cataracts usually occur in the eyes of older hamsters and may lead to blindness. Although their blindness does not really affect their lives, they become much more timid.
If you have more questions or concerns regarding your hamster’s ears and eyes, do not hesitate to ask your vet for more details, it is most important that they are always kept in good condition so your pet will live a longer and much happier life.