Traumatic lesions of the limbs are fairly common in hamsters and are mostly caused by falls, when a hamster is left to drop to the ground (Fig. 1), usually by children, or when it climbs up the bars of its cage and then falls down. Sometimes the animal’s limb can become caught between the bars of the cage or in a wheel or ladder (Fig. 2). Another potential cause of lesions to the limbs is the synthetic bedding sold as nesting material, which can get entangled around a limb, blocking the circulation and causing mummification of the extremity of the limb.
Fractures in hamsters are not amenable to interventions to promote osteosynthesis or to bandaging or splinting both because of the small size of the animal and because of its intolerance of foreign elements applied to its body. In the case of a fracture, the hamster should be housed in a cage with smooth walls, without climbing equipment or wheels. Amputation, if necessary, is tolerated very well. In the case of loss of an anterior limb, the animal may have difficulty in emptying the ipsilateral cheek pouch and may, therefore develop constipation of the pouch.
