# My baby rat looks like he's going bald.



## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

I have two baby rats, about a month old, maybe a bit older. One is a white male, he has the red eyes and everything. He looks like he is going bald on his back area.... and the hair he does have is very light and thin. He does have full hair on his head, face, and sides. Is this normal? I have not seen him scratching or anything, and he has the same behavior as usual. Him and his sibling do play fight often, is she maybe accidentally pulling his hair out while they play? Or is this normal since he has lighter fur and just needs his adult coat to grow in? Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated. thanks.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

It could be mites, lice, or protien issues. you mentioned you have a male and a female? that could turn into a whole lot of rats very quickly!!! Read up on some of the Breeding forums to see what i mean there LoL. Are there any scabs in the thinning area? If so then it is probably parasites if not you may want to read up a bit on barbering. What are you currently feeding them? If the food has a protien percentage higher than 18 percent it may be causing skin problems and hair loss.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Ivana331 said:


> I have two baby rats, about a month old, maybe a bit older. One is a white male, he has the red eyes and everything. He looks like he is going bald on his back area.... and the hair he does have is very light and thin. He does have full hair on his head, face, and sides. Is this normal? I have not seen him scratching or anything, and he has the same behavior as usual. Him and his sibling do play fight often, is she maybe accidentally pulling his hair out while they play? Or is this normal since he has lighter fur and just needs his adult coat to grow in? Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated. thanks.


First of all, separate those kids fast! Baby male rats should be separated from mom, female siblings, and any other females by five weeks of age or they could reproduce. As for thinning hair, this could be parasites or barbering. I doubt it's protein issues considering the age of the rat. 

Here is more information on barbering: http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/barbering.php

And here is more information on parasites: http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/ectoparasites.php


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

does it look like this:









& is it short & coarse feeling?


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Good thinking A1APassion! "Hairless babies are either born hairless and stay hairless or they will grow fuzz after birth and loose it by their 8 week-molt. Both kinds can retain some fuzz or become completely naked by adulthood. "

Quoted from: http://www.skyclyde.com/HairlessCare.html


Perhaps your baby is a hairless or a double rex.

http://www.hawthorn.org.uk/coat.asp?id=1 (Double rex)
http://www.hawthorn.org.uk/coat.asp?id=3 (Hairless)



How did these babies come about? Where did you get them?


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

just hoping the OP comes back to update us 

I figured with the age stated as just a few weeks that this may be the most likely thing going on, however we won't know unless they come back to let us know

Now if I could just get my one girl to stay still long enough I might be able to get a picture of what barbering looks like. With the recent events I now know why this has been going on... the dominance pecking order has changed & the results was Jitters got a haircut in the process.


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

well there are no scabs or anything. It kinda looks like the second picture posted by A1Apassion, only mine has more hair, and he looks more pink then anything....I'll try to get a picture of him, he runs around so much it's hard.but yeah it looks similar to that. And my white one has kinda curly whiskers. He feels soft to me.
where can I put one until I can get a cage? My bf is at work until 11pm tonight, and I really don't want them to inbreed! Maybe a box? Well i'm going to go try to get good picture of what his back looks like and I'll be back!

p.s. I feed them Premium blocks fortified with vitamins and minerals, made with corn and molasses.


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

ok, I am back and here are the best pictures I could get, my camera doesn't take in light too well, but I hope these show enough. I feel really bad having him in such a small box, but it's all I have...and his sister looks all lonely in her cage, he looks all scared in the tiny box.....there has to be something else I can do.




























this picture is dark, but you can still see the pinkness









and this is a picture of the food I feed them


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

I used to feed that block. I stoped because it's mostly corn (which is usually a filler) and sugar. So it tastes very good to them, but is more of a treat than anything.


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

Darksong17 said:


> How did these babies come about? Where did you get them?


oh, my bf got them from a friend of his. She had a female rat, and her friend visited with her male rat and the two made a litter of babies, so we took two of them. we are new owners of rats, and know nothing about them, but we took them because the girl was a terrible owner. She let them run around all the time, no cage at all. She didn't know her rat even had babies, until one day she turned on the oven and heard them squealing ( the mama gave birth in the oven). The night we went to get them, they were all in this bucket cramped together, parents and all. Some drunk friend of theirs threw them in the sink, just to be funny, the sink was full of cold water! also, come to find out, the owner wanted to get rid of them so quickly that were probably about a week o so old when we got them, so she says, but they had full hair, they fit in the palm of our hands.
we were sad that we couldn't take them all, who knows how many died from their abusive behavior. I'm surprised these two have been doing great with us, I was afraid they would get sick and die from all the crap they went through!


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

Forensic said:


> I used to feed that block. I stoped because it's mostly corn (which is usually a filler) and sugar. So it tastes very good to them, but is more of a treat than anything.


really? then what would you recommend we feed them that is more healthy and nutritious?
oh yeah, also they would sometimes run and get stuck behind the fridge, and the girl would vacuum them out in order to get them out from behind the fridge!! I was in shock, poor little babies.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

I can't believe that! It makes me so mad you have no idea! Has she still got rats? God, you would think if she couldn't be bothered with them, she could at least give them to a rescue! Well done for taking on your two! 

It would be so cute if you ended up with a secret hairless on your hands - they are tres adorable


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Curly whiskers and thin fur, I'm thinking these kids are either young hairless or double rexes. You'll need to get the female another female friend and the male a male friend or spay and neuter them. If you want to keep the boy and girl together get the female spayed. Spaying and neutering rats both have health benefits so fixing them both would be great but if you can only afford to alter one I'd do the female since the benefits are even greater for females (no risk of uterine infection known as pyometra and a much smaller chance of her developing mammary tumors later in life which is very common for unaltered female rats.)

The food you have them on is also really bad as most commercial rat foods are, and a forewarning as far as bedding you'll want to make sure you avoid any pine or cedar beddings.

I'd try calling the ASPCA on the person you got these rats from. You might not get anywhere but it's worth a try since they sound pretty horrible.


Here's some helpful links from my website:

http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/rathealth.html#spayneuter (Spaying and neutering)

http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratfeeding.html (Diet)


You can find a lot of other information in my website as well. Since you're new to rat ownership you're going to want to do a lot of research. Good luck!


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

I figured it was going to be some sort of rexy-naked baby

the hair is a little longer because the pics I put up were of babies that were just 3 weeks of age

my best guess is that those babies are about 5 maybe 6 weeks old. kind of hard to tell since there is no size reference... just a going with best guesstimate

This whole thing with hair or no hair... you really can't be 100% sure unless you know the background. I've seen babies lose practically all their hair & have it all grow back.

The fact that the whiskers are curly my guess is that she will be far more naked than furred in the long run. 

cute babies... good luck with them

Since they are so young you should have no problems doing intros to two more so that you have cage mates for these two. Are there any more babies that you can rescue from this horrible scene you described? Not only because you need buddies but because those fracking morons should not have any access to pets. For that matter hopefully they decide to not breed themselves. If anyone gets spayed or neutered in this story I hope it is them. They will just water down the gene pool if they decide to reproduce.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

you said you need cages & such... where are you located?

maybe one of the great members of this site lives near you & they have something to donate or maybe someone in your area knows about freecycle & might be able to post a wanted for you


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

i know about freecycle.........


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

wow, thanks for all the feedback guys. And yeah I know nothing about the other rats or the parents or anything, But I am guessing my white one may turn out to be a rex or hairless, based on pictures I have been looking at on the internet. I have no clue if she has any left, I know someone else was going to come and take the rest off of her hands, but I have no clue if they did or not. I also have no clue why she got her first rat to begin with, it upset me to hear about the way she treated them too. I am just glad she actually wanted to give them away, and hope she found other people to give them away to. We got them about three weeks ago, so I doubt if any of the babies are still with her or alive, and the mama was pretty much turned almost wild from no people handling, not a kind of rat I would want.
Well, my bf and I are going to go cage shopping for a second cage, and then look into the cost of spaying the female, because they really do get along with each other and are quite playful with each other, also I would have no clue where to get other rats, and I have no clue how much one or two would cost from a pet store, so for us it would be more convenient to spay or neuter one.
What kind of food would you guys recommend? And also, we randomly picked Aspen bedding and apparently that kind is ok.
Thanks alot guys, and I am sure you will be seeing lots of me on here as my two ratties grow, with lots of questions!
also, i am located in the high desert of california, apple valley to be exact.

also, for a size reference, they still fit in my hand, but are bigger than my palm, they were the size of my palm when we first got them but they have grown quite a bit, the girlie is a bit of a plump one, too. lol she has a full coat of dark gray hair, and straight whiskers, I doubt she'll be hairless or rex.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

surgery is something you will need to really research 

as with any major surgery you should know what you are getting into

Plus the age & health of the animal plays a big factor in the success. Just do your research.

Darksong already started you off with a couple links & if you know how to do searches you will find many more informative links, some right here on this very site because many other ratty people have talked about their experience with surgeries

As for getting additional rats. That too, you will need to do your research when dealing with pet shops. Considering that this is most likely where their Mom came from I don't see where getting additional rats from this source would be such a big deal. At this age you might spend 2 or 3 dollars a piece for them. I know many members will kick up a fuss about having anything to do with a pet shop but they aren't all evil places filled with sick & dying animals. Just shop around, ask questions & trust your gut. You come across as a very bright & caring person. I'm sure what ever you decide will be the very best for both you & your rat babies.

What really needs to be considered is the fact that you have both sexes & escapes happen. It may be several more weeks before you can spay or neuter because a vet may require them to be a certain age & then there is the cost involved. Not cheap.

If you decide to go with getting additional rats instead of getting one fixed then you will have to make sure that the boys never have the chance to get at the girls or visa versa. If an oops happens... well this site has a great deal of info on that as well. I'm sure you will take what ever precaution you have to take in order to prevent an uh-oh from happening.

GOOD LUCK!


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

btw... you have a freecycle for your area

http://www.freecycle.org/group/US/California/Apple Valley


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

yeah I will probably just go buy some new ones then. My bf and I are expecting our first child in May, and I am sure it would be cheaper to get new rats, as opposed to neutering the one we already have. 
Yeah, I am pretty sure an oops, has already happened, but it wasn't an oops, more like an ... "oooohhhh....I had no idea" I am pretty sure my girlie is pregnant, all I can hope for is that the babies come out healthy.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Ivana331 said:


> yeah I will probably just go buy some new ones then. My bf and I are expecting our first child in May, and I am sure it would be cheaper to get new rats, as opposed to neutering the one we already have.
> Yeah, I am pretty sure an oops, has already happened, but it wasn't an oops, more like an ... "oooohhhh....I had no idea" I am pretty sure my girlie is pregnant, all I can hope for is that the babies come out healthy.


If you saw them mating and believe that your female is pregnant perhaps you should hold off on getting more rats. Instead, see what the female has. If she has a few boys and girls you can keep one of each, a girl to stay with her and a boy to stay with your other male, before adopting the rest out.

If you do go and get more rats I recommend getting them from a reputable breeder or rescue rather than a pet store. You are more likely to come home with a pregnant or sick rat from a pet store and they aren't the best places to support. If you give me your location I could see about finding a good breeder or rescue near you. You can also check Petfinder to see if there are any rats in need of homes around you:
http://www.petfinder.com/

If you do bring more rats into the house you will need to quarantine them and then introduce them to the current rats slowly.


Information on quarantining:

http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/rathealth.html#quarantine


Information on introducing rats:

http://ratguide.com/care/behavior/introducing_rats.php
http://www.ratfanclub.org/newrat.html


If your female is pregnant you will want to get her into a maternity cage shortly before she births. Do not keep her with the male even if you suspect she is pregnant since as soon as she gives birth she can be impregnated again which would be very unhealthy for her. Plus if she's _not_ pregnant she would be then. A great, safe, maternity cage would be a simple 10 - 20 gallon tank. A 15 gallon might be nice, you don't want to the tank to be too small as she can get bored in there while raising the babies even if you take her out to play with her occasionally as you should.

"The gestation period is normally 22 days, but can vary from 21 to 23 (and maybe even to 25). Two weeks into the pregnancy the mother's abdomen will usually start expanding, but not always. As the birth approaches, you may be able to see the pups moving inside her, or feel them if you gently feel her abdomen. The mother's needs are simple: a nutritious diet, exercise, and extra nesting material a few days before the expected event. If you've been letting the male live with the female you should remove him before the birth. The father would never hurt his babies, but all females come back into heat within 24 hours of the birth(called the post partum estrus(so if you leave them together she would immediately become pregnant again."

Quoted from: http://www.ratfanclub.org/repro.html


More helpful info: http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratinfopacket.html#genderandbreeding


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

first... take a deep breath. If the pair you have is as young as I suspect maybe, just maybe you don't have a litter. (fingers & toes crossed)

*Please separate them now... don't wait.* 

Don't even wait until tonight. If they are together you have already allowed way more hours to slip by than you should have since discovering that their being together was not a good idea. A rat that is as young as they possibly are should not become pregnant. There are way too many complications that can occur & the health of the babies may not be good.

post some more pics please & use something as a reference for size. Something that we can easily identify & compare size


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

yeah I already separated them, and I have not seen them mate, but they do wrestle alot.... I actually was planning on waiting about a month to see if she has any babies and then just keep and separate those into two cages ( one cage for the boys, one for the girls), so they are separated, and I am just waiting. I will take her out and take a picture of her on my laptop keyboard, she is more calm around me than the male is, he just runs and hides, and since they are pretty much the same size it should help for size reference for both of them.
I just want to say thank you for all your help. I really love my two little rats and would never want to endanger their health, so thank you so much for all your advice and support! 
One of the questions I had earlier that didn't get answered, was what kind of food you would recommend for them, opposed to those blocks I am feeding them. I gave them apples and carrots today instead of the blocks, and once I find out what food is best for them, I will go buy some.
ok I am going to go get the girlie and take a picture of her, brb.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Ivana331 said:


> yeah I already separated them, and I have not seen them mate, but they do wrestle alot.... I actually was planning on waiting about a month to see if she has any babies and then just keep and separate those into two cages ( one cage for the boys, one for the girls), so they are separated, and I am just waiting. I will take her out and take a picture of her on my laptop keyboard, she is more calm around me than the male is, he just runs and hides, and since they are pretty much the same size it should help for size reference for both of them.
> I just want to say thank you for all your help. I really love my two little rats and would never want to endanger their health, so thank you so much for all your advice and support!
> One of the questions I had earlier that didn't get answered, was what kind of food you would recommend for them, opposed to those blocks I am feeding them. I gave them apples and carrots today instead of the blocks, and once I find out what food is best for them, I will go buy some.
> ok I am going to go get the girlie and take a picture of her, brb.



Glad to hear that they are separated and that you are prepared for babies if they arrive.

Maybe you missed it but I did link you to my diet page for the food question. I'll post the link again: http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratfeeding.html


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

they are both about the same size, and they are still small for being rats, but they have grown quite a bit since we first got them. I hope this helps to tell how old they are since we really have no clue.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

there is a thread that is several pages long with all kinds of food recommendations & also foods that you should not ever feed them

http://ratforum.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3079.html


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## propithecus (Jun 29, 2007)

Hello! Your new rat children are beautiful, and it sounds like you're doing a wonderful job. Sometimes rex rats have fur that grows in weird patterns or patches. I have one called "Baby Worf", because at one point he had this massive, prominent unibrow and no fur anywhere else.

Also, you might be at least somewhat right about the fur pulling! I had a male rat who would yank big tufts of his brother's fur out, and the victim rat actually developed a few bald spots in the middle of his back. In fact, he's still a bit patchy up there.


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

propithecus said:


> Hello! Your new rat children are beautiful, and it sounds like you're doing a wonderful job. Sometimes rex rats have fur that grows in weird patterns or patches. I have one called "Baby Worf", because at one point he had this massive, prominent unibrow and no fur anywhere else.
> 
> Also, you might be at least somewhat right about the fur pulling! I had a male rat who would yank big tufts of his brother's fur out, and the victim rat actually developed a few bald spots in the middle of his back. In fact, he's still a bit patchy up there.


yeah, well I separated them, so they wont breed, so we will see if my guy's fur grows back or if he really is either a hairless or a rex. we'll see.


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## Ivana331 (Nov 7, 2007)

well I think my boy is going to turn out as hairless. His pinkness has extended to his arms and legs now, though he still does have quite a bit of hair it's obvious he's losing it. also, he does feel more coarse and not soft like he used to. So I guess it wasn't barbering, I figure by the end of the month he'll be hairless.


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## camp.rats (Sep 20, 2011)

These messages are from 2007 and it is now 2011. Is this forum still active? I have a baby rat that is one of 9 and it is bald-ish also. The fur texture is different. Some of the rats show features of himylayan and some show dumbo. This one is a brown runty rat that isn't as big as the others. I think it is a female.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

The forum is indeed active... the thread, however, is not.


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