Random fun mouse stuff pictures

Okay. I believe I actually just had a hairless mouse show up in one of my litters! I found this really odd. She got her hair, and it was really thin, and it looked like she was wet. I went and looked at them today, and she's almost bald on her back and stomach, with a little hair on her legs and head so far. She just turned 2 weeks old on Friday. Do they normally loose fur this young? She's the runt, and is at least half(Maybe a third) of the size of her litter mates. I actually have them in with the rats, since they both have very small litters (Three and four.) So the runt can get some food.

No that's not normal, she's likely sick.

Hairless mice (hr/hr) grow in a full coat of health fur, then start losing it from the nose, to the tail in a perfect molt line. Having thin hair might suggest that she has an immunodeficiency disorder or other heath issues.

Attached images are what the molting looks like at first on a real hairless mouse.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2038/2...bab_z.jpg?zz=1

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2751/4...6fc_z.jpg?zz=1

Well, like I said, she is the runt, and she's significantly smaller than her siblings. Could the hair loss be caused because she isn't getting as much food?

It can be caused by a lot of things. Protein allergies are common causes of hair loss too, and are very common. It's likely a negative effect of her being the runt in some way shape or form. If you're breeding feeders, I would make sure you mark her (clipping her ear works well) and don't breed from her in the future. If you don't need her to grow up, culling now would be recommended.

Interesting.. I never knew hairless mice started off with hair.

Yep! They grow a complete, normal coat of hair, and then lose it in a perfect molt line, starting from their face, and their feet. They end up with little hula skirts at some point, lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

It can be caused by a lot of things. Protein allergies are common causes of hair loss too, and are very common. It's likely a negative effect of her being the runt in some way shape or form. If you're breeding feeders, I would make sure you mark her (clipping her ear works well) and don't breed from her in the future. If you don't need her to grow up, culling now would be recommended.

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Thanks. I'm breeding them for their colors, lol, but I am selling them as feeders, She actually ended up dying. She was pathetically small, and despite even being fostered to the rats who had very small litters, she looked like she never got any food.

I was going to cull her, but I have no idea how to do that humanely.

If they're small enough, I just flick them very hard on the back of the head. It's an instant kill for small mice. For weanlings, I do the same thing, then cervical dislocation. I do cervical dislocation on anything larger than that.