Bald Babies!?

[MootWorm]

Sooo my latest litter is looking... funky, to say the least. I'm not sure if it's the mamas pulling out hair, the heat wave, or a combo of genetic/environmental factors. But these babies are BALD. Is there such a thing as ASF-patterned baldness??

This is my second breeder group, I've had them going since about January. I haven't had any such issues with my first group. Everything is the same, no changes in tubs, feed, etc.

One of the breeder females is looking pretty rough, I'm planning on feeding her off shortly. I'm pretty sure she's the mother of this particular group. I've noticed that the litters have been significantly smaller (down to about 6, from 11-14). Also, the pinkies themselves seem much smaller than previous ones.

Here's some pics, please let me know if you have any insights on this:





Sorry for the poor quality, it's hard to get the squirmy little things to stay still with one hand

[MootWorm]

Anyone?

[4theSNAKElady]

My hubby had babies like that in his colonies,when he used to breed. They were fully furred and normal when they got older. Never knew why it happened. Not sure what causes it. I think the type of feed matters, imo.

sent from my incubator

[MootWorm]

My hubby had babies like that in his colonies,when he used to breed. They were fully furred and normal when they got older. Never knew why it happened. Not sure what causes it. I think the type of feed matters, imo.

sent from my incubator

Thank you! I was worried, they look so sickly. I currently have them on a lab block, but when this one runs out I have a low-fat block that I'm going to switch them to. They're also supplemented with greens and oats. Hopefully the new chow will fix these issues.

[Annarose15]

Have you checked for parasites like mange?

[Mrl249]

We had the exact same looking thing happen to us. It ruined our colony for about 8 months. We had to ween out all the ones that had it. Including most of our breeders and babies. We pretty much started a whole new colony :/

[MootWorm]

Oh dear lord, don't say the P word!!! Ugh that gives me the creepy crawlies. I'm gonna go tear apart my set up and check. Time to break out the magnifying glass!!!

[Annarose15]

Oh dear lord, don't say the P word!!! Ugh that gives me the creepy crawlies. I'm gonna go tear apart my set up and check. Time to break out the magnifying glass!!!

Hopefully I'm just reaching at straws. But, I know you'd rather be certain before you add animals that would just get infested in turn.

[MootWorm]

Haha thanks Ok so I checked over everyone, it seems contained to just 3 or 4 babies from that littler. Everyone else is fully furred, soft and healthy. Although from what I was reading, you'd need a microscope to see them :/ I'm thinking maybe it's over grooming, or possibly like with human children where they get bald spots from laying in one place too long. They little ones are always at the bottom of the pile. Would it hurt to treat them all for mites? I'm not a fan of over medicating...

[4theSNAKElady]

I would think if it WAS mites, all of them would be bald, cuz theyd all be exposed to mites.....if one has them and they live together, they all have em. I would lean toward some inheritance based thing and just feed out the bald ones so they dont breed more bald ones.

sent from my incubator