What's going on here?

[Adam Chandler]

When I first saw this rat she looked like she had a pink stripe on her back, but looking closer it seems the hair on her head and along her back is very thinned out.


I've looked around but can't find any pictures of anything similar




Anyone have any idea what's going on with this girl?

[Rhasputin]

Molting.

[Rhasputin]

Here's a pic of a really bad molt on an ASF, different species, but you get the idea.

[SquamishSerpents]

haha wow....i didn't know they molt!! do the babies molt as well?

a couple of my ASF's looked like that so i switched the type of bedding i was using. seemed to clear up, but it took awhile. maybe it was just molting and it coincided with the bedding change!

[jasbus]

The old "reverse mohawk".... I get them all the time. They'll either bald out, or hair up..

[Jessica Loesch]

haha wow....i didn't know they molt!! do the babies molt as well?

a couple of my ASF's looked like that so i switched the type of bedding i was using. seemed to clear up, but it took awhile. maybe it was just molting and it coincided with the bedding change!

The bedding often will cause bad molting I hear. Aspen I think it is. Rhasputin?

[SquamishSerpents]

i've been using pressed pine pellets. it's called "Equine Fresh." i live in an apartment and breed them in my office so i really like that it cuts down on smell so well.

i switched the problem ratties to Kaytee shredded aspen (same thing i use for the snakes) and it seemed to have cleared up, but like i said could be because the molt is over. maybe i'll switch back to the pellets and see what happens.

[Rhasputin]

I don't know that bedding causes bad molting. It usually has to do with humidity.

I use pine shavings and shredded paper.

[snakesRkewl]

I don't think the bedding has anything to do with molting, they all molt, some show more than others, some you don't even notice it.
I've used aspen and pine and seen no difference in the molts.

[Adam Chandler]

Just a follow up, I'm not sure what was bothering her, bedding maybe, although she was the only one with thinning hair, maybe just stress or somekind of internal injury.

Regardless just to be safe I fed her off. I'll keep an eye on the others to see of anyone else starts molting, but hopefully it was just a isolated case.

Thank you everyone for all the information.