# Scabby babies?



## Skye_29 (Jan 7, 2013)

Hi, slight issue with some week old babies.

This is one litter, born 27/2/23

















And this is another, born 28/2/13

















Can anyone help explain why the second litter has dry/flaky skin while the other has silky fur? I know that they grow quickly and that the younger litter might not have as much fur as each other, but this skin thing is worrying. The mothers are sisters with their brother the father and these are both their first litters. The only difference is that litter 1 is from a short hair silvery/blue broken/banded tan, while litter 2 is from a long hair broken black.

What can I do for these guys? I wet my fingers with warm water and handled them to see if it would hydrate them, but it seemed kind if pointless and their condition remained unchanged. The mother of them had a water bowl instead of bottle (because there was no way to attach a bottle to the plastic tank) which she kept knocking over. I replace water in bowls daily anyway, but could her dehydration affect her babies? Is there anything I can treat them with? Or is this me overreacting? :/

Thanks in advance.


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

try rubbing aquaeous cream into the pups the kind used for babies with dry skin, offer the mun her diet soaked in water for 24 hours to increase the moisture content for her, this is best done on a daily basis and only soaking enough of the diet per day.

You could try suspending a water bottle inside the tank using a metal coat hanger to support the bottle. Small loop at bottom to hold the spout larger one higher up to hold the bottle and either then looped over the side or through any ventilation mesh to keep it off the floor.


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## Skye_29 (Jan 7, 2013)

pro-petz said:


> try rubbing aquaeous cream into the pups the kind used for babies with dry skin, offer the mun her diet soaked in water for 24 hours to increase the moisture content for her, this is best done on a daily basis and only soaking enough of the diet per day.
> 
> You could try suspending a water bottle inside the tank using a metal coat hanger to support the bottle. Small loop at bottom to hold the spout larger one higher up to hold the bottle and either then looped over the side or through any ventilation mesh to keep it off the floor.


Thanks, I will see if I can get some and will also change the food for a day.

I meant to add, I just moved her to a proper mouse cage with a water bottle fitting. The other tank was too low for a water bottle to be able to fit, and there wasn't really any ventilation wide enough, it's designed to prevent small reptile escapees 

Do you know what caused this? Dehydration?


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

Could be several things that causes the dehydration from insufficient milk to a low humidity room, the most common cause is insufficient fluid intake. Do not change the diet just soak it in water for 24 hours before feeding to give the mum the extra fluid to help produce more milk for the babies, a change in diet can cause other digestive problems which whilst nursing should be avoided.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Since when has dandruff covered looking babies been a bad thing? It happens with all my litters and just means that the coat is coming in.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Cordane said:


> Since when has dandruff covered looking babies been a bad thing? It happens with all my litters and just means that the coat is coming in.


My thoughts exactly. Every single litter I can remember gets this coat around day 4-6 when fur begins to come in.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Thank god! I'm not going nuts! 
Skye - it's normal! The reason why one has a silly coat and the other has yet to fur up is because they are a day younger though in saying that, that doesn't mean all mice get their coat at the same age.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

:lol: You are not going nuts Cordane!!

Yes Skye_29 this is normal. Your babies are very cute by the way.


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## Skye_29 (Jan 7, 2013)

Ah thank god! I've never been one to check them constantly and seeing this for the first time was worrying :S

Thanks!


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Haha don't worry, I worried a little the first time it happened to though I was surprised at seeing babies anyway (first mouse turned out to be pregnant).
But yes, it's definitely normal. The ones you were originally worried about look quite good weight wise (not wrinkled babies)


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

At the time of initial responding to post I was unable to view any pictures and as such was giving advice as to the treatment for possible dehydration, which is what the op was worried about.

Maybe rather than jumping down peoples throats one should consider that not everyone has the luxury of being able to access a pc with full graphical facilities all the time, which in my case is the issue as at times I am accessing in total text mode only.


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

i didn't really see any throat-jumping... just saying...


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## Skye_29 (Jan 7, 2013)

pro-petz said:


> At the time of initial responding to post I was unable to view any pictures and as such was giving advice as to the treatment for possible dehydration, which is what the op was worried about.
> 
> Maybe rather than jumping down peoples throats one should consider that not everyone has the luxury of being able to access a pc with full graphical facilities all the time, which in my case is the issue as at times I am accessing in total text mode only.


I value everyone's responses and your information was particularly helpful. Being a novice breeder I'm glad to hear that it's a normal thing, but had it been dehydration your advice was sound.
I didn't see anyone directly opposing your response but please don't take offence from them, I found it useful and have stored your response for any future problems I may experience


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Pro-petz, can you please explain where anyone jumped down your throat? 
For now, I shall assume you were referring to my first reply on this thread and please know that I WAS NOT jumping down your throat in anyway whatsoever. While yes, I found what you said to be 'extreme', I figured you had a good reason for replying with what you did and I was merely adding my opinion.


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

Cordane said:


> Since when has dandruff covered looking babies been a bad thing? It happens with all my litters and just means that the coat is coming in.


I was responding to the last paragraph of the ops post 


> What can I do for these guys? I wet my fingers with warm water and handled them to see if it would hydrate them, but it seemed kind if pointless and their condition remained unchanged. The mother of them had a water bowl instead of bottle (because there was no way to attach a bottle to the plastic tank) which she kept knocking over.


It just seemed as though what I answered was totally wrong, but without pictures one has to go by what is written, as the op was concerned with what they thought was dehydration issue I dealt with that, as dehydration is a serious thing for any living creature irrespective of age.


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

again, nobody else sees any jumping, so why are you so convinced you were jumped on? i think we all figured it out ok.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

It may always happen like this, but I suspect it also depends on how much time the doe spends grooming the babies. It's also more noticeable on darker colors such as these are.


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