# Bad hair coat



## KDailey (Feb 16, 2012)

I noticed that my mouse's hair looks kinda "greasy"? The other mouse with long hair also has this same look to her coat. Someone else also commented on the condition of his coat in one of my other posts.

It kinda sticks to itself so when they move it's spikey where their body bends. What is causing this? Are they just dirty? Is it their food? Or do they just have bad hair coats?

Is there anything I can do to fix it? I'm assuming you can't really give a mouse a bath if they're just dirty.

Now this isn't that great of a photo, it's using my iPhone since that's the only way I can get it uploaded to photobucket but maybe you can see what I'm seeing.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Part of why it looks bad is that he's longhair, making him look even messier than normal. The fur sticking together, general greasiness, and exposed skin, though, does indicate a problem with coat condition. Food could be the problem, if they're not getting a good diet. Another option is temperature or humidity. If it's quite warm or quite damp, their coat will fall out of condition. The last thing I've heard of showing in the coat condition is infection. It's been mentioned here in other posts that some mice with E coli infections look greasy, but I don't know anything about the mechanism there.


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## Wight Isle Stud (May 19, 2010)

cut down on fatty foods n the diet, just feed plain foods for now and if that is the cause it will soon clear up. yes a small animal shampoo and a warm bath will help a lot.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

If you do decide to bathe them, to remove the current greasiness and see if it comes back, make sure to dry them as well as you possibly can. Mice can get quite chill, and water in their coats will make them very cold very fast. Imagine running around wearing wet clothing! :shock:


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## KDailey (Feb 16, 2012)

I'm just feeding them a rat and mouse mix from petsmart. I don't have the bag to look at it for specifics.

How exactly do you bathe a mouse? They're so small and squirmy


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

In general I get a bowl of warm water, put them in my hand and dip them in. If I need to, I hold on to their tail to keep them fro scrambling out... they don't like it! I never try to put their head under. And then I get a towel and hold them in my hands until they're dry.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Try Whisker City waterless shampoo for cats. I used that on some orphaned meeces that had gotten quite icky looking. I rubbed it on, dried it by brushing with an old toothbrush (I NEVER through awy old toothbrushes!)

I don't like the idea of getting a mousie soaked to the skin.


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## MoonfallTheFox (Nov 12, 2011)

I don't suggest bathing them.. you can take a damp paper towel and give them a gentle wipe down, but a full on bathing can make them sick or kill them.


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## KDailey (Feb 16, 2012)

Wiping does sound like a better option. Easier too.

Thanks. I'll try that


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