# Older mouse's fur



## MissMouse (Sep 10, 2012)

My older doe is about fourteen/fifteen months old, and I've noticed that the fur around her muzzle and eyes is thinning slightly (no bald patches or anything, and the actual area is _tiny_-the rest of her coat is fine). She's perfectly healthy and active, but I'm wondering if this is "normal" in older and/or poorly bred mice.


----------



## madmouse (May 19, 2012)

I've seen this type of hair loss on does pregnant with or nursing very large litters, does that had back to back litters, and mice that came from stressful situations (such as overcrowded feeder tanks). I wouldn't be surprised to see it on an older mouse, especially if it's a less robust animal. If you're sure it's not something parasitic or fungal (no itching, scratching, redness, crust, scabs, flakes, visible bugs and it's not contagious, spreading or causing weight loss), I would try just babying the mouse with a specially nutritious diet and lots of calm and quiet. That seems to work for tired does and stressed out mice.


----------



## MissMouse (Sep 10, 2012)

Thank you, that definitely helps. I can rule out parasites/fungal issues for now, then; she isn't showing any of those signs and I've checked her buddy as well.

She has been slim and petite from the day I brought her home, and she never grew and filled out like the other mice I've bought. (&#8230;I admit picked her only because she had the prettiest markings of all the mice in her tank, and now that I've been reading through more information, I think she easily could have been a runt.)

Can you suggest any particularly nutritious food for her? They get mealworms, cooked pasta, high-quality dog kibble, and fresh fruit/veggies as treats.


----------



## MissMouse (Sep 10, 2012)

I apologize for the double post, but after several long minutes and loads of blurry pictures, I managed to get one that at least showed that she is, in fact, a mouse and not a black and white blur on my hand.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/826/oie18201035u4by58kr.jpg/

I'm not sure how much help that picture is-the area between her eye and where her whiskers begin is fairly accurate, but the rest looks worse in the photo than it is when she's just sitting in my hand in normal lighting. The skin itself is a totally normal color, but the area really is that odd "v" shape.

Is barbering a possibility? The doe she lives with is the last mouse I would suspect of barbering, but I've heard of "self-barbering" as well, and this doe does seem to groom her face/ears quite often.


----------



## madmouse (May 19, 2012)

Thanks for the pic! That is precisely the type/location of hair loss I thought you were describing. The other info about her is also helpful. The diet you describe ought to be sufficient. I too try to just give them a bit of everything good (dried mealworms, dog kibble, lab blocks, plus small amounts of commercial rodent food (seeds & nuts), cooked pasta, bread, oats, unsweetened cereals). The way you describe her as petite and possibly a runt makes me think perhaps she is just an aging mouse of poor stock. In my experience it seems that runts and pet store stock simply age faster than well-bred mice. I have mice from good breeders that are spry at 2+ years and pet store mice that are elderly and failing at 18mos. My best guess is that age + genetics are causing the balding. Perhaps there's not much to be done for it.


----------



## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

My oldest boy Basil is 27 months and a produced from pet shop stock and his coat has only just started to thin, not to your girls extent though I will admit, he is just less fluffy.


----------



## andypandy29us (Aug 10, 2012)

she looks very similar to my mouse who passed away on monday at the grand old age of 21 months ....... shed lost quite a bit of fur near to her nose .... she has the same brown/black and white markings


----------

