# "Wet"fur



## Elsa

Hello,

I am a bit worried about my mice. They have developed a "wettish" untidy fur. Nothing has changed in the care or food. Temp never goes over 25C or below 17C at night. Same pellets as I've given them the last 3 years. Same brand wood shavings (changed every 5 days) I have two rats living less than a metre away that are not showing any symptoms.


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## WoodWitch

Does it seems greasy rather than wet? Do the mice have a funny smell (associated with the grease)? Are there any other symptoms, such as runny faeces?


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## Elsa

No, not greasy, in fact the fur isn't really "wet" as such. It's more the appearance. No other obvious signs. Every now and then I breed them and this little runt has the same condition.


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## Elsa

Sorry, forgot to post photo.


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## SarahC

the adult(longhaired) looks like its got urine on it's fur or has been under a water bottle.The baby looks like a normal longhair albeit a runt.


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## Elsa

Thanks,

Repositon the water bottle and give them a gentle wash?


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## raisin

I'd say don't wash your mice. The mice will do that on their own, and washing them in water will add to whatever stressors are already making them look greasy.

These mice look to be in a similar state to those one of my science teachers was breeding for snake food. His problem was that he never changed their bedding. They couldn't clean themselves with all that pee soaked wood touching them. Those were some unhappy and stressed mice. After more frequent cage cleanings, their fur returned to a neater, shiny state. The babies too.

Your bedding looks rather pee-yellowy to me. Granted it could be the natural color of it/photo quality, but in my experience, clean wood chip bedding is a more beigey color. If your bedding is soggyish or sticks to itself/the bottom of the tank, then that's probably too long to go between cleanings.

It could also be the type of bedding. Pine and Cedar are usually agreed upon as no-no's. But I've had all kinds of problems with aspen. I recommend going to with plain ol' shredded newspaper or "yesterday's news" brand pellett bedding if it turns out that frequesncy of cleaning isn't the issue.


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## Elsa

Thank you. I do change bedding every 5 days, but after all the rain we've had the wood shavings felt "sticky" I have now swapped to shredded cardboard and the problem is gone!! Thanks to everyone who responded>


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