Issues with fur

[teemu]

Hey, it seems like I'm having two separate issues with fur on my degus, and I'm wondering if people could advise.

First, Pulla's fur has become oddly knackered. I think this is from Posso grooming him when she was still alive, but in his neck and shoulders is a large black area, so it looks like his fur has been trimmed there (since agouti hairs are brown on top and black near the root). His fur also feels a bit coarse. I'm not sure what could be the cause, as nothing has really changed in the cage. He also does not sand bathe extensively, so it wouldn't be from drying out due to that, at least.

Other than that, I'm wondering why Pipari's belly is still bald. Her belly was shaved when she visited the vet, but that was over three months ago at this point, and no hair has grown at all. I have observed similar situations with degus before, where an area that has been shaved or overgroomed just does not seem to grow back. Would this be due to them constantly trimming it, or because degu fur just does not grow back quickly at all?

[moletteuk]

When fur grows back in after overgrooming, as I recall, it grows in darker first, also shoulders are the favourite area for extra grooming attention, so I agree this seems the most likely explanation for Pulla.

I don't have experience of degus having fur shaved, so can't say much about that, it would seem a bit odd to me that they would overgroom the shaved patch exactly evenly over the whole area that was shaved, but I suppose anything is possible.

It does take a while for fur to grow back in, perhaps something in the region of 3 months to be fully restored, and perhaps a couple of weeks to start to be visible.

Main priority is that the skin looks healthy, there isn't much to be done about fur other than diet.

[bouncy]

Agree with Molette. Any fur growth is always darker in agoutis. In fact, the only exception to this is degus with champagne colouring because the hair is always darker at the root.

It can take months to fully grow back!

[teemu]

It's interesting, I remember Pulla also taking a really long time to grow back his belly fur. Three months have gone by, and Pipari's belly is totally bald still, exactly as it was when they shaved it for the examination. I agree that it seems doubtful that she would just be pulling out the exact hairs that are growing back; if it was due to overgrooming she would have a much more ragged and uneven bald spot now. But still, it's been since the start of november, closer to four than three months, and there's not even a stubble in there.

I've sometimes wondered whether or not it only happens when they change coats, between summer and winter, and that's why it might take so long.

But in any case, the skin itself seems healthy and normal, and it does not look like she's scratching or biting the area, so it's probably not a problem at all. Just strange.

[teemu]

As an addendum to this topic, Pipari's belly fur is now finally growing back, just as she's changing to summer coat. I really wouldn't have thought that they just might not grow fur back otherwise (surely they must, in some situations at least?), but nothing happened for about 5 months and as soon as she's changing coat, her belly starts getting covered again. Strange!

[moletteuk]

It almost seems like degu back hair must have continual loss and replacement, like human hair on the head, but belly hair only grows at the time of a full moult, presumably twice a year. Never heard anyone mention this before, although it does sort of ring a bell that some areas grow back quicker than others.

[teemu]

That's a good point. I have seen degus take a long time to get their belly hair and other underbits back (like for example if someone has pulled fur from their hand for whatever reason), but the coat on the topside does not seem to be as slow.

[savvy]

I wonder if its a sun protection thing, as in an exposed hairless back would be very susceptible to sunburn, but an underside wouldn't.

[deguconvert]

That sounds plausible.

[teemu]

Yes, it would certainly be harmful. It's also likely for camouflage. A pink belly is not going to be so terrible, since ideally no predator should ever see the belly, but a bright pale back is going to tell every bird of prey, cat and fox that a meal is served...