can hair loss in degus be genetic?

[bjames]

Im asking this because originally i made a post about my degu rupert, he had a bald patch on the back of his neck and i thought something was wrong with him, people in the forum then suggested overgrooming and i left it at that thinking it probably was over grooming however, ruperts hair has never grown back, its exactly the same as it was ages ago but now.... the exact thing is happening to lance, starting the same way, slowly getting bigger and i bet it will be just like ruperts bald patch.

rupert and lance dont live together. i cant see it being a flea or tick because it hasnt effected ruperts cage mate oscar or lance' cage mate toto.

so it has made me think.... are lance and rupert brothers with a genetic problem?

[Cherpi]

Me, my dad and my brother all have a slight bald patch on the top of our heads and our hair line goes in really far, I guess it could be in the genes, it can happen in humans it can happen in degus... maybe get into contact with whoever owned their parents (unless you do) and see what the mother or father looks like, if they have a bald patch, if that is possible of course. Good luck

[bjames]

i got them from pets at home, i doubt they would have a clue, thnx anyway

[deguconvert]

Degus are actually known to have a predisposition toward alopecia . . . sorry . . . should have thought of this before. So yes, there can be occassions where bald spots show up spontaneously. Sometimes they will fill in again, sometimes it takes a while for the regrowth to happen. Most times it WILL re-grow . . . but there are times when the bald spot just seems to stay.