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Post by fishstikk on Apr 18, 2012 20:12:49 GMT
Hi guys,
One of my degus (Shawn) has patches of missing fur on his paws. They don't look hurty and don't seem to bother him when I stroked them to see if they hurt. I noticed them about a week ago and checked old pictures of him to see if they've always been there, which they haven't. What's happened, anyone have anything like this before?
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Post by yasmin on Apr 18, 2012 20:53:52 GMT
None of my degus have ever had (yet) fur missing on their paws but one of my degus, Lilac, once lost a patch of fur on her back. It did grow back and was probably caused by a hormone imbalance or the stress of having given birth. Degus can suffer from alopecia (hair loss) when stressed. Also, my degu Rei has a small circle of fur missing above her nose; this is caused by her incessant chewing of the bars.
You might want to watch and see if you observe Shawn either 1) overgrooming his paws, or 2) digging repeatedly in such a way that he is rubbing the fur off of his paws. Or, has anything changed recently in his environment?
Hope this gives you some ideas on what might be causing this.
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Post by fishstikk on Apr 18, 2012 21:24:48 GMT
Thanks for the reply, I have been thinking of over grooming, he is a bit OCD when it comes to, well, everything. I'm not 100% sure though because I never really see him grooming his paws. I changed the cage today, took a shelf out, added new things etc which through him off a bit, to which he decided to eat his bed. I'll keep an eye on it, if it gets worse I'll take him to the vets but it doesn't seem too bad at the moment.
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Post by amie on Apr 18, 2012 22:27:24 GMT
It's normal. Sammy constantly has little black furless paws. He likes to groom them! Nothing to worry about  |
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Post by Kins on Apr 19, 2012 8:28:02 GMT
My Stanley goo also has little baldy, black front paws, it seems to be a recent thing. He's not bothered by me touching them. It can be a sign of boredom, but as my boys have a plenty big enough cage I know it's no that. I think it's just something they sometimes do...along with all their other weird and wonderful   behaviours. |
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Post by listracian on Apr 19, 2012 12:54:37 GMT
Merlin also grooms his paws, he started it due to boredom but now I think it's just a habit. He did break the skin once from over grooming them but he obviously learnt because he hasn't done it since!
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behaviours.
