Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / January 2005

I've noticed on older rats, they tend to lose hair and some also get gray
hair.
It could also be barbering. Do you see them over grooming too much?

As my rats have grown old they have lost quite a bit of their hair and their
fur has gone patchy - just the ageing process at work!  If your rats are
getting on a bit old age is probably the reason for this.  There are other
causes such as parasites and barbering.  I found the following info :
Hair Loss
Cause:
There are several causes for hair loss, parasites such as mites or lice,
self chewing, or another rat may be chewing the hair off (known as
barbering), old age may also cause thinning of the fur. Allergies that cause
excess scratching will cause baldness. Hormone imbalance or a poor diet also
caused this.

Symptoms:
Barbering will always look like a very neat patch of bald skin, in one or
more places on the body, head and necking being very popular. Self chewing
will present itself on the legs (especially the front ones) or lower back.
Usually there is no soreness of the skin. Hair loss due to parasites may
look sore, scaly or scabby, all over the body.

Treatment:
If you know for sure that one rat is barbering another, then the only
treatment is to separate them, although this problem rarely affects either
rat, it just makes them look a bit strange. A vet will need to determine if
the skin complaint is cause by parasites or allergies. But you can try using
a special small animal insecticidal shampoo (do not use dog or cat medicated
shampoos on rats) to see if the problem clears up first.

(Above from http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk)

Tracey