Bald spot could it be mange or molting?

[Lance]

I'm trying to figure out why Douglas is losing his hair. First let me throw out a little back ground. Douglas is about 7 years old he has been my buddy since he was rescued as a little guy and has spent the past 7 years living indoors in the cage in the pic bellow.
The problem is he has a worsening bald spot forming on his back that started couple of months ago. The skin is not scabbing or red or agitated looking in any way. At first I didn't think much of it because he has actually lost hair on his back like this before, but it would actually grow back in in an even pattern. Never understood what caused it. Maybe Molting?
I don't see how it can be mange because he's never exposed to the outdoors and the only other animal in the house is a cat that is an indoor cat. Any input would great. The pictures aren't that good, but they were the best I could get.

[Rhapsody]

How is his Calcium intake - Is he eating lots of Calcium enriched foods?
Does he get much Sun Exposure for Vitamin D?

[mugzeezma]

How is his Calcium intake - Is he eating lots of Calcium enriched foods?
Does he get much Sun Exposure for Vitamin D?

Squirrels have a high Ca requirement. Sometimes this shows up as what is called Kitten Fur Syndrome. If he hasn't molted this way before and his environment and diet are the same as they have always been I would tend to believe it is not molt.

Has he lived in the same cage in the same place all this time?

What is his diet like?

Do you feed any rat block?

[Bill]

Douglass our Douglass Squirrel has molted twice in his two years, about year apart, lost all his hair execpt on his head and tail. Our vet up here gave us recipe that has helped him and the other squirrels we have, 1 Eastern Foz, 1 Eastern Gray and another Douglass, none of them have had this problem. Any way try 1 part Flax Seed oil, and 4 parts Olive oil, 2 drops daily. It does work.
Bill

[Lance]

Thanks for the responses. He has been in the same cage for since joining the family 7 years ago (see pic below), but we moved several times during that period which is quite stressful for him.
I guess when I break down his whole world and move it somewhere else it can be a little difficult. I just moved about a month ago and if it wasn't for the fact that this hair loss started before the move I would assume maybe it was just due to stress from moving.
His diet is about the same as usual. He eats a little of everything. Nuts, berries, apple, oatmeal, pistachios, fresh corn, parrot food, hamster and gerbil food, not too many veges though.
I've tried rat blocks many times before as I no they have a good balance of nutrition, but unless I starve him of anything else he wont eat them.
What foods should I be focusing on to insure he is getting the proper calcium?

[Lance]

Oh yeah, he gets plenty of light. He is next to a window and he has a uv light.

[mugzeezma]

You can try the BooBall recipe we have in our nutrition forum to kick start him.
Parrot pellets are pretty fair.
You can try adding omega3 and flax oil to his diet also...1/8 tsp per 1lb of food
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Here is the recipe and instructions (it is equal amounts of powdered rodent block, FV dry formula, crushed pecans):

50 grams rodent block (crushed to a fine powder) I use two (25 grams each) , Kaytee Forti-diet and Harlan Teklad 2014 or 2018.

50 grams powdered Fox Valley squirrel formula

50 grams crushed pecans

Mix ingredients together.

Mix organic baby food fruit (100 grams) and 20 grams Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil together and warm for 20 seconds in the microwave. Add this wet mixture to your dry ingredients until well blended. It will seem very wet. (I use Earth's Best Organic Apples & Plums).

Put in the refrigerator for 5 hours (Overnight is even better). This lets it set up. It softens/moistens the rodent block and dissolves the FV.

Once you are ready to serve it take out about a 1/2 tsp (5 grams) of the mixture and roll is in your hands but not so much that it will melt the coconut oil. Give it to your squirrel. This recipe feeds two squirrels for about a week.
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I do this recipe by volume rather than weight using equal parts and a half part nuts.
I also mix in the coconut oil

[djarenspace9]

This is the healthy diet guidelines:
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16093

As you can see vegetables are a big part of that diet.
The amounts of the foods you give him may also be an issue.
I was feeding my squirrel a very imbalanced diet prior to learning here on TSB.

I thought I'd have to starve my Missy to force her to eat the good stuff,
but all it really takes is being consistent.

I give her the Henry's blocks first and make them with her favorite nuts (pecans).
Mid-day I give her veggies, and at the end of her day (late afternoon) she gets a small bit of fruit and any nuts or acorns.

She got used to it real quick and always eats her good stuff first!

I think making her blocks made all the difference, she never liked the store brands.

[Lance]

Wow! Henry's Blocks are expensive. The recipe for making my own blocks seems like a great idea. I also think that Douglas would have no problem eating them because of the pecan mixed in. He's a freak for pecans.

I've obviously been slacking in the diet I've provided him. I'm going to change that immediately. Don't know if that's what is causing the hair loss, but I guess its a good place to start. Thanks for the help folks.

[Scooterzmom]

Wow! I love the set-up your buddy has. I wish I could have one made like that.

I got Hami some Teklad blocks and I also make him some HHB's and I'll be starting making boo-balls too.... This way, I figure that if I ever run out of one or can't provide one kind he will already be used to the other kinds and will not turn up his nose at them. So far he loves both the Teklad's and the HHB's... and since he loves coconut I see no reason why he won't like the boo-balls.

My only prob with him is making him eat his leafy greens: he loves the blocks, ADORES avocado and he has a sweet tooth: if he had it his way he'd rather survive on blocks, avocado and fruit. Spoiled brat. :shakehead

[Irence]

they look so pitiful, you can use anti-lice because maybe it's infected with bacteria rolling ball 3d (https://rollingball3d.com)