More squirrels with missing fur???

[puddinpie]

Hi Everyone.

First thank you all for your help and replies to my eariler posts about a squirrel that we think may have mange. We feed some squirrels in my back yard ( about 7 of them). One we noticed a week ago had a strip of fur from his upper neck down his back, about 3 inches missing. Also fur under his arms and around his neck is missing.

Here is my new issue. Today I had a couple other squirrels come up to my door and I noticed one of them also has fur missing like under his arms and by his chest as well. I tried to get a good look at it. The skin was really pink, but that may just be his skin color, I do not know. I also noticed this with yet another squirrel. I have not seen one with as much hair missing as the one I told you about earlier, he has the most missing fur. Now My question is, are they molting or do they all have mange?? I read that they usually molt in the spring around March. It is only Feb.8th, but weather here has been really mild, we had 40's all week last week and a couple days in the 50's. I do have a couple fatter squirrels I feed that I notice a couple tiny spots of missing fur, but nothing big. How can you tell between mange and molting? I am going to try and post a picture of the little guy who is missing the most hair, the one I spoke of in my earlier thread. I tried to get a picture of the other little guy with the hair missing under his arms and by his chest, but it did not take a great view of it, but I will try and post that one too. Bare with me, I am still trying to get the hang of posting pics online. :thankyou

[puddinpie]

Here are a couple pictures in the attachments that you can open of the little guy I was telling you about earlier who is losing his fur. you can see from the one pic that stripe down his back, and then on the other pic you can see it around his neck. Interstingly though, I seen him this evening and it looks like that line down his back is getting a tiny bit daker, maybe hair growing. Not sure what to think. He does itch alot though. Does molting cause itchiness??

[astra]

sometimes it's hard to tell, but..

one of the most typical mange patterns is to start around the eyes, ears and/or forehead, and/or neck and spread around shoulders and down further, so that it looks sort of like a vest (the bareskin "vest").
It does not always appear around the eyes, though, it might start from the scruff and spread around shoulders etc.
Also, if I remember it correctly, it is more typical of mange to actually get to the bare skin, while molt, often, seems to retain some of the downy underfur.

Also, molt often looks patchy, while mange does look like it's "spreading", if that makes sense....

It is rather early for molt, though... esp. where you are...
Even if we think of it in terms of "nature", it won't be in "nature"'s wisdom to have animals molt in the middle of winter as that may jeopardize their survival by exposing them to cold temps without warm coats.
The first pic with it starting around shoulder blades looks like a beginning mange pattern.
The second one, with bare pink skin and "spreading" look of the fur loss looks like mange, too. Also, I don't know if it's the pic, but his ears seem to be getting affected, too.

But, maybe, people with more experience will think differently.

[CritterMom]

Mange skin looks crinkly and sort of scaley - on the ears the tips look almost frostbitten. The pic of the back is just a nasy molt I think. The neck is harder to tell.

[puddinpie]

Thank you ladies for your replies. I am so unsure. The little one I saw earlier, not the same one as in the picture also had fur missing on his chest, and it looked really pink. Not crinkly or anything, just pink. But was that just his skin color?? I have seen a few of them with missing fur in different places, but mostly under the arms and chest. When we talked to the vet, he even wondered about molting. It is very early in the season, but the vet said that since we have been having a really mild winter ( mid 40's) where usually we are not above freezing during this time of year at all, that it may be that their bodies are reacting to that and possibly molting. He of course does not know for sure.

Is it possible for a bunch of squirrels to get mange?? These squirrels are usually not right next to each other together either when they feed. I do not have a feeder where the congregate together. I put out nuts in a couple different places. They usually will each go up to the nut pile grab a nut and then take it away and eat it. They all eat in seperate areas, so I cannot see them spreading it to one another unless they all nest together, which I do not think so.

The one in the picture with the stripe down his back of missing fur, today I looked at that patch down his back and it looked like it was a little bit darker, like maybe new fur coming in, but it is hard to tell.

Here is my dilema, I would really hate to medicate them if this was not indeed mange due to them possibly getting sick or a reaction from the medication especially if they did not even have mange. But on the other hand, if it is mange, then I would definitely want to treat them so they can get better and to prevent them from getting worse.

Our vet when we talked to him yesterday said that there are multiple things that can make a squirrel lose it's fur. He said one being hormones, also different nutrional deficiencies, and different illnesses, molting,and of course mange. Our vet was suppose to call me back today, but I guess he was really busy. I will call him back tomorrow and see what he says about the medicine. I am sure he will give it to me, but I ordered it anyhow on that horse.com site. It should come tomorrow. My only issue is whether I should give it to them or wait and see how they do. I am so uncertain now. It is so hard to tell between molt and mange I guess. I am really confused and do not know what to do for my little guys:dono .