Fur loss. What's going on here?

[FourWands]

I just typed this long post and then Dunk ran over my computer and deleted it! ::sighs::

Okay, Take Two.

Duncan has big patchy spots that are growing. No obvious scabs but his skin and fur is really dry and he's itchy. (Cold dry climate and heat running non-stop does not help!) I started treating him for mites last week and he has now had his second dose of ivermectin.
Similar to Milo's Mom's question (I didn't want to hijack her thread) but what's going on here? Mites? Coccidia? Nutrition?
He's a picky eater so nutrition is a distinct possibility. He gets HHB's but I think he's just tears them apart to get at pecan bits and dumps the rest. I made him Boo Balls and he wanted nothing to do with them. I offered FV in a bowl and he ignored it. The Henry's "Picky Blocks" arrived today and I am hoping he will try those. He definitely could stand to gain some weight but I'm trying not to give in and give him the nuts he's desperate for. In the meantime he gets greens, some fruit and a little piece of avocado daily. I have some wild foods stashed in my freezer and I will give him some of that as well but not daily - acorns (he only likes white oak acorns), maple seeds and beech nuts.

He is otherwise seemingly healthy - runs around the house for several hours every day, no weird poop... just itchy and missing fur.

Any thoughts?
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[kastillo]

This could be something as simple as molting..

But it could also be a reaction to laundry soap, etc....

Give it a couple weeks for the ivermectin to work, and see if you see new growth.

Get him on that healthy diet, asap, sometimes you just have to leave them in their cage with just their henry block and leave the room... if you are in there with him, you could distract him and he could beg you for nuts. So give him some time alone with his block first thing in the morning for a couple hours to see if he'll eat it.

Maybe others have some ideas, but this is all I got for now....

1.Check to see if anything has changed in his environment. Laundry soap, lotions, perfumes, sprays, etc... on him AND you.
2.Get him eating his block.
3.Wait and see if the ivermectin works.

[TubeDriver]

I would give the Ivermectin some time to clear up the mites. You should also wash any bedding, and consider steam cleaning his cage. Otherwise he could get reinfected.

In terms of HHBs, his diet has to be corrected. Tough love will work. Give him HHBs and nothing else until he starts eating them. Nuts are only treats and not really part of his diet. He might be a stubborn little fellow but he will not starve, he might hold out for 2-3 days but then he will eay his blocks and get used to them.:thumbsup

Be very carful about feeding him frozen acorns. We have recently seen squirrels getting poisoned and killed by aflatoxin which is found in acorns. The float test wil not determine if the acorns are safe. It sounds silly but we DO NOT recommend acorns for squirrels at this time. You can see postings about this in the diet area.

[edit - I just saw that Kastillo said pretty much the same thing. Sorry for repeating stuff]

[lukaslolamaus]

My almost 6 months old Toby had some hair loss ( not quite as wide spread) that I blamed on his brother Gabriel:poke, but now I know it was nutrition related . They both weren't crazy about HHB but I stopped giving them nuts altogether and now they're both eating they're blocks. Toby's hair grew back almost over night and his fur has gotten much softer.
I hope your little one will like the picky blocks. mjsmjs

[FourWands]

Thank you for everyone's help.
I will go ahead and washing his bedding tomorrow when he is out of his cage.
I usually give him at least one block in the morning, right after I get up, because I won't be able to get to him for two hours or so and I am busy during that time. It gives him a chance to eat without trying to beg for nuts. I also need to hide the mason jar full of them. I swear he prays to it like it's his very own nut altar. If it's out of sight for a day, he is more likely to at least try the blocks. He's unfortunately gotten very good at opening cabinet doors and has been raiding whatever looks good.

I really appreciate the heads up about the acorns. I missed that and I definitely don't want to hurt him! Now I just wish I had collected more maple seeds and beech nuts!

[farrelli]

Here's the acorn thread:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44354-frozen-acorns-kill-squirrels

One poor lady lost six of her babies all at the same time due to this.

How did he take to the Picky Blocks? You really do have to get that, FV, or Henry's vitamins into the mix. This could be molting or mites, but some people changed diet and this kind of thing went away very quickly thereafter.

[Milo's Mom]

I went with the Ivermectin treatment for DoDa. Have not seen any positive changes yet, but I do know it takes a little time.

A little trick with the HHB's, since they have to be kept in the fridge, nuke them for a couple seconds, like maybe 3 or 5 seconds just to take the chill off....they seem to be yummier when warmed a bit. Another thing I have done with my HHB nut pickers is to slice the HHB into 3 or 4 thin slices...cutting the nut pieces even smaller...I no longer find HHB crumbs. :grin2

[lukaslolamaus]

I need to try slicing the boys blocks some days they make a bigger mess than others:tilt

[Milo's Mom]

I need to try slicing the boys blocks some days they make a bigger mess than others:tilt

Try it, you'll like it!! :grin2

[Milo's Mom]

This could be something as simple as molting..

But it could also be a reaction to laundry soap, etc....

Give it a couple weeks for the ivermectin to work, and see if you see new growth.

Get him on that healthy diet, asap, sometimes you just have to leave them in their cage with just their henry block and leave the room... if you are in there with him, you could distract him and he could beg you for nuts. So give him some time alone with his block first thing in the morning for a couple hours to see if he'll eat it.

Maybe others have some ideas, but this is all I got for now....

1.Check to see if anything has changed in his environment. Laundry soap, lotions, perfumes, sprays, etc... on him AND you.
2.Get him eating his block.
3.Wait and see if the ivermectin works.

:goodpost:goodpost

[farrelli]

Some people brush them with oil, some put blueberry juice, on them, some FV. You've just got to keep trying things until you find a winner.

[FourWands]

So far, the picky blocks seem to be a winner! He still tears them apart and leaves a lot of crumbs but I think he's eating more of them anyway. He's still a baby - probably born around 8/1/13 - so finding him an extra source of protein would be nice but I'm really glad he seems to like the picky blocks. I've given him mealworms in the past but he usually only takes a bite or two and then moves on.

I've tried cutting up the HHBs in the past but because they dry out and get hard faster that way, he's even more more likely to ignore them. He only wants them when they are soft (although I don't know if he will feel the same about the picky formula). I've soaked them in juice, FV, soy milk (he will do almost anything for soy milk) but no luck. I'm not giving up though!

His bedding is in the wash as I type and, since I can't steam clean his nestbox (he sleeps in a wooden cockatiel nestbox), it's out on my porch in sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures right now.

Hopefully between the new blocks, the ivermectin and giving his belongings a good cleaning, his fur will come back in.

[Milo's Mom]

Give him the block in the morning and nothing else. They are pre-programmed to not starve to death. He will eat them. We call it tough love. It is food, he knows it, but it's like any other kid....candy bar or broccoli? Hmmmm???? If he has nothing else to eat, he'll eat them.

[Anne]

Hey, I stream my nest boxes all the time. Just give them a few hours to dry. Be sure not to get them too wet while streaming- just a good all over inside, wipe the outside with a bleach soaked sponge and you're good to go.

[farrelli]

Lots of people brush up those crumbs (lots of good nutrition in them) and roll them into a ball with almond butter or something to get them to eat ALL their blocks.

Btw, sqs are by nature a low protein eater, so don't worry too much about it. As long as the blocks are consumed, you should be good.

[lukaslolamaus]

Lots of people brush up those crumbs (lots of good nutrition in them) and roll them into a ball with almond butter or something to get them to eat ALL their blocks.

Btw, sqs are by nature a low protein eater, so don't worry too much about it. As long as the blocks are consumed, you should be good.

I will be buying some almond butter

[farrelli]

No salt. SOme people also use apple sauce, some other things. Just gotta try.

[lukaslolamaus]

No salt. SOme people also use apple sauce, some other things. Just gotta try.

I forgot about the almond butter but I have apple sauce