How to stop barbering?

[lfavicch]

I have a southern flying squirrel who is about 7 months old now. He is on a diet of squirrel blocks, an assortment of fresh veggies, fresh fruit and yogurt (not too too much), and nuts, seeds, and mealworms (these only occasionally) as treats. He gets out of his cage at least a few hours a day, and the cage itself is absolutely enormous with lots of toys, things to chew, nests to hide in, etc. Overall he seems completely healthy, and I always make sure he's getting enough calcium and protein. Nothing has changed in his daily routine or in his behavior, but a few weeks ago he developed a bald spot on his head. It does not look irritated, red, or flaky, and it's only that one little spot on his head, so I assume it's barbering. He must only do it at night when I'm not around, because I've never actually caught him in the act. He doesn't pay any mind to it whenever I see him, and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. I'm just wondering what I might be able to do to prevent him from rubbing his fur off in that spot, or if there's something I'm doing wrong that's causing this? Thank you.

[Trooper]

Hi Ifavicch; welcome to TSB. My 7 years old eastern gray Trooper has three nests or drens he likes to sleep in, two are fluffy fake sheep's fur and the third is a wood nest I built when I was trying to release him 6-1/2 years ago (it didn't take).

So, because it is his longest known sleeping quarters, he most of the times sleeps in the wood nest. His usual posture while sleeping is rolled up like a potato bug with his head against one of the walls. For a while he too developed a somewhat bald spot there until one year he decided to sleep outside (outdoors) in his exterior soft nest and the bald spot went away.

Any possibility this is happening to your flyer as well?

Regards,

Trooper's dad

[lfavicch]

It’s funny you say that because he actually just changed where he usually likes to sleep. Before he always slept in a little wooden nest, but recently he’s taken to sleeping in one of his soft ones, but I first noticed the bald spot shortly after he changed nests. I wonder if there’s something wrong with his former favorite nest which caused him to change, and not being able to sleep there is stressing him out? Idk, might be grasping at straws here, I never could figure out the reason why he moved.

[HRT4SQRLS]

If the spot is on top of his head, it isn't barbering. Barbering is usually on the abdomen, arms or legs. For it to be barbering he would need to be able to reach the area to pull the hair out. I can't see any way that he could reach to top of his head.
He might be rubbing the head on something. He isn't a bar chewer is he?

I would check the inside of the wooden box. I have had squirrels completely chew the predator guard out of wooden nest boxes and leave exposed nails.

[lfavicch]

I see, could it just be over-grooming then? I've seen him reach that spot when he's cleaning his face. I've never seen him do it aggressively though. I don't see anything in any of his nests that should have caused anything like that. Thank you for all the tips, I'm going to keep searching for possible causes.

[JoeysMom]

My squirrel Joey had a few bald spots on his head at one time, I was pretty perplexed as to what caused it. The first thing I eliminated from his cage was a wood plank he liked to pancake out on. I thought it was untreated pine, it wasn't. A few days later his hair grew back. Maybe check the wood materials if there are any in the cage. Treated wood I figured was the culprit. No other issues after that.

[Diggie's Friend]

It doesn't take much to cause an issue does it!

[Floppysquirrel04]

I have a flyer who had a barbering problem for about 2 years. It got to the point where he has more baldness than fur, even thou he had a perfect diet and got playtime and toys and everything. One of the things I did was stopped putting dryer sheets in with his things. I also changed out the sticks in his cage regularly so they are more interesting and fresh. I also rearranged his things more, and got him new toys and hides. Also adding more wild food helped, but I think the biggest problem and problem changer was PROTIEN. You mentioned earlier that you'd occasionally give mealworms? Change that. Give him mealworms and waxworms, 3-4 a day as part of his diet. Don't give him super worms, which are different from mealworms. SFS are the most carnivorous of squirrels, so you can give him hard boiled and cooked eggs, chicken, ham pieces, and bits of turkey. Never give the skin if it has any seasoning on it, even salt. I did all of this about 3 months ago and it has gotten so much better, and is almost fully grown in. If it's on the top of his head only, it's not barbering. Even if he grooms the top of his head, that's not it, something else is going on. Can we have a picture of him and maybe his cage?

[karriemed]

I have a southern flying squirrel who is about 7 months old now. He is on a diet of squirrel blocks, an assortment of fresh veggies, fresh fruit and yogurt (not too too much), and nuts, seeds, and mealworms (these only occasionally) as treats. He gets out of his cage at least a few hours a day, and the cage itself is absolutely enormous with lots of toys, things to chew, nests to hide in, etc. Overall he seems completely healthy, and I always make sure he's getting enough calcium and protein. Nothing has changed in his daily routine or in his behavior, but a few weeks ago he developed a bald spot on his head. It does not look irritated, red, or flaky, and it's only that one little spot on his head, so I assume it's barbering. He must only do it at night when I'm not around, because I've never actually caught him in the act. He doesn't pay any mind to it whenever I see him, and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. I'm just wondering what I might be able to do to prevent him from rubbing his fur off in that spot, or if there's something I'm doing wrong that's causing this? Thank you.

My little flyer developed a bald spot before. I finally figured out it was from her not making the hole big enough in the nut shells and was rubbing it off getting to the goodies. I started cracking them with pliers some before giving them to her and haven't had the problem since.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Thanks for that insight karriemed. That makes perfectly good sense.