Hairless looking weird

[Akasha]

Scrapper is about 5 weeks old. She is a beige hairless and cute as can be.
But everyone here is worried about her. She is very active and into everything,but her belly is huge.
Due to the size of the litter, we started putting boys andgirls into their own cages at 4 weeks, so we dont think she is pregnant,but you bever know.

When you look down on her,her sides stick out and you can see a bit of black on both sides of her.
When yuo pick her up and look at her belly its very dark looking and yuo can see a black band going around her.

What could be wrong with her?

[coeurfragile]

Has her middle been growing very fast?  There is a condition with rats called Megacolon,  in which there is an intestinal blockage that occurs very rapidly and can be fatal, especially in younger rats.

I don't want to scare you, but without pics or more info I'm just kind of digging around in the dark here for possible causes.

Here are some website references to Megacolon:

http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php
http://www.ratfanclub.org/megacolon.html

You can also type "Megacolon" in the search bar of this forum and get many results, often with pictures of others' rats who have megacolon, and can see if your girls' symptoms or pictures have any resemblence to their cases.

Best of luck!

[nevadamoon]

I would have her checked out at the vet for megacolon, as that's what it sounds like to me.  Can you keep her on her own for a day or so to see if she's pooing/the type/consistency?  With megacolon, the nerves that control the intestine don't work properly, and so they can't pass anything, and there are a number of nasty ways it eventually will kill them.

There are -some- treatments for MC, but as young as she is I'd be worried it was early onset, in which case euthanasia is really the only option.    I really hope that's not the case.


MC babies from the mom I took in earlier this year:
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/ohmaibobby/168.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/ohmaibobby/166.jpg

They have fur, but you can see the body shape.  They were about 4 weeks old there.  They were very active, but as MC progresses lethargy and other symptoms can emerge.

http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php

[Akasha]

I moved her to her own cage earlier today so I could watch her. I actually brought her home with me, so I can watch her better.
 Compared to the boys she sleeps alot more.
 She is pooing on her own, its a dark greenish color and its mushy.Its a bit longer in shape then the others.

I'm noit sure how fast her middle has been growing, since I dont see them everyday and theres so many,so its kind of hard to keep track of everyone and how fast they are growing,but I noticed the other day she had a big belly.

If one has it,whats the chance of others having it? All but 4 boys and 2 girls were adopted, and we would really hate for someone to call in telling us one if their rats died.

[nevadamoon]

I would get her to the vet ASAP just to get a proper diagnosis, but it doesn't sound good.  :/  I wish I could be more reassuring. 

In Quinn's litter, there were 4 babies, and all but 1 had it.  The one that did not have it is still alive and thriving (She's still with me.) but the babies that did have it were either high-white (had a blaze) or were splotchy.  I have no idea how it would be noticeable in hairless rats, but if it's shown up in her I would imagine the others would either be showing signs, or noticeably had it by now.  It's a genetic problem, so the risk is there.  It may be a good idea that if it is confirmed in her, that you contact the adopters just to let them know what to look out for, and have the other babies checked out.  If it's later-onset MC, and it's not a severe case, there are things you can do and the rats can lead relatively normal lives, they just need special diets and enemas.

[Akasha]

She is 33 days old.
 I know for sure, I will have to call the lady that adopted 3 of the hairless boys.
There was a size difference in 1 of them compared to the others.
 The girl is a bit smaller then the others we have left.

Is a headspot a high-white? A couple of the berkshires have a spot or 2 on their belly, is this a high-white sign?

[nevadamoon]

Size differences can indicate problems, too.  If the other girls are looking normal, I would think they are probably fine, but I would have that one boy who was smaller then the others checked on just to be safe.

I think headspots are high-white, but I'm not 100%.  Nina (the girl who survived Quinn's litter MC free) has a little white triangle on her chest, so I wouldn't worry about spots on the belly.  Blazes/splitcaps/white that goes up the side (I think that's cap stripe, but I'm a real idiot on markings. ) are all high-white I believe.

http://www.dreameyce.com/eagleseye/rattery/ratinfo/rat_markings.htm

[Akasha]

The grandma(who we have here) is black hooded "mottled" with a headpsot.( I dont know markings very well)
The mom is a black berskhire and the dad was a black capped. We have reason to beleive this was a inbred litter since the only other known inof is that the grandpa was a beige hairless.
 No other set of grandparents were given to us or talked about.

[scout]

There are several genes that can cause head spotting. The high white gene can cause it and is the one associated with megacolon. If this was a planned breeding, you don't want to breed these parents again or any rat related to these parents. If it was accidental, I'd recommend getting them neutered so you don't have any other accidental breedings. If they came to you as rescues, thank you for taking them in and giving them homes. It's heartbreaking when megacolon turns up in a litter. The only way to get rid of it is to make sure the parents never pass on that gene.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your little one and her litter mates.

[Akasha]

She is from the rescue litter who we got in here.