Buck Grease

[1lila1]

My two rex boys always seem to have more buck grease and orangy skin than the others.  Right now I have one of them on my lap and he's got tons of orangy dandruff all over him.  We just went through a bought of lice but they got ivermectin, medicated baths, and then I used revolution a week ago when it was time for another ivermectin dose.  I'm pretty sure it's not lice but just dandruffy flakes.

My question is what could've caused this surge of buck grease?  Their diet hasn't changed.  I have noticed that my older boys had more buck grease when they were 3-7 months old but have hardly any for the last few months.  My 3 younger boys, the two rex's and a standard PEW, generally have more than the older boys.  Is it an age thing?  The particular rat I'm talking about now, Cecil, is about 7 1/2 months old.

What could've caused all this stuff now?  It's much worse than normal.  And can I give him a bath with even though I dosed with Revolution last week?  Any suggestions or your experiences with buck grease would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[ginniejollie]

Hi Lila, hehehehe it's wonderful isn't, welcome to the world of hormonal men    Everything you are noticing is definitely normal for boys.  Is it related to age, well, yes and no, it's more to do with 'puberty' which can be from approx 4 - 8 months of age, then you will have the 'Alpha' thing, if there is a presence of another boy, they will secrete hormones to mark their territory or the other rat/s, or when fighting.   

There's really nothing you can do, constantly bathing a rat, I personally don't recommend.  It doesn't hurt the rat in any way, but each day I brush my boys with a baby's brush, which just helps to take some of the buck wax out of their coat.  As you have commented, it usually settles the older the rat, but of course there are always the exceptions, I know, I have one 

[Reverend Sin]

My one boy is just a ball of buckgrease even with a great diet.  A bath with  some original dawn dish soap helped a little bit but that was after like 3 baths with it. Not fun. You can give olive oil on bread to help with it too.
I actualy used some peanutbutter on his fur before the bath and it worked the best but he is still  a ball of grease. His fur looks wet most of the time because of it. He has darker greasy looking curls lol and very orange skin. The tooth brush thing hasn't done anything for us.
Thats the only things I know that semi help. I've just come to except I have a very greasy rat lol.

[1lila1]

Well I'm glad to hear its sort of normal for boys.  Cecil's fur does look greasier than normal but it doesn't really feel greasy.  All my boys have beautiful coats but Cecil's has always been a little weird.  So it's not so much the grease as it is the orange brownish gunk that comes off in flakes like dandruff.  I think I'll give him a bath today.

[Celestrina]

What is buck grease (just thought I would show off how little I know)?

[kreestole]

Over the years I've noticed that rexes do seem to show the grease more. I think its because their coat is thinner and sparser than a regualr coat. I don't think they produce more grease in general though just because they are rex, just that the thin hair shows more skin so its more noticeable.

[SR&P]

What is buck grease (just thought I would show off how little I know)?

It's orange greasy stuff hormonal boy rats get sometimes on their backs. I haven't yet experienced it, my boys are only babies.

[1lila1]

Over the years I've noticed that rexes do seem to show the grease more. I think its because their coat is thinner and sparser than a regualr coat. I don't think they produce more grease in general though just because they are rex, just that the thin hair shows more skin so its more noticeable.

Cecil definitely has more of this stuff than any of my other boys.  My two older boys barely even have discolored skin.  And their backs are white, a PEW and a hooded, so any orangey stuff would show up pretty well.  I do see what you mean though as the hair curls and leaves more of the skin exposed sometimes.  But this morning he has so much more dark orange dandruff than he's ever had before.

[Reverend Sin]

My rex boy definitely has more then a normal male as well but I think its just him, maybe not that he is rex. Like I said his fur is almost matted together because of the gooey brown was crap, so it looks wet al the time. Its annoying, but he is soo cute  he makes up for it.

[fuzzy_ferret_luver]

I have a young boy too (not sure how old he is, got him from Petco, anyone know how old they generally are there? He doesn't look like a baby) so I haven't experienced it yet either.
So it doesn't happen to ALL boys?

[1lila1]

I can only speak for my boys but they all got it to one degree or another.  Cecil is the only one that it's really bad.  I guess they all show different symptoms though because my boys don't get really greasy, just get brownish gunk on the skin that flakes off sometimes.  I think their hormonal adolescent stage has a lot to do with it.

[RKEM]

I've found that more "hormonal" males tend to grease more. I also had a surprise when I had my boys neutered (so they could live in a mixed colony) ... all the buck grease went away. I'm not suggesting you neuter b/c of buck grease but it seems to point to a hormone connection. You could try and feed them a tiny tiny bit of olive oil on bread once a week. They love it and it seems to improve hair / skin condition. I also like to rub some olive oil on their tails after cleaning them to hydrate the skin.

[1lila1]

They are going through adolescence so I'm sure hormones are part of it.  They don't act like a typical hormonal male and for the most part things are pretty happy and quiet.  Buck grease is not detrimental to their health is it?  If they were acting up I'd neuter them but I don't think I should do it just for buck grease esp. since I don't plan on getting females.  If I had females I'd spay or neuter to avoid any unforseen accidents, plus I'd want all my babies in one cage.   

[hydra]

I've found that more "hormonal" males tend to grease more. I also had a surprise when I had my boys neutered (so they could live in a mixed colony) ... all the buck grease went away. I'm not suggesting you neuter b/c of buck grease but it seems to point to a hormone connection. You could try and feed them a tiny tiny bit of olive oil on bread once a week. They love it and it seems to improve hair / skin condition. I also like to rub some olive oil on their tails after cleaning them to hydrate the skin.

Hi,
Just wondering......won't olive oil give the rats diarrhea?
My boys definitely have the orange skin alot.....but, I always thought giving them oil could lead to the diarrhea so I've never given them any....

Carol

[RKEM]

Never heard of olive oil giving diarreah. Mind you I wouldn't feed the say a whole tablespoon of olive oil, just a piece of bread teh size of a small dice dipped in olive oil and they've always been fine.

Some oils are used as laxative like ricin oil but as far as I know, not olive. If olive oil were a laxative, considering how much they use in italian cuisine ... it wouldn't be pretty 

[Reverend Sin]

ewwwww RKEM!    I live on olive oil so I agree it wouldn't be pretty! My babies get Olive oil on bread or lightly drizzled on their kibble and I've , I mean they have never had any stool issues.