Barbaring

[LA]

I'm in a group on facebook and someone is asking about barbaring.

Here's her post.
I have 2 little girls about 8mos old. There's Spitz who's the bigger one and used to have gastro probs when she was a baby. And Penelope whos very high enery and dominant. Penelope will NOT stop babering Spitz (she's almost 1/3 "bald") and I think it was because Spitz was the weaker one in the beginning. They have tons of toys and I play with them all the time. I asked my bosses (vets) about suggestions and they cant think of any. They get along really well besides the barbering and are cuddle buddies. Does anyone know what I can do to stop poor Spitz from turning hairless??

I am not sure about what she means by gastro problems, this was posted on Dec 8 and she's now asking about megacolon yesterday. I will find out more about that. But can someone help with the barbaring question.

 

[mamarat]

I did try a product made to stop kids from sucking their thumbs, called thumbz, I put it on Dewi and Jedy did stop barbering that area. But if it's open and bleeding, it hurts the rattie. It would be ok just on the fur.

 

[jorats]

Barbering can be due to stress and anxiety as well as boredom. Were there any recent changes, like new pet, new cage, humans arguing more, etc...

 

[Godmother]

My Edith used to barber her sister Rhonda when there were just the two of them. Edie was the alpha. When they were integrated with a larger group, Edith stopped doing this.

One of my little foster girls just started barbering herself. Wish I knew why.

 

[jorats]

My Simon did it for awhile too. He was having a problem with food and sharing. Once I started to give him his own bowl and place him alone with the food while the others ate communally, he stopped barbering.

 

[Fidget]

Like Jo said it seems to be a reaction to stress/anxiety and/or boredom (which is a cause of stress/anxiety). As you can see from the answers the reason they feel that way may vary from kid to kid, so the answer is to hopefully find what is bothering that particular kid.

My Kiwi came to me badly self-barbered after living alone. He also would bite if I put my hand near his cage. He continued to live alone here but had a lot of individual timeouts with me and that seemed to be what he needed as he stopped both behaviours, his hair filled in, and he was a happy boy.

Maybe like Godmother's Edith Penelope's pack instincts are high and she needs more stimulation than just Spitz can provide?

 

[SQ]

My Lois used to barber her front legs up to her knees.
She stopped doing this once she was integrated in with my other rats.
I think she did it from boredom and also stress.
She did have occasional relapses but was fine for the most part once in with the larger group.

 

[Godmother]

The little foster girl, who is otherwise fine, has barbered up to the top of her front legs and started down her chest.

 

[LA]

Thank you all for your help.