Buck grease

[Riana]

I know it's a normal occurrence with male rats, but do any of you do anything to cut down on it? Do any of your intact males have a lot of it? Just wondering if that's something that some people try to manage.

 

[Helen]

One of my boys at the moment is pulling his fur out on his back where the buck grease is. He has a big bald patch now.
His hormones are making him miserable and so we're booking him in to be de-nadded - hopefully he'll be ok and happier then

I have few others with buck grease but they manage it themselves. I never bath my rats as they hate water and rip your arms to pieces if they even smell it :lol:

 

[SQ]

I believe rubbing a bit of olive oil into the back is supposed to loosen it so it will wipe off.

Don't know tho as it is not a problem with neutered males.

 

[jorats]

In the past, when I was feeding a bad diet, my males had tons of buck grease (sebum) to the point where their coats looked horrible and they weren't even old.
Now, the older they get, they have an excess, I believe it's due to not grooming so often.
Helen, now that you mention it, my neutered boys don't have an excess of it and their hair is super soft, unlike typical male hair.

BTW, do we say hair or fur? :scratch:

 

[Riana]

My guys have Oxbow available all the time, but I do feed them some HT 2018 blocks in the evening, and that seems to do them throughout most of the day, if not all, so the Oxbow is hardly ever eaten.

Could it be because they're eating a higher protein food now that they're older? It's just that I have so much of it left, I can't waste it.

 

[user 78]

Buck grease is a naturally occurring thing, and I've never heard of a relation of it being bad and a high protein diet. A bad diet of any kind will always make their coats look awful, buck grease or not. Males who are overly hormonal will have more problems than those that aren't, but you would usually see very obvious behaviors in addition to the grease. ie: marking alot, lots of dominant posturing, aggression, etc..

Feeding them a bit of olive oil usually shows some improvement. Taking a fine tooth comb or toothbrush and gently brushing them may help, too.

Neutering negates the effects their hormones have on them, so the buck grease wouldn't be produced in nearly the same quantity. Just as their behaviors change, so does their body chemistry. You're basically taking away the chemistry that make them Male.

 

[Fidget]

My boys had it, but it never was a noticeable thing with them or bothersome to them or me in any way. They didn't have it bad. I put olive oil in my kid's food at least once a week, I don't know if that had any influence or not, it's the only thing I did skin-wise tho.

 

[lilspaz68]

Yeah a crust of bread with olive oil is supposed to help.

If the sebum buildup is that bad you can carefully wash just that spot with Dawn liquid dishwashing soap. It will cut the grease, and then get him on the olive oil to see if it makes him feel better.