Molting? Or something to be concerned about?
I've had my New Zealand buck Yancey for about 9 months now. He's very shy but has started to warm up to me lately. When I was petting him the other day, I noticed that the fur on his underside felt different, kind of stiff and wiry.
Today he flopped over on his side (that means he's happy/comfortable, right?) and I got this picture. When he's standing up you can't see the lighter colored areas/wiry fur at all. The fur on his head and back is very soft.
I took him out for a closer look, he has some dander but I didn't find any mites or fleas or scabs or noticeably irritated skin. He's eating and drinking fine and behaving normally and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort as far as I can tell.
Is he just molting? Does he need a bath? I'm worried that trying to bathe him would be very stressful for him. He's very skittish and while he's warmed up to getting attention in his cage he doesn't seem to enjoy being picked up.