My new “shaggy” Lil Monkey!!!

[AJ’S FUF]

Hay!
I’m Steve, or Pappy to my gran babies!
My daughter in law, son, and I have a small farm in Florida. We started taking in rescues and handicapped fur babies about 3 years ago. Aja, Jonathan, and I(Steve) (AJ’S) Always wanted donkeys!! Omg! Love these guys!
Have had them only three months!
Have a question tho! My new little boy, 1 yr. has long, shaggy hair! We live in Florida and it is 80 today!! Not a winter coat! Anyone maybe know why?

 

[minihorse]

Welcome to the forums. That's a cute little boy you got there.

 

[MaryFlora]

Welcome Steve! An awesome family enterprise taking in rescues!

I only have one donkey so am not very knowledgeable on donkeys but others on this forum are and will hopefully jump in!

Maddie, our donkey, has never had a coat like that and our winters can be cold, hard, and long. My first thought is worming. You no doubt worm your rescues but perhaps have a vet perform a count?

Since he is a rescue, do you have any information on his former diet?

Again a warm welcome and your little guy is very cute!

 

[MiniM@m@]

I don’t have anything to offer on the coat, but he sure is a cutie!

 

[Kelly]

Wow! That is one shaggy fur coat! ♥♥ Cute as can be!!

 

[Abby P]

Just guessing here, but he's still pretty young, this may just be a baby thing? See what happens in the spring (remembering that donkeys sometimes shed out on a different schedule than horses, i.e. later), assuming he's up to date on deworming as MaryFlora suggests. He is adorable!

 

[AJ’S FUF]

Can’t figure out what worming has to do with hair length? We are working on the worming process with the vet. He was in bad shape when he came to us, he wasn’t taken care of well at all!!
He is now fattening up and active and playful and loving, just like a little kid!
HE IS MY MONKEY!!

 

[Dragon Hill]

If they have a high worm load it affects their hair. The worms are stealing the nutrition needed for a healthy coat of hair. Usually a dull coat, areas where the coat is thinner than normal, and the hair doesn't shed normally. So you could end up with an animal that has extra long hair in some areas, and then areas where the hair is very sparse. But donkeys don't shed at all like horses and minis (both horses and donkeys) take longer to shed than the big ones.

 

[HersheyMint]

I don't have anything to add but a warm Welcome!
How wonderful that you are helping these cute guys.
I would love to have mini donkeys, so I'm jealous.

 

[AJ’S FUF]

My Monkey was skin and bones when I got him! They said he loves Oreos and potato chips!!! Ugh! Adopted him dec.6 and since then he has put on weight AND personality! He now runs to me for hugs! Could barely walk when we got him!
will update on worm results with pix soon!
Thanx everyone for the warm welcome and the advice! A happy EEEE-haw! to you all!

 

[DianaM]

I have shaved a hairy mini, why not a donkey?

 

[Pitter Patter]

Could he have come from the North, where it is colder? Could he possibly have Cushing's?

 

[Taz]

I've seen a lot of horses who are very thin/malnourished who have a really long shaggy coat especially when it's colder. Even though it's warm there it's still 'winter', he could have grown the hair to try to stay warm since he was so thin. Thank you for giving him a good home!!!!!!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

He is still very much holding onto his foal coat , they can sometimes hold onto this until 2, I had one that did until 3yo.

Dragon Hill is spot on about worms and long coats.


Glad he is making progress in your care, no wonder he was skin and bones on chips and Oreos