Mouse has bald patches and chirps. (Respiratory infection, mites, allergies)

Question
Hi,
    One of my mice, Stella, seems to have some sort of skin problem on her face.  A few spots that look like maybe the hair is coming out or something.  This is a more recent thing but she also squeaks (or sneezes- I can't tell the difference) a lot.  Is the sneezing/squeaking normal behavior?  She is otherwise very active, still eats and drinks, and is extremely friendly.  I don't use pine bedding and only use mouse food. Anything I should be doing differently?  I tried to find a "pocket animal" or "exotic" animal vet and couldn't find one in my area :(  I tried taking a picture of Stella but she was way too active to get a shot.  I decided to do a video instead since that shows the squeaking as well.  (Stella is the white mouse).  Thanks!

Here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVo95WupVLI&feature=g-upl

Answer
Dear Jessica,

The kind of chirping (wheezing, actually) she is doing is most commonly caused by a respiratory infection. Fur loss is most commonly caused by mites. So you may have both of these problems. On the other hand, each of those could be allergies, though I'm not sure if they could be the same allergy.

I searched back and found someone else who had both problems as well (her mouse was sneezing rather than chirping; and had redness under the bald patches; but the causes are the same), so I can give you a link to the complex answer I gave her.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2011/8/itchy-sneezing-mouse-possibilities.h

Let me know if there is anything I didn't cover. And let me know what happens. Best of luck to cute little Stella.

squeaks,

Natasha