So I just adopted hokubahedgie's hedgehog Magellan from her, and she has been dealing with dry skin on him for quite some time, which features a pretty good quill loss rate.(I was rubbing a spot on him for two minutes and 6 quills came out, with ball follicle attached. There is skin and some times what looks to be a type of foggy white substance around the base of the follicle) So I figure it is my chance to give it a shot. He has been treated for mites(just in case, none were present) tested for fungus, and has had vitamin E rubbed on him. He is around 2 years of age.

I talked to my parents who are both really experienced with animals, and they say it is his diet probably, and I should try to get a supplement in there. I put a bit of the Vitamin E on a meal worm last night for him, and I will go out and buy some flaxseed mill and oil for him to chow on.

Next bath he gets will be in Aveeno Oatmeal, but I am pretty fresh out of ideas.

The only thing that I believe is out of place is the potential gunk(? It could be natural. I'll try and get a picture of it.) around the quills at the base, most tend to just be dry skin, but sometimes it seems to have that moisture to it. I will be taking him to the vet soon, to get him acquainted with him, and I figure I will have another fungal test done.

I was also thinking this: I was scooping out his shavings (pine, spruce and fir)for him with my hand and when I was done, I noticed a bunch of saw dust from the wood on my hand and I thought, "could this dry his skin out?" I plan eventually to switch over to liners of fleece with terry cloth in between, so this might fix it...

If anyone has anything to add to this in anyway, let me know. It will be an on going thing though, if hokubahedgie's history with is is any indication. I have been reading on it pretty extensivly the past month, or so, and reading all of people's posts from back in the day, but I can only see and retain so much. I look forward to your responses!

-Thank you
from Magellan and Jeremy.

Welcome to hedgehog ownership, Jeremy! The only thing you can truly count on from a hedgehog is that you can never truly count on a hedgehog. *grin* Dry skin, quill loss, and flakies sound like mites to me. Do you know what the mites were treated with before? Maybe it either didn't get the problem solved, or the mites came back. I would get a dark piece of paper, hold the hedgehog over it, then ruffle the quills. Then shine a good light on the paper and watch the skin flakes. If they move, you are dealing with mites. Sometimes you have to watch for a minute or two to see the movement though.
Some beddings can dry out the skin, so changing to liners may help there. Good luck with finding the cause and getting it fixed!
Becca

Hi Jeremy,

Welcome to HHW! My first hedgie, Daisy, also had very dry skin. I had gotten into the habit of squeezing a drop of vitamin E on to her kibble at night, but she got very sick and died in February at which point I heard from a hedgie breeder that the vitamin E might have contributed (but not caused) some of her liver issues. I'm not trying to scare you, but you might want to stick to just applying the vitamin E on the skin and quills rather than having Magellan ingest.

If there are any more experienced hedgie owners or breeders out there who know more about vitamin E as a dietary supplement for hedgies then feel free to speak up!

Thanks for the responses!

dzmeadows wrote:

QUOTE:
Dry skin, quill loss, and flakies sound like mites to me. Do you know what the mites were treated with before?

They were treated with Revolution, which Magellan's previous owner still had some left over and gave to me. I will attempt the dark paper trick in a few.

Chrissyld8 wrote:

QUOTE:

I heard from a hedgie breeder that the vitamin E might have contributed (but not caused) some of her liver issues. I'm not trying to scare you, but you might want to stick to just applying the vitamin E on the skin and quills rather than having Magellan ingest.

Oh goodness! Duly noted and thank you. I guess that will be the last time the E goes into his stomach except for anoints.

I attempted the black light trick for fungus and didn't see any green around his quills.

I will make the switch to the liners in a few days, I don't want to cause him too much stress, he already is uncomfortable when I handle him and shoots for the nearest shelter when I put him down. I only had him for a few days now, so it is understandable.

Off to get some black paper.
-Jeremy

Soooo the vet said he has mites! But didn't even do a skin scrape...

:hrugs:: Oh well...too busy trying to clean EVERYTHING! :igh:: I have way too much stuff...

-Jeremy

What did the vet give you for the mites??

Don't worry, I had revolution from Hokuba, the previous owner. I am right now trying to find out how long he should have the Revolution applied until I can give him a full bath. He recently anointed with his bowel movements and stinks, lol.

-Jeremy

Revolution prescribing info

http://www.revolution4cats.com/default.aspx?sec=Prescribing%20Information

It says in the link above that you only have to wait two hours to bathe them after-that sounds sort of short to me, but if it's been a few days since he had the revolution, I would bathe him if he's stinky

Sweet, good to hear. Thank you all for all of your help.

-Jeremy

Magellan is doing pretty good! In the past few days, it was like a switch went off, and he went from 10-15 quills a day to like 3 or 4. I will be giving him his second dose of Revolution in the next few days.

Besides this, I have been doing a few different things, feeding him veges, superworms (bout one a day), slowly transferring him to my own mix, and I switched out his wheel with a custom one I built, because the last one was broken...sorta.

All seem to be doing well for him, less poop, more bouncy hedgehog, good good times. Keep ya'll updated some more.

-Jeremy