losing hair and itchy flaky skin...

[haleyburger]

My hedgehog is losing hair right behind his ears just under his quills. He doesn't lose more than the usual few quills a week, but the little gap between the two clumps of quills on his visor seems a lot deeper to me lately. And he does have flaky skin and I can hear him scratching at night sometimes. I was ruling out mites because he isn't losing quills and the ones that have fallen out still have the follicle on the end, but I'm not sure if they affect the actual hair or not. I'm probably going to end up taking him to the vet to get him a dose of Revolution just in case, but I figured I'd ask here first in case he might just have dry skin that's irritating him, if any of you have any experience with this.

[HappyHedgies]

Could it possibly be that the room that he is living in is too dry because of the heat?

Maybe get a humidifier? We got one for our hedgehogs (our vet suggested it) and it has totally cleared up their dry skin

[haleyburger]

I'll definitely look into one but i'm more concerned with his hair falling out and the deep gap between his visor quills right now :/ its so sketchy though since he hasn't lost and severe amount of and the only few i see he does lose all have the follicle on the end of them.

[raerysdyk]

Pictures help. Could it be that you are looking at the double mohawk on your hedgies brow line? Hedgies have a little bit of a gap on their foreheads to allow them to lower their quills over their face. Also, I know Brillo has a touch of balding behind his ears where his quills start...he has a little bit of fur, but his quills don't immediately start behind his ears (if that makes sense).

Maybe post a few pictures? It sounds like what you are describing is normal...but hedgehogs are notorious for having dry skin, too.

Hedgehogs do occasionally just drop quills (similar to shedding since quills are modified hairs). So, the quills you are finding could just be normal shedding...?

[haleyburger]

I'll get some pictures of him when i get out of school today.

I am talking about the double mohawk thing, just that the space between them has been a lot deeper recently, or at least looks that way to me. Like the gap goes back to nearly his shoulders.

And i know about the quill thing too. I only brought that up for evidence against mites because he loses the normal couple of quills a week and thats it. But he does scratch and have dry flaky skin and 'dandruff'. Which is why i'm so confused, especially with the balding added on to this.

[haleyburger]

[attachment=1:1ktzuf6b]050312200806.jpg[/attachment:1ktzuf6b]
[attachment=0:1ktzuf6b]050312201220.jpg[/attachment:1ktzuf6b]
[attachment=2:1ktzuf6b]050312195840.jpg[/attachment:1ktzuf6b]

[moxieberry]

All of those photos look normal to me. Pretty much all hedgehogs have something of a thin 'bald' line where the fur meets the quills, including behind the ears. The reverse mohawk also looks normal, not any larger or more bald-ish than it should be.

[shaelikestaquitos]

Originally Posted by moxieberry

All of those photos look normal to me. Pretty much all hedgehogs have something of a thin 'bald' line where the fur meets the quills, including behind the ears. The reverse mohawk also looks normal, not any larger or more bald-ish than it should be.

+ 1

Looks normal to me :P Sometimes when it gets hotter hogs will start to lose fur and quills (kinda like shedding)

[raerysdyk]

Yup, I agree with everyone. The skin looks great, no redness or irritation. Welcome to the worried hedgie mommy club. Your little hedgie is just fine looking.

[haleyburger]

Thanks so much guys i feel so much better since you all say its normal. I was so worried about him since it kinda just popped up overnight haha. I feel so relieved