Quill Loss

[Spiff The Hedge]

Lately my hedgehog has been losing a **LOT** of quills! Last night I was playing with him and he must have lost about 20 in 5 minutes. He's to old for it to be another quilling, he's about two and a half years old I think, and this quill loss has been going on for two/three months. he hasn't been scratching at all so I'm not sure if its mites or not, and he doesn't have any bald spots. I am am quite concerned, should I be, and what do you think this is??! I'm thinking its mites and I'm very worried. Vet checkup asap?

[Hedgieonboard]

I agree, it does not sound right for a hedgie that age to be losing that many in a few minutes under normal circumstances. It's possible they were loose and handling made them come out but I would be thinking something was up too. Sometimes they will drop quills when stressed if there has been a recent move or change but 20 quills dropped that quick does sound like a possibility of something else. If you aren't able to think of a change that might of caused it I would take him in as a precautionary measure to make sure something else isnt' going on. If its mites they will be able to give you Revolution to treat him with

[Spiff The Hedge]

Originally Posted by Hedgieonboard

I agree, it does not sound right for a hedgie that age to be losing that many in a few minutes under normal circumstances. It's possible they were loose and handling made them come out but I would be thinking something was up too. Sometimes they will drop quills when stressed if there has been a recent move or change but 20 quills dropped that quick does sound like a possibility of something else. If you aren't able to think of a change that might of caused it I would take him in as a precautionary measure to make sure something else isnt' going on. If its mites they will be able to give you Revolution to treat him with

It could be the handling, seeing as I haven't been able to play with him very much in the last couple weeks... but you'd have thought that they would have come out while he plays at night. Which they do, I'm finding them everywhere, but on his body I haven't noticed any thinning or something. Is it possible that if it is very dry, his skin might get dry and let them get loose?

yeah, I just picked him up and about 10-14 quills fell out when I rubbed him against a cloth (to check if skin flakes had the possibility of mites) I am quite concerned

[Hedgieonboard]

If you found a bunch during playtime also then it does seem like it could be mites. If he seems uncomfortable you could always give him an oatmeal bath to soothe his skin and see if it helps til he gets the Revolution. It seems like many on here will treat for mites as a preventative if there is the slightest doubt since the Revolution won't hurt the hedgie if it ended up they didn't have them. Sorry you are going through this, seems like there is a lot of cases where hedgies will have an unexplained quill loss so I hope all goes good and that the little guy gets back to his normal self soon

[Spiff The Hedge]

Originally Posted by Hedgieonboard

If you found a bunch during playtime also then it does seem like it could be mites. If he seems uncomfortable you could always give him an oatmeal bath to soothe his skin and see if it helps til he gets the Revolution. It seems like many on here will treat for mites as a preventative if there is the slightest doubt since the Revolution won't hurt the hedgie if it ended up they didn't have them. Sorry you are going through this, seems like there is a lot of cases where hedgies will have an unexplained quill loss so I hope all goes good and that the little guy gets back to his normal self soon

Alright, do you happen to know the formula for oatmeal baths? And how much a Revolution shot would cost? My parents make me pay individually for everything related to my hedgehog and this sounds like it might be expensive ._.
Thanks for the well wishes! I'm sure he'll get better soon (: