My Three Super Cute Hedgehogs!

[taylorndean]

I've always come to this website to read over other people's posts to get ideas and information, but I have a few un-answered questions of my own now so now I'm here!

I wanted to introduce my hedgehogs to everyone...


There's Solara, my 1 and a half year old hedgehog who acts like the motherly figure. She's salt and peppered colored with a dark bandit mask. Super cute
She's pretty much in perfect health. I got her from a breeder when she was a year old because they didn't want to use her for breeding due to her genetics. (she had a grandparent with WHS ) She's lost so much weight since I got her. Which is good! Because she was overweight originally.

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Then, there's Kovu. My 7 month old male who IS obese. I don't really know why. All my hedgehogs that i've ever had have been perfect weight but he is just MASSIVE. He does have some health concerns in my opinion. I took him to the vet and they charged me 250 dollars for a "everything seems ok" report. so now I'm left to figure it out on my own. He has very dry and flakey skin, and his ears are completely tattered and torn. I don't want to give him ivermectin anymore after hearing what it can do to hedgehogs. So right now I'm still trying to figure out what to do. (Tips are appreciated and welcome!)


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Last but not least, there's piper. She's my crazy one. She's going on 5 months old and she is super curious and loves to explore. But with that, she always manages to get herself dirty in her cage, and at one point ran on her wheel so much she lost the padding on her foot! (I treated this with Polysporin and it healed wonderfully!) She's super sweet and friendly, but always getting into things. She's extremely small, but healthy.

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and let's not forget Nala, my first hedgehog who I lost to what appeared to be cancer after 2 and a half years. She lives on though, you can google her name ("nala the hedgehog") and see all her cute pictures from when she was with us.

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I have a huge passion for these precious creatures and am always wanting to learn more to perfect my care for them. So I'm glad to be apart of this community now where I can learn more from other hedgehog owners.

[PrincessPuffinsMom]

Try treating Kovu with Revolution. Every 2 weeks for 3 doses. See if that clears up the dry, flaky skin and tattered ears. If not I would take him back to the vet for fungal/bacterial cultures. I just went through this with my little girl and she's on the mend.

[taylorndean]

Originally Posted by PrincessPuffinsMom

Try treating Kovu with Revolution. Every 2 weeks for 3 doses. See if that clears up the dry, flaky skin and tattered ears. If not I would take him back to the vet for fungal/bacterial cultures. I just went through this with my little girl and she's on the mend.

Thank you I will try that!

[happyhedgierents]

i've also had noticed some dry skin with my hedgie when we first got him. We tried Aveeno Lightly Scented Wash & Baby Shampoo, you can find it at your local Walmart for about 7.00 maybe a little more depending on your store for the small bottle. It worked so well with our baby. He seemed to be more relaxed after his baths, happier, and his quills were super soft after his baths too! ours lasted a year and thats with bathing him 2-3 times a week. Just fill the sink, put 2 squirts of it in the water and done! hope that helps. BJ's usually has deals all the time with this shampoo going on.

Below is the link for the Walmart price:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aveeno-Lig...ingMethod=p13n

[OscarTheHedgie]

I have this charm on my iPad

[taylorndean]

Originally Posted by OscarTheHedgie

I have this charm on my iPad

my baby! I love seeing that picture resurface <3

[taylorndean]

Originally Posted by happyhedgierents

i've also had noticed some dry skin with my hedgie when we first got him. We tried Aveeno Lightly Scented Wash & Baby Shampoo, you can find it at your local Walmart for about 7.00 maybe a little more depending on your store for the small bottle. It worked so well with our baby. He seemed to be more relaxed after his baths, happier, and his quills were super soft after his baths too! ours lasted a year and thats with bathing him 2-3 times a week. Just fill the sink, put 2 squirts of it in the water and done! hope that helps. BJ's usually has deals all the time with this shampoo going on.

Below is the link for the Walmart price:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aveeno-Lig...ingMethod=p13n

I'm definitely going to look into trying that! I've given him oatmeal baths in the past but saw no improvement. Maybe this product will do the trick!

[FutureHedgieMomma]

Was your big fella always big?? I just got an "8 week old" so they say and he's just huge. He appears to be quilling so it makes me think he's young but size wise he seems like an adult. Trying to convince myself I wasn't scammed and he can just me my little "big" baby boy.

[Skadi]

Originally Posted by taylorndean

He has very dry and flakey skin, and his ears are completely tattered and torn. I don't want to give him ivermectin anymore after hearing what it can do to hedgehogs. So right now I'm still trying to figure out what to do. (Tips are appreciated and welcome!)

Hi there,

I have been at my vet's just yesterday and asked him about dry skin. Treating it with oil did not really result in any long-term improvements. The vet explained to me that treating externally may actually worsen the skin's dryness. The easiest way to treat is supposed to be dripping their kibbles with a little bit of safflower oil. Maybe it will help you, too.

[taylorndean]

Originally Posted by FutureHedgieMomma

Was your big fella always big?? I just got an "8 week old" so they say and he's just huge. He appears to be quilling so it makes me think he's young but size wise he seems like an adult. Trying to convince myself I wasn't scammed and he can just me my little "big" baby boy.

he wasn't always big. Yours does look a little big for 8 weeks. Here's kovu at 9 weeks g.jpg

They go through Quilling more than once in their life! yours doesn't look chubby to me though, just larger than a baby would be. Did you get him from a well known breeder?