What is going on with my girl's skin/quills?

[hedgieteen]

I have posted before but I don't know what's up.
I would say she has mites, but she DOES NOT itch.
She is losing a lot of quills and is REALLY upset and stressed it seems, all the time.
Can hedgehogs quill later on in life?
I have been spraying with Humilac, a LOT. And olive oil baths, oatmeal baths too.
She lost 20+ quills just in her bath today.
Her attitude is making it impossible to cut her nails.
I really need some advice, my friends, and this is the only place I could think of to ask.
I'm not sure what is "vet material".

The other thing is, she had a weird scare last weekend, I think she attempted hibernation. Even though her cage is at least 72F all the time. It took a long time to heat her back up an she hasn't been the same since.
What can I do? She is normally a sweet girl but her emotions even affect mine and push towards my own panic attacks when I just can't seem to calm her.

[RondackHiker]

She may need a warmer cage. The minimum recommended is 73, and she should be kept a few degrees warmer for a week after a hibernation attempt. Do you have a thermometer in her cage? Could there be a draft?

I think they can quill later on, but I'm not sure.

[SpikeMoose]

For starters I would raise her cage temp a few degrees, maybe shoot for 74. Every hedgie is different and the "recommended" average I've seen lately is 73.
Could you answer a few questions to narrow it down?
How old is she?
What bedding is she on?
What is she eating?
What are her poops like?
Have you changed anything? Cleaning supplies, objects, lotions, homes, etc.
How often do you bathe her?

Stress, diet, and health can all play a part in quill loss. I would suggest not bathing her with any oils, if its some kind of infection that will actually lock it in to her skin and make things worse.
I would make vet appointment. They will do a skin scrape to narrow down the possibilities and treat her.

[hedgieteen]

How old is she?
9 and a half months.

What bedding is she on?
Strictly fleece with a paper towel in pan under wheel.

What is she eating?
She's been on the same 3 part mix her whole life. Royal Canin Babycat 34 + Natural Balance + Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice

What are her poops like?
Her poop is normal.

Have you changed anything? Cleaning supplies, objects, lotions, homes, etc.
Nope, her schedule the same too. I just clean the wheel, her bowls, and switch out the fleece all as needed, at LEAST weekly. (She's not a huge runner)

How often do you bathe her?
With Aveeno Oatmeal Shampoo about once every month. But she gets regular baths with maybe oatmeal more often than that, I am sure the warm water helps her skin.

Should I give her a plain water bath tomorrow to get the olive oil off that I put on today?
I also have been using Humilac.


STRANGE UPDATE: She's still very fussy but earlier she went outside and was SO happy, running around, annointing, sniffing. She hadn't been out in awhile and she LOVED it. Didn't seem ill AT ALL, until we brought her back in and now she's quite fussy again.

[Keosha]

The same thing happened with my Lily when I first brought her home. Both her and her sister were treated with revolution as a precaution because Lily seemed to be losing some quills, though no itching was present. Afterwards, they had a check up and got the all clean, and Lily in fact did not have mites and seemed to be a healthy hog, so the only thing we could attribute the quill loss to was stress, because shortly after she stopped losing quills and has warmed up to me and beena doll ever since.

[hedgieteen]

Originally Posted by Keosha

The same thing happened with my Lily when I first brought her home.

I've had her since she was 6 weeks old, could it still be this?

[alexvdl]

Hedgehogs quill at weird times. IF her skin suddenly got a lot drier for no apparent reason, she could be going through the first part of quilling. Reginald is at the end of his "six month" quilling and he'll be eight months old her in a couple of weeks. Both times he quilled it started out as really bad dry skin, and then he was like that for a while before the quills started piercing his skin. He's passed the part where he's super grumpy and is back to his active self, though the quills are still coming through, with some of them not erupted yet.

[stringmouse]

my Hilde went through the same thing when she was around 10 months. We tried revolution as a precaution but in a follow up, she was still losing quills but was negative for mites. The vet gave me a special conditioner shampoo (Duoxo) to bathe her in weekly and some fish oil caplets to put in her food. I had been giving her flax but vet said fish oil might work better for her. I put it on her food every day. I am also giving her a liquid calcium on her food. Since then, her skin has really improved and so has her mood.

[reedwoman814]

Sounds like an early 1 year quilling.