HELP! Dry skin or more?

[Dianaleebrown]

Hi everyone,

For the past couple of weeks I sometimes hear my hedgehog faintly scratching during the night. I sleep with him in my room, so sometimes when he runs on his wheel and such, I wake up.

Tonight when I was playing with him, I noticed some patches of dry skin between his quills (see photos attached). Is this just dry skin, or does it look like something more? I keep him on fleece liners, so I'm fairly certain it isn't mites. I also attached some pictures of what his quills look like when they're relaxed. He doesn't seem to have any apparent quill loss or gaps, which seems like a good sign. He is still eating (he LOVES his cantaloupe), pooping, and wheeling normally.

We have been keeping the AC unit in our room on almost 24 hours a day since it has been fairly hot in Southern CA. The AC unit does not point directly at his cage, in fact his cage is to the far left of the unit. I'm wondering if maybe this could be caused by dry air?

Does anyone have any suggestions, or comments based on how his skin looks in the picture? I hate the thought of something being wrong with my baby! Please help!!

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[Marissa90]

I just got my hedgie a week ago and I noticed her doing some scratching here and there, and her skin was really really dry under the quills. I saw a youtuber give her hedgehog a good spritzing of a dry skin treatment for cats and dogs but since I didn't have that on hand I gave Zoë an oatmeal bath with no soap, it really really helped the appearance of her skin under the quills and she hasn't been scratching at all. I just filled the sink with semi warm water dropped in a cup of raw oats until the water was really brown, then let her play in it making sure the water hit her back.
I'm not a hedgehog expert but hopefully that can help your hedgehog like it did mine

Marissa

[Dianaleebrown]

Oatmeal baths haven't helped to relieve this problem. It does for maybe a day or so, but it reappears. But thank you for your reply Marissa!

Does anyone else who has more experience with hedgehogs know if this is just dry skin or something else?

[Dianaleebrown]

I wanted to follow up with this and see if anyone can offer any advice?? I tried Vitman E soft gels, and his skin may look slightly better, but I still hear him scratching at night, and now he seems to be increasingly scared/nervous when I handle him. He got scared the other night when I applied the Vitmain E oil to his back, and rolled up so tightly into a ball for 30+ minutes (something I've never seen him do before) and refused to come out.

Since that night, he's been very quick to ball up and stay that way. He always tries to get away from me now when I handle him, and I'm not sure what to do ? Can anyone offer any advice??

[Quillys_Mom_Punky]

I am not an expert, but certainly it sounds like this calls for a vet visit. Any change in behavior should be examined, because hedgies are natural prey animals and hide injuries and things like this pretty well.

[CaramelSlade]

The air might be dry.
You can also try a different type of oil. My hedgehog Michi gets like this. I sometimes put a little olive oil in her food & I put oil on her skin (which she hates; she balls up & hisses)
Before applying the oil, put it in a small bottle then place it in a cup of warm water to warm the oil up. I mix apricot & vitamin e oil right now before I used olive oil. She doesn't seem to mind when the oil is warm. I also apply the oil with a dropper. It gets in between the quills to make sure the oil is directly on the skin.
I do this after her baths & depending on the weather, twice a week. I've only put olive oil in her food twice this year. Maybe it'll help.
I'd def say try to find an oil that works & apply it while its warm so he won't freak out as much.

[nikki]

If he's scratching it very well could be mites. They can have mites even if they're on fleece liners. I would take him to the vet and get some Revolution for him.

[Nyanyami and Mochii]

Originally Posted by CaramelSlade

The air might be dry.
You can also try a different type of oil. My hedgehog Michi gets like this. I sometimes put a little olive oil in her food & I put oil on her skin (which she hates; she balls up & hisses)
Before applying the oil, put it in a small bottle then place it in a cup of warm water to warm the oil up. I mix apricot & vitamin e oil right now before I used olive oil. She doesn't seem to mind when the oil is warm. I also apply the oil with a dropper. It gets in between the quills to make sure the oil is directly on the skin.
I do this after her baths & depending on the weather, twice a week. I've only put olive oil in her food twice this year. Maybe it'll help.
I'd def say try to find an oil that works & apply it while its warm so he won't freak out as much.

I tried to use pure Vitamin E Oil, which is very viscous, is yours like this too? Will it become thinner when you heat it up and possible to apply with a dropper?
I could not apply the thick oil between Mochi's quills, where her skin is the driest...
So maybe a dropper would work.
Mochii hated me for applying the oil more than bathing, so getting it between the quills was as good as impossible.

Any "how to apply oil" tips appreciated <3