Sorry I didn't respond to this earlier, but I am trying to not sound redundant in my posting as all active people in this community know I am going through this very thing with my boy hog Leroux.
He has flaky skin and also has quill loss (about 10-20 a day) and there is flaky skin at the end of the fallen out quills yet sometimes it just has some gunk at the bottom of it with the follicle attached (which is really has nothing to say for mites or not.. a lot of people seem to think if the follicle is attached, there probably isn't mites.. but that isn't the case). I have had my guy on meds for other ailments and fungal tested, skin scraped= nothing. My whole herd is being treated with Revolution since there is a new addition to the family, so hopefully in a month or so, it might be a solution.
Watson is probably more grumpy than usual just do to being uncomfortable and that also might be why his appetite is down. Same thing with my situation too. I just constantly weigh my little guy, once a night at the same time, and also, I do count his food to closely monitor his good nights vs. his bad nights. As far as bathing, I think I made the mistake of bathing my guy with flax oil too much and that might have caused some clogging of the pores which is probably what the gunk is at the base of the quills he is losing. In my case, I have stopped bathing my guy until this all clears up (and yes, I get the hive or two when holding him as well... hehe). I would recommend maybe that you keep up with the Flaxseed oil on the food and just give that more time. But, if his quill loss keeps up, it might be time to make a vet visit to see what is going on.. Our little hedgies are very good at hiding illness and that is why monitoring stool color and consistency, food and water intake, activity level/mood changes and keeping a very close eye on their weight during these times is imperative (it is always good to do, but I seem to get quite obsessive about this when something might be up).
How is Watson with his treats (if he likes any that is..) and activity level??
He has flaky skin and also has quill loss (about 10-20 a day) and there is flaky skin at the end of the fallen out quills yet sometimes it just has some gunk at the bottom of it with the follicle attached (which is really has nothing to say for mites or not.. a lot of people seem to think if the follicle is attached, there probably isn't mites.. but that isn't the case). I have had my guy on meds for other ailments and fungal tested, skin scraped= nothing. My whole herd is being treated with Revolution since there is a new addition to the family, so hopefully in a month or so, it might be a solution.
Watson is probably more grumpy than usual just do to being uncomfortable and that also might be why his appetite is down. Same thing with my situation too. I just constantly weigh my little guy, once a night at the same time, and also, I do count his food to closely monitor his good nights vs. his bad nights. As far as bathing, I think I made the mistake of bathing my guy with flax oil too much and that might have caused some clogging of the pores which is probably what the gunk is at the base of the quills he is losing. In my case, I have stopped bathing my guy until this all clears up (and yes, I get the hive or two when holding him as well... hehe). I would recommend maybe that you keep up with the Flaxseed oil on the food and just give that more time. But, if his quill loss keeps up, it might be time to make a vet visit to see what is going on.. Our little hedgies are very good at hiding illness and that is why monitoring stool color and consistency, food and water intake, activity level/mood changes and keeping a very close eye on their weight during these times is imperative (it is always good to do, but I seem to get quite obsessive about this when something might be up).
How is Watson with his treats (if he likes any that is..) and activity level??
