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many different mild issues... should i be worried?

1049 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by  SnufflePuff, 
cutietexan
well i have had theo for... 4 months and counting. hes been doing great and everything but i have been noticing a few minor things lately that i think i should mention... i dont know if it is actually anything, but it cant hurt to ask. well, theo will sneeze occasionally, about twice every time i take him out or so, but as far as i can tell, he doesnt have a runny nose or any discharge. although, i have noticed that right after i wake him up and he is right next to my ear, he sounds a little congested - like hes trying to blow water out of his nose almost. but then after about 20 seconds he will stop and sound perfectly normal.
okay, second thing. he quilled recently, (now 6 months old) and his skin is VERY dry. he only loses quills occasionally, but when i picked one up today i saw that it had a little glob of skin on the end. i tried to pick it off with my fingernail, but it was a little difficult. only after i gave him a flax oil bath did i read that in case he has a fungal infection that you shouldnt put oil on their backs because it could trap in bacteria, (oops!!!) so i feel kind of bad about that.
last thing. directly after the bath, he pooped a really really dark green (almost black looking
) extremely slimey, sticky poop. the best thing i could chalk that up to is stress, because i also clipped his nails tonight. thanks for anyones help. i just want the best for my little guy.
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Hedgies can still have Upper Respiratory infections even if they have no sign of a runny nose, because a lot of them will lick it up before you'll even notice. I would take him in to see a vet, especially if he hasn't seen one yet, and ESPECIALLY if you think he sounds congested. Congestion and normal hedgie snuffling sounds can be hard to distinguish, but as the owner I am trusting you probably know the difference between the 2. And if you don't, it is better safe than sorry, URI's can kill, quickly too.

The dry skin could just be that, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to have an experienced vet take a look. That way you know that you can treat with flax oil and not worry about making it worse.

Black and tarry = bad. It means there's internal bleeding and he needs a vet ASAP but I am hoping/assuming it was just really dark green which means stress or tummy issues...hard to say but it's probably stress.

I am just going to go with my first instinct here, go see a vet. It'll be a one-visit charge and you hopefully will get everything checked out, fixed up and ease your mind.

We can give you advice on here, but without physically SEEING your hedgie, we can't guarentee he's not sick. You as the owner KNOW your hedgie and if you feel there's something wrong, chances are there probably is.

Hope this helps :)
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