[ekramer2]

Hello,
I just picked up my hedgie this afternoon and she seems to be losing quite a few quills. The girl I bought her from says she is about 6 months old. I don't see any bald spots and she is being very temperamental. Lots of huffing and such; whenever I get near her she pokes her quills out and kind of jumps at me. Do you think she is quilling, or might she have mites? Thanks for any help.

 

[leannem]

It's always a good idea to get a new hedgie (or any pet for that matter) checked out by a vet. She could still be quilling a bit. Harley is now 8-10 months and he still losses the odd quill. I think a few quills here and there are probably normal though.

The huffing is something that may never go away. But it is totally normal, just your hedgie's way of sounding scary :lol:

 

[ekramer2]

I am going to take her to a vet soon, the next time I'll be able to is next weekend. I just want to make sure she is okay. She has a terrible case of dandruff for some reason, but i've looked closely more than a few times and haven't seen any mites! I THINK maybe her diet has something to do with it; the cat food her previous owner was feeding her (which I haven't changed yet) is Purina, and I don't believe it's a good choice. I'm going to the store tomorrow to get a better, hedgie-friendly food and slowly switch her over to it. I also bought her some Aveeno oatmeal bath today, going to try that out soon to soothe her dry skin.

 

[leannem]

Check out Reapers list of acceptable "hedgie foods" in the food and nutrition section. Most people use a mix or 2 or more to meet the dietary needs of hedgehogs. You can also feed mealworms and fruits/veggies as treats. Check out the diet section for what is ok and what isn't.

Flaxseed oil can help with dry skin. The capsule kind is best because it lasts longer. You can put a little in her food every day and if it's really dry you can drop a bit on her back. If you search flax seed oil I'm sure you could find a better desrciption on how to do this (Harley's never had dry skin so I've never actually put any on him, just in his food).

You can get the vet to do a skin scrape to check for mites.

Worry is what hedgie parents do! As long as you meet your hedgie's needs she'll be just fine
Lots of answers to questions you never even knew you had can be found in all the subforums. Stickies are a good place to start if you want to do some reading

 

[ekramer2]

Well what do you know... I already have some flaxseed oil.... Awesome!