[prickleypair]

After placing our male and female together to breed, the female now has sores on her back.

For the first week, the two were civil but on night 8, things turned rough. All seemed well until I checked on our Molly that next day and I noticed a red patch of skin. A thorough scan revealed two red spots, some missing quills, and a few broken quills.

We immediately moved Molly to her own cage and I have been checking her bites daily.

Today, I noticed a change in the red skin spots. They are now oozing and look like a rug burn.

Her skin is not dry. I used some (quarter teaspoon) food-grade coconut oil on her about 3 days before I noticed the red spots.

Should I be treating her skin with hydrogen peroxide? Neosporine? Vet visit in order? She is most likely pregnant and I don't want to stress her or hurt the babies.

Help!

 

[Lilysmommy]

Wait a breeder or one of the admins to give further advice, but definitely don't use hydrogen peroxide. It destroys tissue rather than actually being helpful - not good to use on any wounds.

 

[prickleypair]

I decided to use neosporine until I found an answer and it looks like the wounds are less angry. They look like they've scabbed over and are less oozy. Boy did she not like me putting the neosporine on with a q-tip.

 

[sweetergrrrl]

I have heard that Neosporin doesn't always work on animals the same way it works on people and can be harmful if ingested. I would be really careful with it. And even though it is on her back, hedgies can contort themselves in crazy ways, so I consider no place on their body a "safe zone".

 

[prickleypair]

I have heard that Neosporin doesn't always work on animals the same way it works on people and can be harmful if ingested. I would be really careful with it. And even though it is on her back, hedgies can contort themselves in crazy ways, so I consider no place on their body a "safe zone".

I totally agree. Luckily, she's a pretty chubby girl (she came to us this way and especially now she's prego) and she can't reach her back when she anoints herself so I hoped a tiny tiny amount applied with a qtip would be ok.

I have an emergency hedgehog visit for a rescue that just came in so I'll take her along for the vet to look at her.

Ever heard of a wild American hedgehog? Neither had I until I got a phone call this afternoon.... A woman found a hedgehog in her backyard! Here's a video of him-

(PS I know he's not wild and most likely was an abandoned pet)