[CyndyHedgehog]

Hi all,

I've been struggling with a wound on my hedgehog for almost a month now and nothing seems to be working..Here's the full story.

I noticed a small scab on the underside of my hedgie (just below her mouth on her chin/neck area) but as it was small and already healing on its own I figured it would be fine. That was until I noticed it had been getting bigger and had caught her chewing at it, at which point I brought her into the vet right away. They did a bunch of tests and ruled out mites, dermatitis, and a boatload of other skin infections and ended up chalking it up to a scratch she might have gotten from something in her cage and her constant picking just has to do with the fact that the area is itchy when it scabs over and dries. She was prescribed oral antibiotics for 2 weeks which was administered every 12 hours but other than that the vet said there was nothing topical they could give me to apply directly to the wound (yes this vet has experience with hedgehogs). I was quite disappointed as she would seem to leave the wound alone for a week or so, until it completely scabbed over, and then she would just chew the scab right off again and re-open the wound. I was recommended Vetericyn by a friend, and I have been applying it to her wound twice a day to keep the scabbed area moist and try to prevent it from itching but every time it scabs over she still picks it off. I'm so sad and frustrated, I feel helpless watching her do this and I just feel like this is never going to heal. The vet basically said there's no way to prevent her from getting at the area as you can't put a mini cone of shame on a hedgehog and the only solution is to try and get her to stop picking it but I have no idea how to do that! So here I am, looking for someone who may have had this same experience and how they dealt with it/if they found anything that worked for them that may work for me as well.. I would appreciate any suggestions. I've read a bit about giving children's Benadryl and would like to know if anyone has experience with that as well?

Thanks so much to anyone who may be able to help.

 

[nikki]

I would talk to your vet about giving her benadryl before giving any to her. The vet can let you know what dosage to give and what strength to use.

 

[CyndyHedgehog]

Yeah, I'm a little worried about giving benadryl so I won't be trying that before speaking with the vet. Do you have any suggestions on how to stop her from picking?

 

[Harrythehedgie]

My hedgehog has had the same issue for over a year now. Same thing, no mites, no infection, he sleeps with a fleece blanket etc.. there was nothing wrong. The vet (also experienced with hedgehogs) said it could be from sweating after rubbing on their wheel and it got itchy so he scratched it, created a cut and kept picking at it. Harry was prescribed what sounds to be the same oral antibiotics and that seemed to help him for awhile. A few months later he started picking at it again, the vet said it was because scar tissue can become very itchy while its healing (can take up to a year to heal under the skin) and even though we can't see air on the skin there is scar tissue underneath. So, it will be an ongoing problem for awhile. I've never tried bendryl but I found that bathing him in Aveeno Baby excema or calming oatmeal bath helps a lot! I bath him in this frequently but if I find him picking at it I'll put him the bath right away and I find he's immediately relived and calmed down. I hate taking away his wheel but if he won't stop picking at it for days on end I'll take it out because running on the wheel causes more irritation.

I hope you find something that works for you guys