EXTREMELY Dry Skin! Help!

[jojoness]

Hello my fellow hedgie friends. I am in a pickle here.

My 2 1/2 year old hedgie has been losing A LOT of quills lately. My boyfriend is housing him right now and says last night when he was giving him a bath that he saw his skin was so dry that it flaked off with quills on it. My poor little boy has a small dime size bald spot from where the quills fell off. My boyfriend automatically suspected mites and looked for any signs of it on his dry skin/quills but did not find any signs of anything.

We are both very concerned and are wondering if this is normal? We suspect that it's the combination of the heat and dry air in his room. His behavior has not changed. He continues to eat and drink well, and he runs on his wheel every night.

Is there anything we can do (besides a vet visit) to help the situation? Has anyone used any sort of products (such as lotions) to help the dry skin? We do use Aveeno body wash for his baths! We also are aware that too many baths in the winter might not be good for them so we are trying to limit it for his sake.

Of course if we suspect that his condition is getting worse we will definitely go to the vet. Thanks so much guys!

 

[charlie]

A mite check is definitely a good idea. I have found a rinse of warm water mixed with a few drops of flax seed oil does wonders for dry, itchy skin.

 

[Kalandra]

You may have to take the hedgehog into a veterinarian to have a skin scraping for mites. Sometimes you can rub dry skin off of the hedgehog onto a black or navy blue cloth, look at it under a bright light, and watch for movement. If the skin flakes move its from mites. If they don't move, well it doesn't mean that mites are not there, just that none either fell off or made the flakes move.

How does his skin look? Any redness around the base of the quills? Crusty build up around the quills or in the hedgehog's fur? Crusty build up could be from mites. Redness could be from mites, bacterial skin infection or even a fungal infection could be present.

Otherwise, if the humidity level in the room your hedgehog resides is really low, consider getting a humidifier to raise the moisture level up. It can help.

In addition to the bath with a couple of drops of oil. You can also apply it directly to their skin to help moisturize it. Flaxseed oil or vitamin e oil can both be used. Flaxseed oil is less sticky and works pretty well.

You can also add the flaxseed oil, just a couple of drops, every few days to his kibble. Flaxseed is high in omega fatty acids which can help with dry skin problems. It can take many weeks before you see improvement though. Fish oil will also work, but it tends to smell, well fishy.

 

[jojoness]

Thank you charlie & Kalandra! Great tips that we will definitely try soon!

 

[Nancy]

If he is showing a bald spot or even an obviously thin spot, chances are high that it is more than normal dry skin. A vet check would be good to rule out mites and skin infection.

 

[LexieHeg]

We just got back from the vet and she was amazing. She recommended a bird product called Rain. I am going to try it and will let you know. The negative side is that its got aloe vera in it, I spoke to vet about how Aloe Vera can be considered toxic to hedgehogs and she said that this particular product has been used on hedgehogs successfully for a long time. I have researched it on the internet and found many vets and rescue centers using this exact product for dry skin. So, I will give it a shot and let you know how it works.