Open Wound Help - Keeps re-opening

  • Thread starter GreaseLightning
  • Start date
Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
G

GreaseLightning

Guest
Hey all, newbie here with a question. My hedgehog had a small scabby-thing that I picked off and washed up, thinking it was no big deal. Well, she apparently didn't like the scent of the soap I used (it was unscented, but you know) and she literally tried to claw the scent out of her skin.

Well then she had this big open wound on her throat and I took her to the vet, who gave her some anti-biotics, lick-guard, and chlorehexadine wash. Well the lick-guard makes it worse (only tried that once), she's finished with her week's worth of antibiotics, and now she keeps re-opening her wound and has created a new one.

I stopped the clorehexadine for a few days, thinking maybe she didn't like the scent of that either, but it doesn't seem to matter, she claws at it anyway.

Any ideas on how to get her to stop clawing? I've trimmed her nails but she can actually reach the wounds with her mouth, too. It's not like I can put a little e-collar on her, and I'm pretty sure she'd rip a bandage off.

Any suggestions on how I can get her to leave her wounds alone so it'll heal?

I've taken away her wheel (due to the placement of her wound and the nature of it's poopy-ness I was afraid it would increase infection) and try to let her run around my room more for exercise. She's a little grumpy from all the antibiotic injections and washing but otherwise she seems like she's fine.

But I'm terrified she'll get an infection soon since she won't leave it alone! Any advice?
 
If she is digging at the wound, I would assume it is irritating her. Have you contacted your vet again to let him know of the problems you are having with her? If not, do so. In the conversation ask doc about the possibility of giving her some pain medication. Metacam is the drug that is often prescribed by one of my vets fur pain relief.
 
I have kept in touch with my vet and maybe we'll try some pain medicine. It may be time for a re-examination.

Maybe a combination of pain medicine and another round of antibiotics will do the trick. I just hate to have her all drugged up! But if it will get her to leave it alone it may be worth a shot.

I can't imagine why the wound would be irritating her so badly.
 
Another thought, I just noticed you took away the wheel. Another potential cause for her bothering the wound is that she is bored or stressed by the wheel being missing. Is she one of those hedgehogs that doesn't seem to be able to live without a wheel? Does she have other items in her cage to distract her? I know this can be difficult as some hedgehogs just want/need their wheel.
 
Is she a bigger girl? I've had neck sores develop on some of the larger ones. What I think happens is a bit of water or in hot weather perhaps sweat gets in the fold of skin under the neck and starts a diaper rash sort of irritation. Of course it gets itchy so they dig and chew at it. Then it reaches the point of getting a scab and we all know how itchy a scab can be as it is healing and drying out. Of course they scratch and dig even more.

Sometimes using medications on the area makes it even more enticing to chew and dig at because hedgehogs either like or are annoyed by the smell. Over the years I've tried different things to help heal. Some are okay with polysporin but it drives others nuts. I've had the best luck using vasaline. Most hedgehogs are not bothered by vasaline although a few are. What the vasaline does is keeps the area from getting moist and it also keeps the scab from drying out and pulling so it's not as itchy. For some, I've had good luck using a tiny bit of polysporin first and then a thin coating of vasaline.

If there is any chance at all the area is infected, do not use vasaline. If it's going to help, you will see improvement after a couple of days. Most of the time, I've only needed to use it once a day or sometimes every two days depending on if the hedgehog bugs at it.

There are other non petroleum based things you could try. You want something that will provide a barrier to keep moisture away yet keep the scab from drying out too fast and being itchy. Just make sure whatever you try is non toxic and has no smell.
 
@Kalandra

She started to chew/pick at her wound before I took her wheel away. I took it away as a precaution, just due to the placement of her wound I'm afraid a poopy wheel is just begging for infection. No, she's really not the type of hedgie that "needs" a wheel. This could be because I got her as a rescue and she never had a wheel before, and maybe to her it just isn't a necessity. She also has a mild case of arthritis so she doesn't need tons of exercise on her wheel before she gets tired.

She did have a toilet paper tube but she was using it to pick at her wound (it's right on her throat, so a tube was at just the right spot to scratch it) so I took that way.

I was worried that she's been bored so she's had more out of cage playtime than usual and I've taken to hiding freeze-dried mealworms and crickets around my room during play time and also in her cage for her to find at night.

But she's never really been the type of hedgehog that NEEDS their wheel and NEEDS constant stimulation and exercise, she's always been pretty laid back.

@ Nancy
I don't really think of her as a bigger girl. The scab originated in the first place because of a tiny cut that collected a little bit of lint from the t-shirt of mine that she sleeps in, so I don't think it's a diaper rash sort of situation.

I don't think that's irritated by the scab drying out because she's not really letting it scab out in the first place. Well, maybe that's the problem...she won't let it scab over because it hurts?

I'm not so sure the Vaseline is a good idea. If she was letting it scab over and the dryness was hurting her it would be a great suggestion but it looks like the type of wound that needs to be left open. I'm afraid if I add any thing to trap the moisture it will get infected. Would it hurt her if she licked off the Vaseline?
 
I don't have a lot of experience with vaseline however we went through this exact thing a while back with Greyson. The vet closed the wound with vet glue (used instead of stiches, stays on for 5 days or so). Nothing else was put on the wound however he was given a small amount of pain meds for 4 days and honestly it was to ensure that he didn't bite at it as it healed. If they can forget about the wound, it will heal on its own. We left in his wheel in on day two. I suggest a vet visit if your hedgie is still bothering with it.
 
@ Charlie

The wound is rather large - about the size of a dime, maybe a penny but it is shallow. I'm not sure if the vet would agree to closing it with vet glue just due to it's size and placement on her throat - I don't think she has a lot of extra skin.

But I will certainly mention it as a possibility when I take her in again. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
What about liquid bandaid? It would cover the sore as well. The vet might have something animal safe as we don't know if the human version would be safe for her to chew. The main concern with a hedgehog is finding something that doesn't have a smell that they might find attractive.

Vasaline is totally safe if they lick it off as is polysporin in small amounts. If you use polysporin, make sure it is the regular strength ointment. I got creme by mistake one time and they chewed at it like crazy. Do not get pain relief as it is toxic.

Regardless if it actually gets a chance to form a scab or not it might still be itchy. Pain meds is a good idea.
 
@ Nancy

I did think of the liquid bandage myself but whenever I use it on myself, I find that it burns a little, and when I looked up the active ingredient it was toxic when ingested. I was planning on asking the vet if there was an "animal safe version" of that.

When I get home tonight I may try the Vaseline idea and call the vet in the morning for an appointment.

Everyone here has been so very helpful! Thank you so much. I was not expecting quite this volume of suggestions or friendliness.
 
Greyson had an open wound of a similar size and type from the sounds of it. The glue (which was essentailly a liquid bandaid) was used to cover the area more than to pull the skin back together as that was not possible with the amount of skin he had chewed off. Hopefully your vet will have something similiar (it wasn't anything specific to hedgehogs as we had the inicident at 3am and had to visit the emergency vet). The pain meds were definitely the main reason he stopped chewing though.

Sometimes we just have to be more persistent, innovative and stubborn than the hedgehog which can be quite a task! ;)
 
Last edited:
Well today I picked up another round of antibiotics and some pain medicine. She's had her first dose about 15 minutes ago and is still picking at her wound and is generally very grumpy with me for all the waking her up to be poked and prodded and medicated.

But hopefully this will do the trick. Today I just picked up the medicine and she'll have a re-check on Thursday. Hopefully we'll be able to see some improvement soon.
 
How is your little one doing today? Has the new meds helped with this behavior any?
 
She is doing better, thank you. The re-check went well. The pain meds have helped considerably. She picked at it the first night but I don't believe she's been picking at it since then. It appears to be scabbing over finally, but it is a weird color.

There is still blood occasionally around her cage but I think that is the edges of the scab opening as she does appear to be leaving it alone.

So hopefully with the rest of her pain meds and antibiotics I can put her wheel back in soon and she'll be a happy, healthy, normal hedgie again.

Although she is still rather grumpy with me still. I try to get her out more often for play time but she is starting to associate me with the medicine. I'm hoping that association will go away once this scab thing is all blown over.
 
Start giving her mealies after. She should warm back up to you. Or give her playtime with you between meds time and give mealies and lovin then.
 
Sometimes you just have to wait it out. Right now, you are in her eye's constantly doing things to her that she doesn't like. Checking on her wound, forcing bad tastes in her mouth, etc. Once all that stops, it may take additional time but those I've had to medicate do figure out that it is over and we got back to our normal routine.
 
@ Melissa I've been giving her treats during her medication and after in my lab and that does seem to help but being in my lap after being medicated seems to stress her out so I usually put her back in her cage and try to get her out later.

@Kalandra I'm glad to hear that hedgies come around after they're done being sick. I'm sure she'll warm up to me once this round of medication is finished.
 
UGH! She opened it up ONE MORE TIME! She finished her antibiotics and pain meds about 2 days ago and earlier today I went to clean her litter box at in the early evening and she is actually squealing in her cage, actively picking at herself and generally acting distressed.

The wound is even bigger now.

I rushed her to the vet and we cleaned her up but it was too late in the day to properly anesthetize her. I got another round of pain meds and we're going to try Revolution. There are no signs of mites but we're trying the revolution just to rule mites out.

She's scheduled to go under anesthesia for a biopsy and another exam on Tuesday. I can't exactly give her stitches or staples, seeing as how she'll probably just rip them out. So we're going to try the glue idea after her biopsy.

I just have no idea what is bothering her so much. I don't see anything in the wound for her to be picking. Hopefully something is revealed when she goes under anesthesia on Tuesday.

Any other thoughts or suggestions welcomed. I just have no idea what is bugging my little hedgie!
 
I hope things go ok for you tomorrow. Greyson will also be examined as he re-opened his chest over the weekend (the other wound had completely healed and disappeared so it may be something else under the skin bugging him. I'll be thinking of you as we go through a similar ordeal. Let us know how it goes.
 
Well Rizzo was great for her biopsy. We took two samples, because she has created two wounds. I'll get the results back on 5 days. She got a suture under the skin and surgical glue. I'm not sure what it'll say.

She has been back on pain meds since Friday and she generally leaves her wounds alone while she's on it, and the vet said that she could be on it long term. So hopefully after a while of her leaving the wound alone it'll heal just fine and this whole thing will be a distant memory.

Her wound was all nasty, open and puffy on Friday but the inflammation has gone down since then and she's allowing it to scab over.

I hope everything goes well for Greyson as well! Silly hedgies.

I'll keep you updated. Let me know how it goes with Greyson.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top