What is the safe paint to mark quills?

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Courtney

... and the Dynamic Duo!
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
642
Location
Edmonton, AB
Tomorrow, I'm calling Kismet's vet to book her in for a look-see of the infected area on her back. The skin itself is starting to look a bit infecting (not oozing, mind you, but a little gray and "lumpy") and I want to nip that in the bud. However, I can't really take any more time off work, so Adam will be dropping her off in the AM and picking her up after work.

Even though I trust the vet's experience, I want to make absolutely sure that he sees the problem area. I was thinking that marking a few quills around the area (not directly on, but close enough to draw the eye since the spot itself is small) with bright blue paint would help, but I can't remember which paint was the safe. Tempera? Acrylic? Watercolor?

Why blue? I figure it's one of the few colors that won't be mistaken for blood, infection or dirt.

Thanks!
 
Not sure if this helps but the breeder I got my hedgie from used nail polish to mark who's was who's
 
Get the little tubs of childrens paints. They are non toxic and dry quickly and can be safely licked off. I know that for a fact because often my mom's don't like the colour I've put on the babies and they decide to redecorate. :hair::hilarious:

If you want something more permanent, water based model car paint works great and is less smelly than nail polish.
 
Thanks! I don't need anything really permament... just permanent enough to stay put for about 8 hours, at most. She can't reach the spot to lick, so that makes things easier.
 
Courtney I hope our little girl is OK. Nancy, you are just too funny!!!!!!!!
 
I'd opt for the type that will wash away as well. Rose still has 1 quill that has a bit of green paint on it from when she was at her breeder. She'll be 3 in November and has had that 1 quill since she was 7 weeks. I don't know whether to be more amazed that the green has stayed on this long (can't scrape it off with a nail either!), or that she has kept that 1 quill since she was 7 weeks!
 
I made Kismet a vet appointment for tomorrow. The vet had some time today, but I had no way of getting her all the way across the city at 10am. Adam can drop her off at 7:30 tomorrow morning and pick her up after work.

Now, I just have to run out and grab some children's paint to mark her up. I warned the vet that I'd be doing that, so here's hoping they're not too shocked to see a few very bright blue quills. :laughitup:
 
shetland said:
Courtney I hope our little girl is OK. Nancy, you are just too funny!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Lexie in particular had issues with the way I chose to mark her babies. Even though I asked her each time how to do it, I still managed to get it wrong. Her second litter she had 2 boys and a girl so I marked the girl red and one boy blue. The other boy wasn't marked. The next morning, we had 3 purple babies and a purple Lexie. I guess she wanted everyone to match, including herself. It's amazing how far a tiny dab of paint can spread when momma decides it's not right. :hilarious:
 
Kismet now has some snazzy blue quills. I couldn't find the proper paint at Michaels, so I went on a hunt for a non-toxic marker. It's not washable, but that's okay. She only has about 4 blue-tipped quills. She's not pleased about her new "streak", but I think she looks trendy.

I just want to rave about chamomile tea. I read that chamomile is amazing as a poultice for skin infections, so I figured, "what can I lose in trying?". I've been packing on pure chamomile tea leaves mixed with enough water to make a thick paste on for two days now. I leave it on for 15 minutes during each cleaning, and wipe it off. I then clean the area with saline. This evening, her sore is about half the size that it was this morning and no longer gray in color. It just looks like a scab. It's amazing. Not only that, but I see some teeny new quills poking through the skin too.

She's still going to go to the vet to get it checked out, and I'll also ask him to quickly check her mouth. She seems to be healed, but I might as well get it checked out while she's at the vet and know for sure.
 
Update time: Kismet is on her way home now. Her vet called me with the verdict and it's very positive. First of all, he said he loved the dye job - apparently, she's the first hedgehog he's seen that came in with blue quills. Her mouth is completely healed and looking great, and her gums aren't irritated at all (she started hard kibble again after a few weeks of moistened kibble). He's a bit puzzled about her back and why it's not healing, but he took some skin cultures. The cultures look pretty normal, aside from a very minor infection that he wrote a prescription for. He lanced a quill growing right in the middle of the scab, and another that was broken. He "roughed" up the edges of the scab to promote some healing and advised me to continue with antibiotics for a week and give him a call back if things don't start to heal up. I mentioned the chamomile poultices and he recommended that I continue with those - after all, they seem to be making the most difference with the sore.

If the sore doesn't show any progress by next week, his next course of action is to put her under and cut away the area, and then give her a few stitches. He doesn't think it will come to that, but it's a possibility if things don't start looking better faster than they are.

Leave it to Kismet to concoct a health issue strange enough to puzzle the vet.
 
Well, things seem to be stepping in the right direction. The area around the sore looks a bit pink, but that's due to him removing the scab, roughing up the edges and packing some form of antibiotics in there. It definitely looks smaller though, so we'll see how things progress.
 
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