# Peeling feet?



## Free2Dream (Aug 10, 2009)

Sorry for the abundance of topics on Lily. I'm just trying to figure out what's best for her. 

Tonight I got Lily out to handle her (I wanted to cuddle, she had different ideas and started sprinting around.) She chirps CONSTANTLY, almost like she's talking to herself. What does this mean? It sounds like birds twittering. Anyway, I picked her up and noticed that there were large, smooth flakes of skin where she had been sitting. She has very dry skin, so I didn't think anything of it. Then I sat her up in my palm and realized that the skin is literally falling off the bottoms of her feet, the way a sunburn peels. I have never noticed this before, and Annabelle has nice pink little feet, so it's not something I've ever dealt with. 

What would cause this? Not a fungus, I hope. How can I help it clear up? Whenever Annabelle's ears get scruffy, I rub some vaseline into them. Would that work? Thanks!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Does your hedgie run alot in her wheel? Im wondering if its peeling from urine burning them. Some wheels will collect the urine and maybe its drying on them and causing burns. I have a cake cover wheel and I have it sloping just the slightest bit down in case my guys pees on it. He doesn't usually but every now and then you can tell he does and it keeps the pee off his feet. Im not saying this is what it is, just a possibilty that I thought of when I heard it. If his feet looked painful you could always give him a foot bath and put some regular strength (not extra its toxic) neosporin on them. Hope Lily feels better


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Very strange. It sounds like poor Lily has quite the strange problems, first peeling nails and now peeling feet, poor girl!

I think the chirping/twittering is just a happy kind of noise? I know boys make it when theyre having their happy time :lol: but I think in general, chirping means happy. 


As for the feet, is it just one foot that's peeling or all four? Is it possible she hurt them on her wheel at all? I know it's not uncommon for hedgies to run so hard they make the bottoms of their feet bleed.

It could just be the dry skin, but if it's peeling really bad you might wanna have the vet do a fungus culture just to make sure. Fungus cultures take forever to grow unfortunately, so it might be a while before you have any results.

In the meantime, I don't see anything wrong with using vaseline. I actually picked up a tube of Lanolin cream (which was reccommended by a few different people) for Oakley's crusty ears and it seems to work wonders.

Lanolin is cream that breastfeeding mothers buy for their nipples when they get cracked so it was kinda awkard buying it haha, but it seems to works way better than vaseline. 

I hope poor Lily gets better!!

Edit: what hedgieonboard said about the neoporin is a good idea too, just to prevent infection if nothing else. I use polysporin but I think it's the same thing? Make sure it's not the "complete" version either. Complete and extra strength (like hedgieonboard said) are both toxic.


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Poor Lily, with all of her peeling problems on her feet. 



Hedgieonboard said:


> Does your hedgie run alot in her wheel? Im wondering if its peeling from urine burning them. Some wheels will collect the urine and maybe its drying on them and causing burns. I have a cake cover wheel and I have it sloping just the slightest bit down in case my guys pees on it. He doesn't usually but every now and then you can tell he does and it keeps the pee off his feet. Im not saying this is what it is, just a possibilty that I thought of when I heard it. If his feet looked painful you could always give him a foot bath and put some regular strength (not extra its toxic) neosporin on them. Hope Lily feels better


I thought about this, too. What type of wheel does Lily have? I agree also with using neosporin or vasiline, preferably neosporin. I hope she gets well soon!


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## blakheartedbella89 (Apr 24, 2010)

kinda off topic but can poor nutrition cause quill and fur loss and excesive skin flaking?


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

blakheartedbella89 said:


> kinda off topic but can poor nutrition cause quill and fur loss and excesive skin flaking?


 I replied to this in your other thread 

http://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5570&p=45372#p45372


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## Free2Dream (Aug 10, 2009)

Thanks for the replies, guys.  I know, Lily does have some really strange problems, LOL. I tugged on a bit of the skin to see if it was painful to her, and she didn't seem bothered, but then again it was kind of hard to tell because she's a squirmy girl and doesn't stay still for very long. 

She has a standard CW, the kind you buy in the pet store. It came with her cage, but she only recently started using it; it was poopy this morning, and that's the first time that's ever happened. I'm going to have to examine it for urine. I was thinking the peely skin might have to do with the fact that I just switched her from pine to aspen shavings?


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

You could try using fleece for awhile and see if that helps, but I am not sure about the shavings change or if shavings do this type of thing to hedgies? Sorry I'm not a big help. Best wishes to you and Lily, though!


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