# Cause of bent/curved quill and what to do?



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

What is the cause of bent or curved quills? Is it the shape of the follicle that the quill is growing out of?

Milly has had a curved/bent looking visor quill for months now and I've been waiting for it to shed out but it hasn't yet. The only reason I care is because when she balls up, that funny quill pokes her forehead. I've touched it and she doesn't flinch, and the skin around the base looks normal. Would it be painful for her if I plucked it?


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## bmaditz (Jun 11, 2012)

Yes, very painful do not pull it out!!!! Could up upload a picture so we have a better idea of what you're talking about?


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Sometimes they just get a curly quill. So long as it is not pointed in a bad direction just leave it alone. One of my very first had almost no white quills on her body, except 1. It was in the very front of her visors and it was a curly quill. She had it her entire life.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Lily got quite a few curly quills, never figured out what from. I think they were part of why she ended up with two ingrown quills as well - one of them was a curly one that had grown back into the skin. >< I ended up using nail clippers to trim the ends off the curly ones after that, to avoid it happening again. The vet said it'd be okay, and Lily didn't mind at all.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Interesting...

Kelsey, thanks for the tip! I think I'll just clip it about halfway down to make sure it doesn't poke her eye or anything. I bet she'll freak at the clipping noise :lol:


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Before clipping, take a good look at it and imagine where it'll end when she's standing normally AND when she's curled up into a hedgieball. It's possible that in trying to make it better, that it turns into a worse problem!


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