# pine bedding stuck in penile shaft?



## alma&dex (Jan 17, 2013)

Hey everyone, 

Dexter is a sweet little man and after doing some investigating throughout a number of areas of the health forum, I can't seem to find anyone asking this question or I may have missed it and would really appreciate it if someone could point me to a previous thread if there is one. 

This afternoon while I was catching up on one of my favorite shows and Dexter was hanging out on my lap and quite possibly (I'm not sure since he was covered with a sheet - he likes snuggling in an old t-shirt or in a sheet on my lap) doing what males sometimes do. I uncovered him and he was in a sitting position looking fairly relaxed. It looked like a piece of pine had become wedged into his penile shaft. I have not seen this before. There was no redness or swelling that I could tell although there was a little bit of clear-ish liquid (very minimal) which seems like it's probably normal anyhow. 

Has anyone ever had this problem? Once I picked him up and tried to examine, he tucked his business inside and the piece of what seemed like pine disappeared with it. He wasn't all out there or anything, and my guess is that he was probably playing with himself since there was more of a belly button than I'd ever seen on him. 

In any case, I would really love if anyone has experienced this and can impart a bit of wisdom. I would not delay in taking Dex to the vet if that's needed but he doesn't seem to have problems urinating, there was no redness or swelling, etc. I'm not sure if it's normal that every once in a while this happens maybe?

Thank you!


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

I don't have boys but I do know that this is a big reason people advise against using shavings for bedding and recommend fleece. Someone else will have to tell you how to get the shaving out and such, as I don't know about that but I would highly recommend you switch to fleece liners.


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## alma&dex (Jan 17, 2013)

JulieAnn thanks for your response. I had never heard of this happening and my breeder uses all pine shavings with her hedgies and never mentioned this as being a worry of people. 

The vet is closed for the holiday so I'll wait to get more responses from folks. Thank you for your response though and I will most definitely consider switching to fleece liners. I just know Dexter loves to nestle into his pine shavings...


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## belly423 (Jul 1, 2013)

Hi Alma, I posted exactly the same question today. Wish I'd seen this first. I had the same thing with Milligan and I gently pushed either side of the shaft which brought it out enough for me to pinch the litter (mine was a small piece of litter that was stuck) between my nails and remove it. You have to be incredibly gentle but I couldn't leave it in there in case it got infected or worked its way up the shaft. I threw the litter out and am now using pine pellets for his litter tray and fleece for his bedding. He loves both.

Nancy has also recommended paper towels for his litter tray which I will use if Milligan rejects the pellets or stops using his toilet.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on with the offending price of pine.


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## alma&dex (Jan 17, 2013)

Okay so an update: today was Dexter's bath day and I didn't see any evidence of the pine still being there and everything seemed fine under there - still no redness or swelling, etc. even when he relaxed a bit no pine or redness/swelling was evident - at least to the naked eye. 

I did stop by Joann's today and grab some flannel to make him flannel/fleece liners. I will also try a gentle push as you recommended belly423 and see if anything comes of it although I'm guessing since I didn't see anything during bath time it may have come out on it's own. 

I will probably continue to use the pine shavings he uses in the potty and see what happens there but I will be constructing cage liners into the wee hours if necessary. 

I'm glad I'm not the only one though. I use two different pines in his home - one for the bedding and one in the potty - the potty one is quite thin and it didn't seem to be that kind that got stuck so hopefully liners will fix the problem. 

Thanks for your continued help everyone!


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