# Blood under quills?



## cleibson (Feb 13, 2012)

So recently my hedgie Kiwi is losing alot of quills that she seems to be balding and thinning out. I have taken her to the vet once before and she was treated with revolution to rulle out mites and was also treated with antibiotics just incase. Now it has been a month later and her quill loss won't stop. I have changed all the liners and blankets in her cage incase it was allergies but holding her today i saw she still lost 8 quills. I got a flash light and noticed today that under some lost quills there is a spot of blood in place of the quill and around some other quills there seems to be a,crusty, yellow build up. She has dry skin but this is the first time i've noticed the blood and such. She acts normal with the exception of grumpiness. She has no other signs of illness. No runny eyes, no tattered ears, no runny or dry nose, no red skin. Eats normal and runs on her wheel every night. So plz anybody else had this?


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Was she only treated with Revolution once? It needs to be done 3 times, 2 or 3 weeks apart. Is she scratching?


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## cleibson (Feb 13, 2012)

She was only treated once with revolution. I had no idea that you had to apply it a few times so maybe it is mites. I looked again at her dry skin on a black surface and still didn't see any movement so i'm still unsure about the whole mites thing. Another odd thing is she isn't scratching at all but everytime i pick her up i count atleast 10 to 15 quills. so confused about my little one, poor girl.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

If she isn't scratching, it possibly is a skin infection. Perhaps having a skin scrap sent out to see what is going on would be a good idea. 

When she had the dose of Revolution, was there any improvement in her symptoms? Usually dose one will show some improvement with more improvement continuing with the next dose. 

Don't use any oil based products on her until you find out the cause of the bloody quills and crust because oils will only make a skin infection worse.


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## cleibson (Feb 13, 2012)

Thank you nancy for the advice.
I have contacted my vet i'll let you know what happens.


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## pickles17 (Feb 18, 2012)

Although there was no bloodiness or crustiness, one of my hedgehogs went through a period where she was losing a lot of quills, similar to what you describe but more, however the quills would grow back. 
My vet determined that it was not mites and that it was a "hormonal issue". 
Overtime it just stopped completely and she only loses a quill here and there. 
Would be interested to see what your vet says.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Our Emma had a hormonal issue too. It caused massive quill loss and huge flakes of dry skin and eventually she had blood and crust at the quill bass. She was treated for mites multiple times, and negative skin scraps for mites, bacteria and fungus. Finally my vet put her on antibiotic just because of being at loss as to where else to go. While on antibiotic she started to bleed. She was spayed and the pathology showed endometriosis. After her spay some quills grew back but most didn't. It's sad seeing an almost bald hedgehog.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Sorry to divert the conversation, but... Nancy, is there any way to find out if a hedgehog's hormones are "off"? My Milly is a regular quill dropper with no known cause - the vet ruled out mites and bacterial & fungal issues.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

They can do bloodwork. How many quills per day is Milly loosing? Some hedgehogs loose a few quills per day normally and many go through a seasonal increase of quill loss. Milly may be one of those hedgehogs who constantly loose a few quills.


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## pickles17 (Feb 18, 2012)

That's interesting. I was fortunate enough that it never go to the point where her skin was bloody and crusty but she did bald in a few areas and even today some areas are a bit sparse. Fortunately most of it grew back and I haven't had problems with it in ages. Must be a lucky one!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Nancy said:


> They can do bloodwork. How many quills per day is Milly loosing? Some hedgehogs loose a few quills per day normally and many go through a seasonal increase of quill loss. Milly may be one of those hedgehogs who constantly loose a few quills.


The vet said the same thing after we ruled out the other stuff. On an average day, she loses 1-3. I noticed in the fall it was more like 3-5 a day for a couple weeks, then it tapered off again. She doesn't have any bald spots and other than a little dryness, her skin is fine.


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## cleibson (Feb 13, 2012)

UPDATE ON LITTLE KIWI!!!!!!

Took her to the vet and they did three skin scrapes and found no mites but she's going to be treated for mites anyway. They are testing for ringworm but the culture takes about a month to determine a positive or a negative. She also did a preliminary fecal test to check for giardia and coccidia and said she was fairly certain that she saw it but had to be sent out to be positive. which I don't know cause she gained weight and doesn't have diarreha. I read it can be found in drinking water so now i make sure just to giver her water from my Brita. I also see red sores just a couple and they haven't gotten worse so I was just curious anybody else seen these? I added a humidfier to her room cause I know the winter is super dry here. So yeah, just playing the waiting game right now let you know when I get the call back!

:mrgreen:


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