# My hedgehog keeps scratching herself



## Camille

My hog, Lulu recently started scratching herself more than usual. I did the mites test with the black cloth but saw nothing. She's about 5 months old now if that information is needed. Could she still have mites, is it just dry skin, etc. ? I don't know what could be wrong if she's scratching a lot. helppp


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## Lilysmommy

What kind of bedding do you have her on? If she's on wood shavings or has anything wooden in her cage, she could have gotten mites from that. Is the scratching very frantic or just normal scratching that's more frantic? Is she losing a lot of quills? Frantic scratching and losing a lot of quills could point to mites. Loss of quills can also be a skin or fungal infection, so it might be a good idea to make a vet visit either way. Scratching that's not frantic and just more often could be dry skin, and you can help by putting flaxseed oil on her food a couple times a week. It might take awhile to take effect though. If you have her in at the vet and get her cleared of any possible skin/fungal infections, you can do a little flaxseed oil in her rinsewater after a bath, to help with dry skin more quickly. It's just not a good idea if you don't know for sure there's no infection - oil clogs the skin pores and makes infections worse.


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## Camille

Lilysmommy said:


> What kind of bedding do you have her on? If she's on wood shavings or has anything wooden in her cage, she could have gotten mites from that. Is the scratching very frantic or just normal scratching that's more frantic? Is she losing a lot of quills? Frantic scratching and losing a lot of quills could point to mites. Loss of quills can also be a skin or fungal infection, so it might be a good idea to make a vet visit either way. Scratching that's not frantic and just more often could be dry skin, and you can help by putting flaxseed oil on her food a couple times a week. It might take awhile to take effect though. If you have her in at the vet and get her cleared of any possible skin/fungal infections, you can do a little flaxseed oil in her rinsewater after a bath, to help with dry skin more quickly. It's just not a good idea if you don't know for sure there's no infection - oil clogs the skin pores and makes infections worse.


she hasn't lost any quills and it's somewhat frantic, it's just really frequent scratching that never usually happens.


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## painball54

What kind o bedding do you have?


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## Camille

painball54 said:


> What kind o bedding do you have?


Pine bedding


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## Lilysmommy

If you have pine bedding, I'd switch her off and change to cloth or fleece liners, if at all possible. Wood bedding can harbor mites and it's likely she could have them now from that. Fleece/fabric liners pretty much eliminate the risk of mites, as well as several other risks from wood shavings. After you have her switched off, I'd go ahead and take her to the vet for some kitten Revolution, to be safe. Revolution doesn't cost much, and if she does have mites, if you treat her now, before she's started losing quills and having major problems, you'll save her a lot of discomfort.


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