# Flax Oil Spray?



## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Snarf HATES water - he's terrified in the sink and won't even walk across a wet washcloth. Seriously. :roll: When he was scratching like crazy last week, my BF held him above the kitchen sink and I poured two cups of water with two flax seed oil capsules mixed in. This seemed to have worked!!

But...my BF suggested we fill a spray bottle with water/flax seed oil and spray it on his back. Besides the obvious issue with not getting it in his ears/eyes, do you think this would be okay?


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

Hmm, this is an interesting idea. Norman hates water too, so if this would work I'd probably do the same thing.


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## Quilled1 (Dec 29, 2010)

They have so many quills though would the spray even reach their skin?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Quilled1 - I think if I spray a really fine mist, at least some of it would make it to his skin. :? Hopefully. The problem is, it will be hard to tell if it's working: is he scratching because it's not working? is he itchier than usual? mites? 

Nebular - how on earth do you get Norman's poopy boots clean? Snarf hates even walking across a wet washcloth. AND he hates enclosed spaces - like basins, sinks, tubs - so it's hard to even trick him into cleaning his feet. :roll:


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

The only problem with that, is that flax oil goes bad really quickly once it has contact with air.

So you would either have to use up the entire bottle at once, or keep the bottle in the fridge. But then you'd have to heat up the water before spraying, as spraying freezing cold water on a hedgie is not really a good idea.

You may be better off just putting a drop or two directly onto his back without water, and then use the rest in his food.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Pete had horribly dry skin when we first got her, she'll leave dandruff everywhere she passed. Mustard's skin had always been very very dry too, and a little flaky. 

I've been using Sunshine Factor as a supplement for a month now, and I have to say, it works wonders! Mustard's skin is just perfect now, and Pete's skin is great too. I highly recommend it. 

If you have ruled out mites, it might be worth to give it a try.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

You would have to be very careful he didn't inhale the mist into his lungs. 
oil spray + lungs = not good

Using a eye dropper and dropping the water oil mixture on his back in various locations would be safer. That's how I used to do it. Quilling up makes it even easier to get onto bare skin.


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

Susanaproenca, where can you by Sunshine Factor? Clémentine's skin is very dry and flax oil on her food helped only a little.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Olympia said:


> Susanaproenca, where can you by Sunshine Factor? Clémentine's skin is very dry and flax oil on her food helped only a little.


I bought it from my vet. I don't think you'll have to take your hedgies in to buy it.

I started seeing some improvement after 2 weeks. Pete loves the taste, she chases the syringe I use to give it to her! Mustard doesn't like it but she's easy to give stuff with the syringe. If I have canned crickets I put it on top of it and Mustard will eat it.


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

Thanks for the info, I'm going to the vet next week for Zoé's annual visit so I'll ask if they have some.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

We tried the flax oil/water spray but a) you would have to spray for 10X as long to get all of it on him and b) Snarf seemed to hate this as much as a rinse. I've tried putting drops on him but he ninja-jumps around so much, I am scared of getting it in his ears/eyes. He will eat some on his food but only if there's 2 drops...any more and he won't touch his kibble :roll: and since he hasn't been eating great this week...tonight...a rinse. Happy days.

He has dander like crazy but I still think it's dry skin...we did a flax rinse last Thursday and he was fine until last night (occasional scratching, then last night for 5 minutes straight) so it kinda makes sense. 

I called the vet and talked to Snarf's 'Tech' (she is obsessed with Snarf - very cute) and she said to bring in dander samples with tape and they'll check for mites to be sure. I have Revolution on hand so I can just give it if they find mites.

I also asked about 'Sunshine Factor' and she's going to check for me. I will let you know...


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Checking the dandruff is not completely accurate to diagnose mites. A skin scrape is indicated but even a skin scrape can come back as a false negative. 

If you do suspect he has mites and you have Revolution, then I'd treat him just to be safe. When Pete came to us I wasn't sure if she had mites or not, because she was scratching quite a bit and her skin was very flaky. The vet looked at the dandruff and saw no mites, we did a skin scrape and it came negative, but we opted to treat her and Mustard with Revolution just in case. Mustard had absolutely no mite symptoms and I knew she didn't have them, it was just as a preventative. Revolution is so safe she didn't have any side effects.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I plan to do the Revolution regardless...sorry...probably explained that wrong. The Tech said to bring in the sample anyway, as we cannot get a good sample from Mr Huff-Puff-Prickly-Ball, and at least if it's positive we KNOW he has mites...know what I mean? But, yeah, I am going to give him .01 today and another .01 in three weeks, then again three weeks later. I think this is how Nancy suggested it.


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

I'm curious about this Sunshine Factor. I started using flax seed oil in my boys food regularly when Gin and Rum were going through their last quilling--Rum especially took it hard. Our house is also really dry for some reason. But they get the flaxseed oil in their food, and in their baths when they have them, but Gin and Whiskey (not quite as much as Gin) seem to have a lot of dander coming off them.

They rarely itch/scratch, no quill loss etc so I'm wondering if this stuff will help their skin.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Sunshine Factor is basically the next step to take if flax oil isn't helping.
It's originally supposed to be for birds, but members here have said their hedgies really like the taste of it, and eats it easily. 

I'm sure if you did a search here for Sunshine Factor, you should come up with the other members' experience with it.


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## rivoli256 (Mar 1, 2009)

Below is a link to Sunshine Factor:

http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/SUNSHINE-FACTOR-1oz/productinfo/AVXSSF1/

I believe you can buy it direectly from this site. If not, you can probably find it on the web. I know that's how I get my Benebac probiotcs rather than from the vet...it's not so much the expense as my vet is about an hour away.


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## ThePliny (Jun 3, 2010)

Miss C - Who is your vet? I use the Calgary Avian and Exotic clinic (they are great). My vet prescribed Sunshine factor for Pliny when we were in for our checkup/armpit sore in the fall. It is pretty amazing stuff. She also gave me a spray called 'Rain' which they use on birds in the winter. I cover Pliny's head when I use it and then rub its through his quills down to his skin. He had horrible dandruff-y skin before I started using the 2 products. Now his skin is better than mine!


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Pliny...I use a vet in Canmore...doesn't know a lot about hedgies but is on-line with the exotic vet people (?) while I'm standing there asking questions. He didn't take me at my word about Revolution and wanted to make sure of dosage, so he contacted them as I waited. It's not ideal but at least he's not an hour away, ya know? If there is ever something that requires more knowledge, I'll take Snarf to the clinic you mentioned. Yesterday, I saw the Rain stuff on their site and figured they must carry Sunshine, too, as it's the same company. I am going to call them and see if I can get SF from them and Rain, too. If not without an appt, I will get Snarf there in a couple months - 6 month check-up and better roads!! I can never make it up stupid Scott Lake Hill. Frickin' snow.

Thanks for being you.


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## ThePliny (Jun 3, 2010)

No worries! I am pretty lucky as they are just up the street from me. 
I go out to the Priddis/Millarville area several times a week. If you can't get in to Calgary, perhaps we could arrange something where I pick the SF and Rain up for you and we meet in Bragg Creek or something. 
Yeah, this snow is crazy. Makes me very happy to have an AWD vehicle. My boss told me not to bother coming into work today (at the corner of 22x and 22south) as chances are no one would be venturing out to by horse equipment on a day like this! And 2 days ago it was +12. Nuts.


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## Quilled1 (Dec 29, 2010)

ThePliny said:


> And 2 days ago it was +12. Nuts.


At first I went :shock: . Then I remembered something: Do you guys use Celsius up there?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Quilled1 said:


> ThePliny said:
> 
> 
> > And 2 days ago it was +12. Nuts.
> ...


 :lol: Yup. +12 in January is AWEsome here.


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