# Quilling - tell me about it



## SonicGems (Jul 30, 2011)

So, Sonic is 8 weeks as of today.

Not only did I get to experience my first hedgie ball today (wow, did that hurt! :lol: ), 
but when I had miss grumpy pants in my lap, I noticed she left 2 quills behind.

I don't think it's mites or anything, her skin isn't dry and her ears aren't tattered.
:? 

She's been sleeping a lot and I haven't really seen her run on her new wheel yet,
but she's been eating and drinking and pottying fine.

So is this quilling?


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

At your hedgehogs age it is likely quilling I think I mentioned some of the signs of quilling in previous posts but let me just run it down.

Quilling is happening when your hedgehog is losing quills and you can examine their kin and see new quills poking through the skin. Examine your hedgehog and you should begin to see this happening.

It is common for a quilling hedgehog to scratch and for a quill to fly off still even a quilling hedgehog can harbor a non natural reason for quill lose at the same time.

The important thing to note is that with quilling you won't see that yellow crusty or bald patches as the new quills should already be poking through almost as soon as the old fall off.

During quilling many hedgehogs tend to exhibit behavioral changes, even the nicest most friend of hedgehogs will sometimes become very defensive and quilled balls of fuss, puff, pop, and snuff!

Its important to during this time to continue to build the bond but don't agitate them, stroking the quills is usually something they will not like during quilling but is not always true, if she huffs and pops and her quills stiffen, then its best to just let her be okay during bonding on her own thing talk to her and let her know your there.

During quilling an Aveeno Oatmeal bath can sooth the agitation for a hedgehog and it is fairly well recommended here at HHC. Still I wouldn't go overboard with the oatmeal baths, but it can't here to have one or two i na month for them as long as their skin stays okay.


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## SonicGems (Jul 30, 2011)

I didn't see any crust patches or yellow, but I didn't see new quills either,
but she has lots of quills still and I don't think I looked at the bald spots for new quills thoroughly.
It didn't help that she was in a grumpy ball most of the time I held her.
If it means anything, the bald spots weren't terrible.

I really don't think it's mites, but....
I'm trying to get her in to see the vet asap, but I need money first.
Hopefully I can get her in next week.
If something really bad comes up I'll get her in much sooner.

Stroking her quills helped, I think.
She didn't huff at me when I would pet her.
In some spots she did, but I stopped petting there once she huffed and she was fine.

I just bought some Aveeno soap for her, maybe I will try to give her a bath and see if that makes her feel better.
I bought some flax oil seed capsules, but I'm not sure what to do with them. :?


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I'm willing to bet that it's quilling, especially with the grumpy behavior you mentioned. Some hedgies hate being touched when they are quilling and some like it. My Milly liked it when I would firmly stroke down her back with my hand. She would actually nose at my hand trying to get me to do it lol. But only if I didn't touch her sides. :roll: 

Flax seed oil can either be used topically, like in a bath, or you can put it on her food so she ingests it. I personally feed it to my hedgehog, but everyone does their own thing. If you want to do it during a bath, jus put a drop or two of the flax seed oil in the bath water and swish it around. To have her eat it, mix a drop or two up with her food.

Its generally recommended to not give baths very often to prevent skin from becoming too dry, but keep in mind that every hedgehog is different. If you give her an Aveeno oatmeal bath, watch for signs of dry skin. My hedgie has really nice skin, so I was able to give her an oatmeal bath once a week to help soothe the quilling. 

Good luck. Quilling is almost as difficult for us humans as it is for our babies!


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

...or it could just be she lost two quills. It happens.


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## SonicGems (Jul 30, 2011)

MissC said:


> ...or it could just be she lost two quills. It happens.


Nope, I don't think so.
I just picked her up again and she lost another one.


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## SonicGems (Jul 30, 2011)

Just did a more thorough search of Sonic.
Saw no yellow or bad crusty patches, and no movement on the skin or on the lost quills.
There's a little dot at the end of each quill lost. Is that good?

Saw some dry skin patches on her back, so maybe I'll give her a little flax seed oil in her food.
I looked at some of the patches that weren't thick with quills, I could see little tiny dark dots between the quills so I think those are her new quills coming in?


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

SonicGems said:


> Just did a more thorough search of Sonic.
> Saw no yellow or bad crusty patches, and no movement on the skin or on the lost quills.
> There's a little dot at the end of each quill lost. Is that good?
> 
> ...


Possibly you should see very short quills pushing through much shorter then her regular quills, the bulb on the end is good usually rules out mites but not completely. the ball form makes it easier to see the individual quills and the ones growing in for my girls.


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## SonicGems (Jul 30, 2011)

TWCOGAR said:


> Possibly you should see very short quills pushing through much shorter then her regular quills, the bulb on the end is good usually rules out mites but not completely. the ball form makes it easier to see the individual quills and the ones growing in for my girls.


I don't quite see any short quills yet, but she just started really losing them today.
She might have started yesterday, but I wasn't home.
I'll keep a close eye on her, and I'll check her every time I hold her.

Yeah, I'm actually happy that she's been rolling into a ball because it does make it a little easier because her quills spread out.
But of course, now that I want her to be in ball form, she's not staying in it very long. :roll:


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