# Scab below Huxley's ear from scratching. Mites?



## HuxleyTheHedgie (Aug 9, 2012)

I went out of town for a week and had my mom check on Huxley while I was gone, but she doesn't pick him up so she didn't notice anything different. When I returned Huxley had a scab (a bit bloody) under his ear. I am assuming he has mites and was scratching? I gave him a bath with oatmeal dog shampoo, cleanned all of his equipment and gave him new bedding. And my vet told me I could use the same mite drops on him as I do our cat. So I put one drop on the back side of each of his ears. This was all on Wednesday last week. He still has a scab, but I haven't seen him scratch at it. I am curious if I should treat him again with the drops and if I need to put any ointment on his scab? My vet knew very little about hedgehogs.. 
Sorry the message was so long. 

Hailey & Huxley


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

The scab could have been from a minor injury, bug bite, or like you said, from scratching, but usually with mites they scratch all over, and not necessarily just in one spot (like behind his ear). I'd like to bet he didn't have mites, unless you noticed excessive scratching and orange crusties in his quills as well. Definitely don't treat him with any more of whatever drops you used, the drops won't heal the scab. It just needs time to heal itself and fall off, no extra attention or treatment necessary.  A lot of topical parasite treatments cause horrible reactions in dogs and cats, so I'm leery to use anything but what is prescribed by a vet (that actually knows what they are doing, some vets can do more harm than good). If you DO think he has mites still, your best bet is to go to the vet and ask for for topical kitten Revolution.


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