# Scab under chin?



## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm so confused... I noticed a little scab (about the size of an eraser head) to the side of Dexters chin a few days ago, and assumed it was from before I got him. I've been keeping a close eye on it since, and it appears to be getting worse.  There's nothing in his cage he could be hurting it on; he uses fleece liners, knotted at the ends instead of sewn, a PVC/Bucket wheel, plastic rounded food bowl, watter bottle spout, his hideyhouse with fleece strips, and a few toilet paper tubes. I dont know how it's progressing, maybe someone else might have had a similar experience? :s


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

are you using flax seed? does he have dry skin at all? just a guess but it could be from dry skin and him scratching or from the tp roll rubbing on it as he is playing. jeremiah had a couple scabs that started out as just red marks along his nose from scratching/dry skin that cleared up in a couple days with flax seed and a humidifier constantly running in their room. may help if you're not already doing it. if not a picture may help.  could be fungal or bacterial or an ingrown quill/hair maybe?


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

With or without a picture, we can only speculate... But pictures would help a lot.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

I tried getting a picture, but my camera battery died while trying. :/ He's not very receptive to opening up at the moment. :/ I looked at it closer, and it might be his back nails. I just had him at the Vet last week and asked the Vet to clip his nails, because I've never done it before (and I can't get him to unroll belly up or get to his feet without him biting) and the Vet couldn't do it without knocking him out, (which I wasn't ready to do quite yet.) 

To clip his nails, particularly the back ones, can I hold him down with gardening gloves or something and clip them? Or should I wait a bit longer for him to open up a little more? I've read threads on cliping nails and how to do it, it's just getting to the darn foot that is the problem. :s


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

typically gloves have a smell to them that freak hedgies out even more so i personally wouldn't try it not even to clip nails. you can try when he is in the bath so he can't ball up or when he is extremely tired and passed out on you in his blanket and sprawled out (just do one nail at a time real quick carefully, you don't have to necessarily do all of them at once). make sure to have the clippers right by you handy so you don't have to move much to get them so he has no idea what's going on.  it will take some time and it may always be a fight, but hopefully not quite as bad once he gets somewhat used to it. i can just hold mine and do it with even my grouchiest now (most of the time i try to get them right when i wake them up before they are fully awake and realize what's going on). and treats right after are always a huge hit


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## CourtneyFaye (Jul 31, 2011)

I wouldn’t suggest holding him down with a gardening glove, I think it would be really scare for him. What I do for my hedgie after a bath a put her on my leg on top of a towel and when she starts to relax I carefully slide a foot out from under her and quickly clip a nail or two until she pulls her foot back in. Then, i pull out another foot, clip, and when she pulls it back I switch again. I keep rotating until i get them done. If she is being difficult and pulling her feet back under her right away, I just carefully grab her foot using the towel she is on. I use the towel because my girl is a biter. Hedgie nails are really easy to clip because you can see the quick. Like a human's nails, you only want to cut the white part. If you are worried about cutting them too short, you can just trim them a bit and not all the way down. After all, some is better than none. 

For the TP tubes she has in the cage, are they cut down the middle? If they are did you round the edges? If you didn't he could be scraping his chin on the corner. If they aren't cut, the tube could be getting stuck on his head and he might be scraping it off with a paw resulting in scratching his chin.

I noticed you said you use a water bottle. Bowls are generally preferred over bottles and you may want to switch that.

What kind of hideout does he have?

Until your camera battery gets charged, could you describe the scab as detailed as you can? For example, the shape of it (round, irregular), the color, texture, is it swollen, does the surrounding area seem strange, does it have any pus, etc.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

The scab itself is small about the size of a pea, but similar to the kind of scab a little kid would get on their knee after falling on pavement. It looks dark red, and maybe a little bumpy but doesn't look infected or pus filled... I was watching him while he was out walking around in his playpen and saw him use his back foot (with the longest nails) to itch the spot, so I'm pretty sure it's the nails. I guess I didn't pay as much attention to it the other day because I assumed it was old and healing rather than new and getting worse. I'm gonna try to let him in a foot bath and try to reach for his nails. :/ I'll still try to get a pic tonight, the pic might turn out better if the fur is wet anyways.


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## snuffles (May 16, 2009)

Snuffles used to get these all the time, I never quite figured out from what.
My vet suggested maybe she was getting food or water trapped there (she's chubby so when she's balled up she has a double chin) and it gets irritated so she scratches it until it scabs.

Anyways, maybe not what is happening with you but just something to keep in mind in case it happens more than once.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

So, after managing to trim his nails, I kind of assumed that's what the problem was and that the scab would go away. Today, he must've knocked the scab off, or scratched it off, or broke it open? The little furs around the sore were kind of bloody, but I didnt see a scab or blooddrops in his liner... I washed everything and set it up again so I can monitor if there is any noticable bleeding...  I still can't find my camera battery charger, but I managed to take a quick snap with my cellphone and upload to FB. http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fb ... =1&theater it should be viewable by everyone, I think. I dont know what to dooooo. I'm so sad for him. :/


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

By the location it could be that he has gotten some boy time on his fur and when it is dry, it can tug and pull on the fur. It bugs them so they start to chew at it. Very often they create a sore and one the sore starts, then as it heals it gets itchy which makes them bug at it some more... you get the idea. 

I have had good luck putting a tiny bit of polysporin on the sore and then a very thin coat of vaseline over top. The polysporin helps it heal and the vaseline helps disguise the polysporin. Although most hedgehogs leave vaseline alone, there are some that will go nuts at it, so try a little test with just a very super tiny amount. I know many people don't like to use vaseline because it is an oil based product, but I have always found it to be the best tolerated and will be left alone. Anything with a scent will be bugged at. Experiment with what works best for him.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

Hmm, Thanks Nancy!! I'll try that and see what happens.


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## purrball2007 (Oct 6, 2011)

I tried to apply the polysporin but he balls up and huffs too quickly for me to get it on there. It's tough enough to see it, let alone apply a cream so it seems. :/

I managed to get a picture by distracting him with fleece~also he has been recently biting anything that goes near his face.









(click and drag to tab for full view)

The other picture in the lower corner of his face, had me concerned for the little bumps on his face. They almost look like whiteheads? Can hedgehogs get acne, or does this seem like something worse?  I dont know what to do.


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## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

Nancy said:


> By the location it could be that he has gotten some boy time on his fur and when it is dry, it can tug and pull on the fur. It bugs them so they start to chew at it. Very often they create a sore and one the sore starts, then as it heals it gets itchy which makes them bug at it some more... you get the idea.
> 
> I have had good luck putting a tiny bit of polysporin on the sore and then a very thin coat of vaseline over top. The polysporin helps it heal and the vaseline helps disguise the polysporin. Although most hedgehogs leave vaseline alone, there are some that will go nuts at it, so try a little test with just a very super tiny amount. I know many people don't like to use vaseline because it is an oil based product, but I have always found it to be the best tolerated and will be left alone. Anything with a scent will be bugged at. Experiment with what works best for him.


Thanks for the info, Nancy. I just noticed today that Petunia has scratched herself raw in a couple of places  I have given her a couple of oatmeal baths for her quilling, and the NB Green Pea and Duck food has Flax seed in it for her dry skin, but the poor little darling still appears to be irritated. I'm going to pick up some poly and vaseline.


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