# I need help-hedgie very sick!



## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

I posted two days ago-brought the little guy to the vet when I noticed he wouldn't unball when I picked him up. When I put him down after awhile, he comes out but not actively.

-Noticed little white dots crawling all over his nose/skin was blue/gray/very flaky
-Penis looked bigger than usual
-He received a flee treatment and a collar to keep in his igloo....bug seem to be gone (from his face anyway)
-He ate a little at night and from the looks of it, barely ran on his wheel.

A DAY LATER----



TODAY I noticed inside of his ears are very flaky/looks kind of swollen but not red and almost dusty looking. Around his ears the skin is piles of flakes. A

-Around his butt, the skin is purple/red and irritated looking. I tried to touch it with the meds the doc gave me with a q tip and he squeaked with pain.

-His penis looks a bit swollen as well. 

-The top of his head is all flaky.

-He will NOT come out of a ball when I pick him up and when I put him in his cage he keeps licking his lips but is barely eating.

HELP PLEASE!


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Have you tried treating him with revolution for kittens? It sounds like mites, I'm not sure if a flea collar would even help with them, and I wouldn't even trust such a device near my hedgehogs. Revolution for Kittens can be picked up either at the vet or online, dosage instructions can be found in the health section, you place it directly behind their reverse mohawk, kind of in the shoulder area. Do not get that invecticrap that a vet injects into the animal, it can cause sickness and possible death.

How good is your vet, its very concerning that his penis is swollen and that his rump seems raw, possibly he is scratching too much? If anything, you need to find a vet that knows about hedgehogs, better than your current one.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

I'd take out the flea collar... Those things smell HORRID to the human nose, I can't imagine how it would smell like to a hedgie with sensitive sense of smell. 

And what brand of flea collar? And I vaguely remember that your "vet's" form of "mite treatment" was in the form of a flea/tick spray? 

What meds did the vet give you?

Why did you not treat him with Revolution right from the beginning? (Please ignore this if I had read your previous post wrong, and that the vet DID in fact treat your hedgie with Revolution. From memory, I believe you only mentioned the spray and the flea collar)

And he needs to see a vet, NOW. It almost sounds like an allergic reaction.


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## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

The vet gave me betagen spray. Maybe I will try the revolution stuff....probably more delicate on the infected areas. Im concerned about his inner ear most. I sat downstairs and took his igloo out so he would eat... He actually walked over to the food bowl and ate and drank...so thats a relief. I am wondering if the carefresh got caught in his private area and maybe caused a small infection? It has been caught in there before. He is very flaky, butt and ears are very crusty, swollen/red private area. His eyesight seems ok....the color in his face is back to normal... but hes cranky to any sound(which may explain the ears) and very irritated when picked up (balls up and wont come out).


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Cranky comes with a sick boy, its only natural. I agree with Immortalia, take the collar out and stop use of that spray, Revolution is the mainstream treatment for mites here at HHC and it works fine. With the spray I'd be worried about him breathing it in. Possible on the Carefresh too, if its happened before, it can happen again. But definitely would seek a vet that is good with hedgehogs.


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## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

unfortunately i just spent 80 two days ago in an emergency to get him to a vet immediately. I really dont have money until next friday. This is just a terrible situation. I will buy that other spray and see if it works better. Is there anything else I can do for the irritated skin?


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

http://www.petproductsontheweb.com/revolution.htm

37.95 for Revolution, being that you're in the NJ, it might be available at PetCo or some other location. Just saying depending on the cost of this spray.

I'm not sure how to sooth his skin for him, never had to deal with something like that, yet. Hopefully Nancy or somebody will be around and can tell ya.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

The problem with what could possibly be an allergic reaction, is that he may need some sort of antihistamine to bring the swelling and itchiness down. Otherwise, it could get worse. 

For now, all you can really do is give him a bath with warm water only. Or use real oatmeal, rather than Aveeno, as you want to keep things as pure and natural as possible, and no extra irritants. And obviously check his parts and see if he has any carefresh stuck. Best would be to switch him over to fleece liners if this seems to be something that happens often. 

Revolution isn't a spray. It's medicated liquid drops. Again, the problem with just buying it when he's already having a reaction to a previous treatment, could make it worse. You are better off just taking him to the vets again (perhaps a more knowledgeable one, or YOU do the research so that you know what's right or wrong.) When you get an exotic pet, it is also very important to do the research, so that you can somewhat tell how much your vet knows. And there are many vets out there who aren't knowledgeable, yet are totally awesome when handling your hedgie, so that you have to work together and learn together. 

Do you have a credit card you could charge the vet fees onto? That way, you can take him right away and get him looked at. Because if it really does turn out to be an allergic reaction and things start swelling more, it's going to turn deadly if not looked after.


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## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

Well I know of 1 vet that takes in hedgehogs but do not know how much they charge. I do not have a credit card unfortunately. I am going to give the oatmeal a try to see if it helps a bit with the irritated skin for the time being. If I do not see progress I will have to borrow some money to get him looked at. Thank you for the help =) I am glad to be on this board.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

My thought is: go to the vet. Your little guy is in trouble. He needs help. 

As for money, you can usually work out a payment plan with them.


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## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

Yeah I will have to call and see what to do  poor baby


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Someone just brought up a thread on it, but there is a credit card type deal called CareCredit, which is used for health, mainly for humans but also many vets accept it. You'd have to look up the CareCredit site and you can check to see vets near you that accept it. Its not as bad as a credit card, payment wise, in general comes down to $15 US a month and I think the interest is low. Human wise it can be used for dental and other minor things like plastic surgery, chiropractors and such. It helps when you don't have the funds for helping a pet.


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## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

Thats the plan my the vet I called offered me. Even though Egon seems to look and act a lot better, I will probably take a trip over tomorrow just to make sure cos his ears are still pretty crusty "inside". I talked to the breeder I bought him from too and he gave me a couple dietary tips and also suggested using revolution. 

Thank you all for your help. The little man appreciates it too. =)


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