# My Hedgehog has extremely dry skin?



## Emma_Grace

I know it's not mites as he has none of the symptoms & I have checked for them. But he suffers from dry skin which causes him to scratch occasionally. I tried bathing him with oatmeal which has seem to make the problem worse & it is like a snow storm when he lays on his back when previously it was not this bad! Is this a normal reaction after the oatmeal? Any suggestions on how to help my Hoglet?


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## moxieberry

How often are you bathing him? The oatmeal can relieve it but not necessarily solve the problem, and if you bathe him too often, it will make it worse because baths are drying. Flaxseed oil in the food and on the back can help, though it seems that in more severe cases of dry skin, the latter is pretty much needed daily and is unlikely to actually solve the problem. A humidifier near the cage can help also, and I've seen two topical sprays recommended various times on here (Rain and Humilac); we actually just got Humilac for Archimedes, but since it literally arrived yesterday, I can't report on how well it's worked for me personally.

http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/HEALx ... tments/49/

http://www.petco.com/product/109601/Vir ... Spray.aspx


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## Immortalia

What type of bedding is he on? 
Have you tried feeding supplements such as flax seed oil, or sunshine factor?


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## wewerebound

Flax seed oil does wonders.

I also changed from the Carefresh bedding to liners and that helped with their dry skin and my baby girls sneezy nose.


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## moxieberry

To follow up on my last post - we used the Humilac on Archimedes for the first tine last night, and he seemed to find it relaxing. When we took him out tonight there was a very very noticeable improvement - quite a bit less flaky/dry skin. I'm really impressed! Much more effective than flaxseed oil, in my opinion.


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## Emma_Grace

I only bath him every few weeks or so as he's quite a messy Hog! His dry skin has definitely become worse after the oatmeal wash. I'll have a look at both of your recommendations,thanks


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## Emma_Grace

moxieberry said:


> To follow up on my last post - we used the Humilac on Archimedes for the first tine last night, and he seemed to find it relaxing. When we took him out tonight there was a very very noticeable improvement - quite a bit less flaky/dry skin. I'm really impressed! Much more effective than flaxseed oil, in my opinion.


Thanks for the update! Ill definitely be looking into this


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## moxieberry

You really should! Humilac got rid of the flaky/dry skin over about 3-4 total days of using it. I should have taken before/after pictures to show just how dramatic the results were, it's fantastic stuff.


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## Emma_Grace

moxieberry said:


> You really should! Humilac got rid of the flaky/dry skin over about 3-4 total days of using it. I should have taken before/after pictures to show just how dramatic the results were, it's fantastic stuff.


Sounds very promising, I ordered it just as you left this comment! Ill let you know how my Hoglet gets on!


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## timmerlee

Just wondering about the Humilac. I've ordered some from Amazon but have not recieved it yet. I keep hearing mixed reviews.


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## Emma_Grace

timmerlee said:


> Just wondering about the Humilac. I've ordered some from Amazon but have not recieved it yet. I keep hearing mixed reviews.


It's brilliant! His dry skin disappeared within days of using it I recommend it highly! Even using it on the dog now


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## moxieberry

Emma_Grace said:


> It's brilliant! His dry skin disappeared within days of using it I recommend it highly! Even using it on the dog now


I'm so glad it worked so well for you!

This is exactly the same as what I experienced - it really was kind of a miracle cure, haha. It took about 3-4 days total for his dry skin to be completely gone. We're now spraying Archimedes with it about once a week to prevent the dry skin from coming back, and so far so good! It's such a relief after using flaxseed oil for so long with pretty much no improvement from that.


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## timmerlee

Thank you for the info! I hope it helps our Wylie's dry skin.


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## lukachu

Hi, lily has been on a diet (a mix of hills science plan and James Wellbeloved senior with live mealworm and cooked chicken as treats) and it has been a huge success. However, she has started to get dry skin. I want to try flaxseed oil to see if this helps and was wondering if there are any preferred brands to use? Is it better for her to ingest it or wear it?


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## moxieberry

lukachu said:


> Hi, lily has been on a diet (a mix of hills science plan and James Wellbeloved senior with live mealworm and cooked chicken as treats) and it has been a huge success. However, she has started to get dry skin. I want to try flaxseed oil to see if this helps and was wondering if there are any preferred brands to use? Is it better for her to ingest it or wear it?


You can do both. There's no preferred brand, just make sure there are no additives. Using a kind that comes in capsule form, rather than a bottle of liquid, will last longer; the liquid kind goes bad a certain amount of time after you open it, whereas the capsules can theoretically last for years. You just puncture one with a needle, dribble some on the back (parting the quills if she'll let you so it can get to the skin better) and some on the food.


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## lukachu

Thanks I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes


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## verucacherry

Had to drag this thread up because I just ordered some humilac to try and ease P.B.'s dry skin (we already put flax on her food and use a humidifier). Do you use this spray daily initially? Just a few spritzes or so? Thanks in advance for the help.


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## Lil'Pepper1

timmerlee said:


> Just wondering about the Humilac. I've ordered some from Amazon but have not recieved it yet. I keep hearing mixed reviews.


I couldn't find it on amazon? Where did you find it on amazon?


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## Lilysmommy

This thread is from a few years ago, please try to double check dates before posting!  Most of the people on this post aren't on the forum anymore.

But to answer your question, Humilac has been discontinued by the manufacturer, so I'm not sure it can be bought anymore, unfortunately.


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