# Skin flakes



## Katty (Jan 17, 2009)

So I was holding my sonny on my shirt earlier, and we where just reading Frankenstein for school [or trying to eat the pages of Frankenstein...  ] and cuddling. 
Anyway, I noticed after him moving about a bit, he left tiny little white skin flakes on my shirt [which is dark so they where quite noticeable]. They never moved after close observation, so I am pretty sure they can't be mites, but I am not positive. He has had a bit of a problem with dry skin since the day I got him, but at that time he was also quilling. He is about 3 1/2 months old now, so that phase should be wrapping up. And I have been giving him aveeno baths every sunday to help soothe his skin, which does help a little bit.
It is mostly in one area of his body though, his right shoulder area [including the skin under his fur, not just the dark skin under his quills], and he is very sensitive when i touch him there directly. I thought earlier it was just because of when he was quilling, he would scratch a lot, so I thought it was because he scratched a little too much in that area and gave himself a scab [which has healed up]. But it is still sensitive to this day. 
The rest of his body is not as sensitive, but when I look under his quills, I see areas of white flakes. They don't _clump_ or anything, they fall off easily if I scratch them with my fingernail. Which also leads me to believe it is just bad dry skin.
But nothing I do seems to help soothe or get rid of it. Especially the tenderness on his right side.
So I am pretty confused what it may be, or what to do for him


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## Hedgie17 (Aug 28, 2008)

hmmm.... Is he still losing quills? It could just be a post- quilling thing, but i don't know... Also, it could be dry because of the season.... :?


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## Katty (Jan 17, 2009)

Yes he is still losing quite a few quills. I'll find 2-5 in his hat when I take him out to play for the night, and there is probably a little more in the rest of his cage but they're hard to find so I don't look anymore. And yea I think it may be post-quilling too, but what worries me mainly is the amount of flakes on his body and his right side being tender.


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## Hedgie17 (Aug 28, 2008)

The tenderness could just be a scar thing from the violent scratching in that area... is there any other symtoms ex: losing weight, less food inntake ect. try giving him a warm bath with aveeno moustrizing stuff (idk what its called) :?


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## Katty (Jan 17, 2009)

no none of those symptoms.
he just changed the way he eats [he'll eat half when he does his nightly thing, and the other half sometime during the day when i'm gone, or when i wake him up to play]
but i'm not really worried about that lol


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Mine has a similar problem to what you're describing... she started with dry looking skin, moved into quill loss, then into super-dry flaky skin. The vet did a number of tests and we treated for mites though hedgie had two negative skin scrapings. It wasn't mites. Now we're on to treating it as a yeast infection - oral meds and a special shampoo. 

I'd bring him to a vet. If your hedgie's experience is like mine, it's not something you can fix with a home remedy.


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## Katty (Jan 17, 2009)

well ill really focus on the flax seed oil food and olive oil/aveeno bath for the next week or so. see if theres any improvement on his skin, ill just watch it closely. i really hope it isn't any sort of fungus like a yeast infection. but im prepared to see the vet if need be. 
thanks!


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Using flax seed oil and/or olive oil would certainly give you clues as to what's going on. If it's dry skin, they'll help lots. If it's fungal, it won't help; in fact, it'll make things worse for your little one. In that sense, you're running a bit of a risk using them... so, like you said, please be prepared to see the vet


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