# 6 month quilling and behavior



## pnkpanther (Jun 14, 2012)

So My hedgie Dublin is now about 6 months old, and I thought that he had already gone through quilling because he had been itching a lot. but now there are tons of quills all around his cage even though he's itching less. Is it normal for some hedgies to take this long to start quilling?

as a result he's also been much more irritable and has started jumping out of my lap onto the floor during his daily playtime so I have to keep him in his kiddy pool the whole time. Does anyone know some more effective ways of bonding with your hedgie during quilling? Dublins always been really active and hates being held anyway, but now that he's not afraid to jump off of chairs or desks I worry that he may hurt himself (Had to start watching him as closely as I did when I first got him again)


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## iamquilliam (Jul 26, 2012)

I'm no hedgie expert but quilliam (my little fella) went through his normal quilling stage at around 6-8 weeks, and still looses quills Evey now and again so maybe your hedge is just still going through quilling or slowly coming out of it. As for bonding while quilling, quilliam was quite irritable too and I found that just letting him hang out on the floor during play time for a day or so, then every 2 or 3 days I would give him a good warm bath and after the bath wrap him up tight in a towel and let him cuddle in my lap. He was always more calm and sweet after his baths so I don't know, like I said I'm no expert. Hope this helps!!!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

A lot of hedgehogs will have a quilling at around 5-6 months (sometimes later) which is typically less intense than the one that occurs at around 9 weeks. So, some quill loss around that age is normal. If you start to notice that it's excessive, or is causing bald patches, it might be mites, but otherwise it's just an adult quilling. As with the quilling periods that babies go through, you should handle him as much as normal, regardless of the grumpiness. Putting him in a hedgie bag in your lap while you do something else (TV, computer, etc) is a great way to bond with grumpy hedgies.


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## TitustheHog (Aug 15, 2012)

I just got Titus, and he is quilling. We give him an oatmeal bath once a week. We got the dry stuff that you use when you have chicken pox. I also give him lots of flax seed oil. He is still grumpy sometimes, so we just don't put him back in his home until he is relaxed for at least five min. 

He is your pet, you know whats good for him. I didn't like veggies as a kid, still had to eat him.


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