# times of quilling and other quilling stuff



## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

a lot of times on the forum there will be confused owners about their hedgehogs loss of quills even though "they have already gone through quilling."

for those who don't know, quilling is when the hedgehog loses it's baby quills and grows in new quills. just like a baby losing it's baby teeth. EXCEPT you should not attempt to help your hedgie by counting to 3 and pulling the quill out for it! (this is just a human parent tradition, not meant for hedgehogs) :roll: the quills will fall out on their own and you will most likely find them lying around your hedgie's cage.

now more experienced owners correct me if i'm wrong (and i will edit this post) but, quilling should occur 3 times.

1) Around 6 weeks old
2) Around 9 weeks old
3) Around 12 weeks old

* i don't mean that the hedgehog quills ONCE out of these three times, your hedgie should quill THREE times.

if your Hedgehog is losing quills and is at one of these ages or relatively close (not all Hedgies quill at the exact same time) then it is most likely quilling.

during these times your hedgie might be moodier and won't tolerate being touched very much. this is natural and you shouldn't take it personal. just realize that they are going through a little rough patch as they grow up and be patient. 

a lot of times hedgies skin will also dry up during quilling so to help that you can give them an oatmeal bath or drizzle flaxseed oil either on their food or on their back.

* if your hedgehog is older and has already gone through quilling and still loses quills you should talk to your vet. this isn't healthy and could potentially be serious.

and that ladies and gentleman is the original production of " times of quilling and other stuff "


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

Very well written


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

SquiggyTheHedgie said:


> Very well written


thank you  i thought we needed a post like this.


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## bmaditz (Jun 11, 2012)

My little boy is losing his 12 week quills right now. His skin is sooooo dry.  I gave him a bath today with oatmeal shampoo. I also applied flaxseed oil with a toothbrush. I put a little on his food too. My poor baby, I hope he feels better soon, but he's never been huffy even when he's quilling.  I did have to have a talk with him while he was in the tub though. First off I informed him that is NOT where we poop. Secondly, yes Briar the top of your head has to be cleaned too. :lol: Every time I tried to brush the top off his head he put his visor down. :roll: Then he huffed and puffed because of the water he got in his wittle nosey.  Silly boy!


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

bmaditz said:


> My little boy is losing his 12 week quills right now. His skin is sooooo dry.  I gave him a bath today with oatmeal shampoo. I also applied flaxseed oil with a toothbrush. I put a little on his food too. My poor baby, I hope he feels better soon, but he's never been huffy even when he's quilling.  I did have to have a talk with him while he was in the tub though. First off I informed him that is NOT where we poop. Secondly, yes Briar the top of your head has to be cleaned too. :lol: Every time I tried to brush the top off his head he put his visor down. :roll: Then he huffed and puffed because of the water he got in his wittle nosey.  Silly boy!


that sounds adorable!  glad he isn't in a bad mood! and soon it will all be over for him, and you and him won't have to deal with anymore quilling.


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## bmaditz (Jun 11, 2012)

Kelsey the hedgehog said:


> that sounds adorable!  glad he isn't in a bad mood! and soon it will all be over for him, and you and him won't have to deal with anymore quilling.


 I can't wait for him to loose his quills so he doesn't have to go through it again. I am sooo ready for no more quills to the feet, and I'm sure he's tired of being uncomfortable. His skin looks nice and moist since I put the flaxseed on him.  I just hope he feels okay. He just seems a like he feels a little tender, but still just as friendly as always. Thanks for the advice a lot of people are like OH NO my hedgehog has MITES!!!! Not the case most of the time


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## SulleysMom (Apr 23, 2012)

How old is to old??? 

Sulley is losing quills and he is 4 months old, not a lot but this morning when I was changing his cage I picked up about 5. Then yesterday I picked up about 4. He is grouchy like when he was quilling before. I dunno I am a first time owner so everything he does I kinda freak out just a little bit.

Any answers will help thanks!!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

The 6, 9, 12 weeks thing is really just a guideline. My hog is a regular quill dropper and the vet can't find a thing wrong with her. She's over a year old and loses quills every day.

I have also read about hogs that will have another quilling around a year old.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

SulleysMom said:


> How old is to old???
> 
> Sulley is losing quills and he is 4 months old, not a lot but this morning when I was changing his cage I picked up about 5. Then yesterday I picked up about 4. He is grouchy like when he was quilling before. I dunno I am a first time owner so everything he does I kinda freak out just a little bit.
> 
> Any answers will help thanks!!


like hanhan27 said. i would give your hedgie the first year to quill and you shouldn't worry too much. all hedgies are different so it is most definatley not set in stone the times your hedgie will quill. besides losing baby teeth it could be compared to puberty.. some start early..others late. :roll:

when i was referring to old i was thinking more like 3-5 range. 

did Sulley have a 12 week quilling? if not it might just be really late. or if he did then he could also be losing a few quills due to dry skin. you can try some of the methods i mentioned in the original post for helping with dried skin.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

SulleysMom said:


> How old is to old???
> 
> Sulley is losing quills and he is 4 months old, not a lot but this morning when I was changing his cage I picked up about 5. Then yesterday I picked up about 4. He is grouchy like when he was quilling before. I dunno I am a first time owner so everything he does I kinda freak out just a little bit.
> 
> Any answers will help thanks!!


Kashi was a "late bloomer" he had a bout of quilling at 8 months :lol: So I wouldn't worry too much since he's pretty young ^_^


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## SulleysMom (Apr 23, 2012)

Thanks guys!! You are always so helpful at easing my mind LOL!!

Sulley didn't quill at 12 weeks but he did quill at 8 and 6 weeks so.... Who knows. 

Thanks again!!!! 
You guys rock!


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

SulleysMom said:


> Thanks guys!! You are always so helpful at easing my mind LOL!!
> 
> Sulley didn't quill at 12 weeks but he did quill at 8 and 6 weeks so.... Who knows.
> 
> ...


no problem. we're here to help  and don't worry, i think being paranoid and stressing about little things just comes with the package of being a hedgie mom. :lol:


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## littlebird (Apr 2, 2012)

Hannah is coming up on the 16wk mark, but I think she is starting to quill again. She had one long, continuous quill from around 6wks to around 12wks, without any break. I figured that would be enough for her... But for the last few days, she has been really huffy any time I try to touch her. She has no problem with just chilling with me, but if I try to touch her, or even move my hand near her, she huffs and puts her face quills down. And tonight, during our hour together I have taken 6 quills off of her blanket.

I'm supposing this is normal... but I did just rescue another hedgie, so I'm getting paranoid that she has caught something from him, or is feeling neglected since I do have to spend some time with him as well. Do hedgies get jealous? Or am I just paranoid and she is quilling again? :?:


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## Mizzle92 (Apr 28, 2012)

New hedgie mom of an 8 week old male named Spork. 

He seems to be doing really well. He is eating good, and drinking plenty of water. He runs on his wheel every night (and he IS definitely a wheel pooper). He is most certainly quilling. Grumpy, and keep finding quills in everything (including my foot a couple of times). 

My concern is this: Not being familiar with the quilling process because this is our first hedgehog.... are the quills he is losing now supposed to be really small? Much smaller than the majority on his back. They are about a half an inch long.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Mizzle92 said:


> New hedgie mom of an 8 week old male named Spork.
> 
> He seems to be doing really well. He is eating good, and drinking plenty of water. He runs on his wheel every night (and he IS definitely a wheel pooper). He is most certainly quilling. Grumpy, and keep finding quills in everything (including my foot a couple of times).
> 
> My concern is this: Not being familiar with the quilling process because this is our first hedgehog.... are the quills he is losing now supposed to be really small? Much smaller than the majority on his back. They are about a half an inch long.


Sounds like he is losing his baby quills.. I honestly can't remember if the quills my Kashi lost were smaller than the others... but I'm pretty sure he had much thinner/smaller quills when he was a baby so yeah


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## Mizzle92 (Apr 28, 2012)

Thank you Shaelikestaquitos. I was a little worried he was losing the ones coming in instead of the ones that needed to come out. That makes me feel a lot better. The ones he is losing are really thin too.


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## littlebird (Apr 2, 2012)

I've actually saved all of Hannah's quills and I can tell you that her baby ones are much shorter and thinner than the ones that will be growing back in. For a while she looked strange because half of her quills were longer and stuck out further than the rest if her. Kinda like a bad hair day


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## Mizzle92 (Apr 28, 2012)

littlebird said:


> I've actually saved all of Hannah's quills and I can tell you that her baby ones are much shorter and thinner than the ones that will be growing back in. For a while she looked strange because half of her quills were longer and stuck out further than the rest if her. Kinda like a bad hair day


Oh thank you for telling me that. Seeing the other people have had the same experience makes me feel so much better.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog (Jun 15, 2012)

littlebird, you said you saved all of hannah's quills, which is what i plan to do. 
is there anything you have done with the quills for like a keepsake thing? i already plan on taping some in his scrapbook, but there will be a lot more quills than that! :lol: so i need a few ideas. (and this question is for anyone, not just littlebird.  ) thanks!


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## littlebird (Apr 2, 2012)

I hadn't really thought must past putting them in her scrapbook as well, though I was going to put them in a little plastic envelope, rather than taping them in there. I do have quite a few... Some of them I can tell that they were from her first quilling (around 4wks), and most I have are from her long quilling (from 6wk to 12wk). I guess now I will have another set of them for her 16wk quilling.

I thought it would be cool to put the different quills next to each other in her scrapbook, since they are different sizes. I think it's cool to see how she has grown through her quills


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## LizLowe (Jun 20, 2012)

So I'm a new hedgie mom and she is going through her 12 week quilling right now, and I was wondering....can she hurt herself on the quills she looses? Like stepping on one and having it stick in her foot or under belly?


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## Viki (Jul 10, 2012)

My first hedgie, Bean, didn't have problems getting any quills stuck in her. She actually did really well quilling. She wasn't flaky, never huffed and puffed, never bit and was always in a fantastic mood. Willow is so flaky, losing quills like crazy and she is a huge grump who loves to chomp really really hard on fingers. She also doesn't seem to get quills stuck anywhere either. I saw her today sleeping and stepping on top of some and it never went in her foot. However I would imagine there is a possiblity. I am also interested in knowing if someone has experienced a hedgehog get poked with a wuill.


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## destoast (Feb 10, 2013)

How long does the quilling last? I just got a new hedgie and he was about 12 weeks, it's been 2 weeks and he's been quilling since the day after I got him (so like a week and a half) getting a little worried because I haven't been able to bond with him and starting to think he's going to be like this forever. Crossing my fingers that he will bond with me, and stop being so huffy all the time. I got my last hedgie as an adult so I didn't have to go through any of this.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Quilling does seem to last forever for some hedgies! They go through quillings at 6, 9, and 12 weeks, and for some they all just run in together. Hopefully he'll get over his last quilling in the next couple of weeks and settle down. Just keep taking him out and being patient with his huffiness. You can try giving him treats when he's having a good night and being minimally huffy and see if that makes any impression (but don't be surprised if it doesn't :lol. Hang in there! You're both almost through the ordeal.


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## Tamoshanter (Jun 27, 2013)

Thanks so much for this! Such a great thread, I haven't dealt with quilling since my first hedgie was a grumpy old man at least over 2 yrs when I got him;-) and my next 2, Bonnie and Clyde were also through that as I got them when they were about 5-6 months old! but now Bonnie just blessed us with 2 lil ones so quilling is coming! haha Thanks for the help, I'll be referring back in the coming weeks!


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## SherlockLove057 (Jan 5, 2015)

Oh, this post helped so much! I was worried about my Sherlock, and I'm a first time hedgie owner too. He has SUPER dry skin, to the point that it was flaking off. I gave him an olive oil bath, and then he started to lose a bunch of quills.And then he was scratching. And he's been Mr. Grumpy Quills for the past couple days. So I looked really close at his skin and quills (Not enjoying it, but letting me anyway), and nothing was wrong. But I saw a bunch of new quills coming through, and that would explain his grouchy-ness. I wonder if the olive oil helped him loosen up and help them fall out. Would that make sense?


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