# HELP! quill loss!



## Runefaust (Nov 13, 2008)

Okay, this one's tricky. Maiche has been doing fine, the chipped toothe doesn't seem to get in the way of her eating enormous quantities of food, and is generally happy to be with me. Thing is, I find like 3 or 4 loose quills in the floor daily, them being easily broken. I asked to the vet some time ago if it was something wrong with her, and she told me Maiche was fine. Strange thing is, she doesn't seem upset about it, and she's as friendly as ever. I thought it wasn't quilling because of that..
Any similar experiences?


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

If she's of quilling age, then she's probably just quilling, if she's not, then I'd do a mite check. She may also have dry skin. 

One of my guys wasn't very crabby when he was quilling. Granted, he was never as friends as Maiche is, but he didn't seem to mind us touching him or his crawling around (and pooping on) everything.


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## Runefaust (Nov 13, 2008)

sebian said:


> If she's of quilling age, then she's probably just quilling, if she's not, then I'd do a mite check. She may also have dry skin.
> 
> One of my guys wasn't very crabby when he was quilling. Granted, he was never as friends as Maiche is, but he didn't seem to mind us touching him or his crawling around (and pooping on) everything.


I asked the vet if it was mites or something like that. While she didn't seem to do an extensive search on her, she said Maiche was fine. Maiche is now 3 months old, and pardon my ignorance, but I really don't know the quill loss rate when quilling.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Runefaust said:


> Maiche is now 3 months old, and pardon my ignorance, but I really don't know the quill loss rate when quilling.


It varies between hedgies. Some of them only lose a 2 or 3 a day (sometimes even less!) and some of them lose 10-15 or more. At three months, I would suspect that she is quilling, especially if she's not scratching herself.

This page has some more information on quilling: http://hedgehogcentral.com/quilling.shtml.


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## Runefaust (Nov 13, 2008)

sebian said:


> Runefaust said:
> 
> 
> > Maiche is now 3 months old, and pardon my ignorance, but I really don't know the quill loss rate when quilling.
> ...


Wells she does scratch, but more or less at the frequency I scratch, lol


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Hehe

You can do a mite test on her. (Gently!) Rub/pet her with a black t-shirt (or let her walk around/cuddle with it for a while on your lap) and then look if there's any flakes. If they're moving they she has mites. If they're not, then she has dry skin (if it's just a couple of flakes, I wouldn't worry about it).

Another to check for mites is to look at one of the quills. If there's a bulb on the end of it, then she's just quilling. If there's no bulb, then it's probably mites.

http://hedgehogcentral.com/mites.shtml

Again, it sounds to me as if it's just her quilling and she's handling it very well-- but it's never a bad idea to safe than sorry =)


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## Runefaust (Nov 13, 2008)

sebian said:


> Hehe
> 
> You can do a mite test on her. (Gently!) Rub/pet her with a black t-shirt (or let her walk around/cuddle with it for a while on your lap) and then look if there's any flakes. If they're moving they she has mites. If they're not, then she has dry skin (if it's just a couple of flakes, I wouldn't worry about it).
> 
> ...


Woah, great tips. that helped me recognize it beyond beliefs. Yeah, she's definitely quilling and has somewhat of a dry skin. Thanks again


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

No problem! I'm glad it helped =)

If you want to combat the dry skin, add a drop of flaxseed oil in her food once or twice a week and/or put some olive oil in her baths (although, one of my guys will drink the bath water if I put olive oil in it :lol: )


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## Runefaust (Nov 13, 2008)

I tried once with the olive oil on water, but Maiche didn't like it much. And maybe it was due to her ending up all yellow. I may have overdone the dose a bit....


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

hehe :lol: 

She probably felt very greasy


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Whether the lost quills have the ball on the end or not, has little indication as to whether the hedgie has mites or not...


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Really? I actually got that from the HHC link I posted. 

Sorry for this mis-information!!!


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

I actually just talked to Bryan about this, and he said that a bulb-less quill IS, in fact, one indication (of many) of mites. I also asked him if a bulb-less quill could mean something internal is going on, to which he replied probably not-- bulb-less quills are usually an indication of something happening on the outside (injury, mites, etc.). 

The scratch test is still the better method, in my opinion... 

Sorry for any confusion-- I hope this cleared it up a little. If not, I hope it made you come up with more questions


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## Runefaust (Nov 13, 2008)

sebian said:


> I actually just talked to Bryan about this, and he said that a bulb-less quill IS, in fact, one indication (of many) of mites. I also asked him if a bulb-less quill could mean something internal is going on, to which he replied probably not-- bulb-less quills are usually an indication of something happening on the outside (injury, mites, etc.).
> 
> The scratch test is still the better method, in my opinion...
> 
> Sorry for any confusion-- I hope this cleared it up a little. If not, I hope it made you come up with more questions


Well, her quills do have said bulbs at the end


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Yes a bulb less quill is a good indication of mites, on the other hand, just because the quill does have the bulb at the end, doesn't mean the hedgehog is mite free.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

That's a very good way of putting it =)


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## xtiana (Aug 31, 2008)

can someone post a photo of a bulb on a quill? Hayden is still losing a lot of quills (but growing lots of new ones) and I have no idea what the bulb on the quill should look like? I'd really appreciate it  I brought him to the vet and he was tested for mites and any other stuff on his skin (they did at mite test at the vet and they sent out samples to the lab and did many other tests) and he had nothing wrong. I just have no idea what the bulbs should look like and I'd really appreciate if someone could post a picture so I could be informed  THANKS SO MUCH!


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