# Symptoms of mites?



## strawberryfields (Oct 3, 2009)

Hi, I keep trying to search the boards but it's telling me that the words are too common so I can't find any answers! :? 

I was just wondering a few things about mites. For example, is it true that if a hedgie is losing quills, but the quills still have the ball follicle on the end of them, that it isn't mites? Or is that only a myth?

I've also heard a few different things about treating mites. Some say that the only way to treat them is through a vet visit and Revolution administration, while others say that olive oil baths will take care of it just fine.

It's all so confusing, I'm just trying to get some straight answers. I want to make sure that Rocko's quill loss is really due to quilling. He's eighteen weeks old and I'm starting to think he's too old to be quilling still.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

The ball on the end thing isn't always due to mites. I've seen them with hedgehogs going through a massive stress quilling. I have one right now that is dropping quills with the ball attached and its due to a major life change (new home/diet).

Olive oil baths are not likely to cure mites. It will provide some immediate relief though. The oil will coat the mites and suffocate them causing a massive die out. Some have given several oil baths and reported that it cured their hedgehog, I still wonder if it really got them all though. A vet visit and revolution will provide the quickest route to a cure. 

Some hedgehogs will quill for a long time. I had one, Riley, who quilled much longer than your little guy. Is he scratching frantically all the time? Have you tried a black cloth test? While it is not a scientific test and can give you a false negative, it is something you can do at home. Take a dark blue or black cloth and rub your hedgehog with it... knocking some flaky skin onto the cloth. Then take the cloth and look at the flakes under a bright light. If you see movement, your hedgehog has mites. No movement doesn't mean no mites, just that none were dislodged... but movement definitely means a vet visit is needed.


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