# Breeder paint spots



## for the <3 of quills (Aug 21, 2011)

Hi, I've had my hedgehog since August of last year and she still has the orange paint spot on her back quills that her breeder put on her. She's already gone through all of her quillings but for some reason she didn't lose all of the orange quills. Will this ever go away?


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## BatmanJohnson (Aug 14, 2011)

Let me Preface this by saying I am no expert. But with Lenore it just took time. When she'd let me I'd use her bath tooth brush on her quills to scrub lightly. Hopefully someone can give you a better answer than me. I'm also interested because I'm picking up a new baby from the breeder tomorrow...


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

It should just be kids paint that's used for finger painting. Are her quills white in that area? The paint may have dyed them.


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## for the <3 of quills (Aug 21, 2011)

The paint does seem to be in the white area of her quills. When she lets me I can actually peel the paint off of some of them. It seems very thick.


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## Waffles (Dec 26, 2011)

My Mishka is dealing with the same thing, but there's a huge clump of green paint thats clumping her quills together. I contacted the breeder because my concern is that the clump is preventing her from losing the quills from quilling. The breeder informed me that it's not supposed to come off (?), and that it's non-toxic fabric paint. She said I could try giving her a bath to soften up the paint and then gently try to peel it off. I have not had much luck this far- usually it seems like her skin is tender around that area and I'm trying not to make it worse. Still a huge clump, i feel bad because it seems heavy and like it's weighing down on her back, or maybe pulling at her skin. It's actual paint and not just dyed quills. As soon as I can come up with a solution I'll keep you posted!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It's unfortunate that some breeders choose to use paint that won't come off and gob it on so thick that it clumps the quills together. There is no reason for it unless they are keeping that particular hedgehog in their breeding program and want to make certain it never comes off. Still, it never needs to be gobbed on enough to clump quills together. IMO, it's laziness on the breeders part rather than taking time to apply it so the quills don't stick together. 

For babies that are being sold, there is no reason to permanently mark them. Not many people want their baby to have a gob of paint on them for the rest of his or her life. 

Waffles, does she sit still enough that you could carefully cut some of the paint away or perhaps cut some of the quills apart. I don't mean cutting the quills, but cutting between them. Our Cinder had a huge gob of neon pink paint on her and she had it until the day she died. We did manage to get a lot of it off by trimming the excess, but never could get it all.


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## Waffles (Dec 26, 2011)

HI Nancy! I agree with your post and wish i could get it off as well. Mishka and I are about, eh, I'd say 55% bonded so far (work in progress). Lately she has allowed me to pick at it with my nail, and i've been able to use nail clippers to clip a little of it away. i feel bad like i'm pulling at her skin though so my success has been minimal. i've pried apart a couple quills, and when i did so one fell out (like it was only stuck there, leftover from quilling but unable to fall completely out). Since she's only in an inch of water during bath time, the paint doesn't really have an opportunity to get soft- other than when i rinse her.


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## pink-ster (Mar 3, 2012)

would you be able to use olive oil? I know that gets off some kinds of paint.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Unfortunately, fabric paint will not soften with water so you could keep her in the bath all day and it wouldn't accomplish much. Olive oil is a good idea and certainly won't hurt to try. Perhaps use a little craft brush or q-tip to apply it directly to the painted area.


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## Waffles (Dec 26, 2011)

ooh olive oil. great idea. ill let you know how it works out- thanks so much for the suggestion!


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## kipluck (Jan 18, 2009)

OOH! I was JUST wondering this! My little girl has orange paint on her and they haven't washed off yet (though I haven't really scrubbed yet). What is the purpose of the markings? Is it to show they have been sold? Or had a vet check? Or what?


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2012)

usually they mark it with color when they are being sold so they can tell which buyer has which hedgie. also to be able to tell them apart to see whose who and keep track of wieght and things


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

Waffles said:


> ooh olive oil. great idea. ill let you know how it works out- thanks so much for the suggestion!


I was gonna suggest olive oil too. What about also using tweezers? Annabell gets fluff stuck in the base of her quills a lot. Yeah that's dramatically softer. I find though she won't let my fingers near it easily, so tweezers seem to work best for getting in there & separating quills etc


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## for the <3 of quills (Aug 21, 2011)

Hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to get back on here! Chia's quills were clumped together by the paint before her first quilling but I was able to pull some of them apart and some of them fell out in small clumps stuck together. So none of them are stuck together anymore but she is finished quilling so I guess she'll just have the orange spot until maybe one day it wears off. I guess it's not a big problem since she obviously isn't bothered by it but it sounds like it is causing skin problems for some of you guys :/


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## Hillybean (Jun 10, 2010)

I have heard of some breeders doing it, to keep track of that litter. I guess, they house weaned ones together(by same sex) until a certain age or until they are sold if they are young enough. A color represents a certain litter.

Snickerz had a pink and an orange on him. I believe I was told it was so she would know what litter he was from and the other color was because they had to keep him longer due to his size.

He has dark quills, so I haven't checked recently on it..but I will tonight. You think they would use a different system, one that comes off..


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Hillybean said:


> He has dark quills, so I haven't checked recently on it..but I will tonight. You think they would use a different system, one that comes off..


The system works well, the problem is when a breeder is too heavy-handed with applying the paint, or uses something that isn't easy to wash/scrub away. My breeder uses fabric paint, and Archimedes' paint spot was gone by 9 weeks or so. Her method works especially well because the containers it comes in are designed with a small opening. It would take effort to apply a lot of it.

Marking with paint is really the only way to be able to keep track of babies - hedgehogs can't have a piece of yarn around the neck like is done for puppies and kittens. It makes it quick and easy to identify babies from each other and to be sure of which one is meant to go home with who. A breeder can label the babies by IHR number (or whatever else) in their paperwork or on their website, but if those aren't associated with visible markings on the babies, it's not foolproof. Also, when babies have to be fostered by another mother, it's the only sure way to be able to tell which babies in the nest are the foster-babies.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Some breeders know their babies and use nothing to mark them.  I have had several litters that i've had to mark and a few that I have not, depends on colors and markings.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I only ever marked babies that I couldn't tell the difference between when looking at them from above. If I had a boy and a girl that looked the same, I marked one so I could tell at a glance who was who without having to lift them up.


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## churrochomper3067 (Nov 25, 2021)

for the <3 of quills said:


> Hi, I've had my hedgehog since August of last year and she still has the orange paint spot on her back quills that her breeder put on her. She's already gone through all of her quillings but for some reason she didn't lose all of the orange quills. Will this ever go away?


If you don't already give your hedgehog baths then I highly suggest doing so. I use dawn dish soap and a toothbrush. I put a wash rag down in a sink, then put about a fingernail deep in water(absorption considered). I gently brush the quills and other dirty areas with the toothbrush and then rinse. You can find other good tutorials on youtube.


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## churrochomper3067 (Nov 25, 2021)

If you don't already give your hedgehog baths then I highly suggest doing so. I use dawn dish soap and a toothbrush. I put a wash rag down in a sink, then put about a fingernail deep in water(absorption considered). I gently brush the quills and other dirty areas with the toothbrush and then rinse. You can find other good tutorials on youtube.


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## Spiky_Floof<3 (Jun 21, 2019)

churrochomper3067 said:


> If you don't already give your hedgehog baths then I highly suggest doing so. I use dawn dish soap and a toothbrush. I put a wash rag down in a sink, then put about a fingernail deep in water(absorption considered). I gently brush the quills and other dirty areas with the toothbrush and then rinse. You can find other good tutorials on youtube.


Hi! This thread is from 2012. Maybe just try checking the date at the top first. Second, baby Aveeno shampoo is much better for their skin than dawn I assume. I think dawn would be good if they are REALLY dirty, but I would recommend trying something a bit gentler. I am no expert!! Just an idea!! 
Merry Christmas!


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## Cqtxcoastalquills (11 mo ago)

So from time to time we have to mark our babies to tell them apart otherwise we can't track their weight consistently! If I do I use fingerprint because it's non toxic and easy to remove! Here's an example of when!


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