# Constantly stretching??????



## sss8765 (Jan 1, 2012)

I found my hedgehog about three weeks ago from my friends house (  )
but now that he is back i noticed some things. First of all, he is always stretchng. When we take him out, he stretches about 3 or more times. Is this normal? i have never seen him stretch so much before. Also he is scratching his back a lot of times and i think he is dry skin, Is there anything i could use other than oatmeal bath and flax seed oil. Only because he is very fragile and he gets scared if you even go near his spines. I can touch hi face and belly but not his quills. Any help is appreciated!!!!!!!!!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

You found your hedgie from your friend's house? How did you lose your hog at a friend's house?...

Scratching a lot and being sensitive about his quills being touched could mean he has mites. Do you have anything wood in his cage? Is he on wood shavings? If so, it might be a good idea to take him to the vet. Make sure if you end up treating him for mites that you don't use Ivermectin, as overdosing a hog on it can kill them. Kitten Revolution is the best option for hedgehogs. Keep in mind that they will do a skin scraping to test for mites, but false negatives are common as mites aren't always in the location of the skin scraping. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get him Revolution whether he has mites or not.

Until you find out what's going on with his skin/quills, don't put flax seed oil on his skin directly as if it is a bacterial or fungal infection, applying oils topically can make things worse. You can put a few drops on his food every day instead.


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## Quinn (Apr 24, 2011)

Im glad your hedgie is ok after his ordeal besides the itchyness. And that's good advice from hanhan.


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## sss8765 (Jan 1, 2012)

well him not letting me touch him is not part of the mites he just gets scared easily and i have a log cave for him so ya and i lost him at my friends house because my dad brought down my hedgie for a visit and he got out of the cage we put him in.also does almond oil work for dry skin too? i thought it said almond oil once so i got it . is it ok or only flax seed oil works?


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

hanhan27 said:


> Until you find out what's going on with his skin/quills, don't put flax seed oil on his skin directly as if it is a bacterial or fungal infection, applying oils topically can make things worse. You can put a few drops on his food every day instead.


No oils until you know what's going on with his skin. 

Also, the fact that he has wood in his cage and he was lost for a few days (never know where those little guys can end up!) is a good indicator that you should take him to the vet and at least get Revolution to treat for mites in addition to a check up to see what the vet thinks about his scratching.

A good thing you can do to help dry skin is to get a humidifier set up in the room hedgie's cage is in.


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