# Dry Skin while Quilling? OR Ringworm?



## BellaHog (Jul 21, 2011)

So i got Bella About 2 Weeks ago. She is about 10 weeks old now. When i got her i noticed she would scratch every once in a while. She use to be on aspen bedding but i have changed her bedding to fleece liners. Since then i haven't noticed her scratching much. (I'll catch her doing it once maybe twice a day). I did however notice she had dry flaky skin so i started putting some flax seed oil on her which helped for a couple of days. But she would still scratch every once in a while. I ordered some Sunshine Factor which the vet recommended for her dry skin and i just received it today so i will put it in her food first thing tomorrow. I was going to see if the flax seed oil/SF cleared up her dry skin before i went to the vet to check for mites. (I've had her on a black cloth and haven't seen any small white movements). I also assumed the dry skin was normal because she has started to quill in the last week. (I can see new adult quills coming through)
So.. tonight while i was watching tv with my hubby i noticed he had a weird circle like ring on his arm. At first i joked it was ringworm, but then we started looking up pictures of ringworm and now i am worried.. He recently went shooting so it could be a burn from a bullet casing, but he said he feels like he would have remembered that. If it is ringworm he could have gotten it from some of the equipment he uses at the gym or .. my new baby hedgie Bella. Now i am skeptical if her dry skin is from quilling, mites, or ringworm. So,I've scoured the internet about ring worm and hedgies and I have a million questions.

If anyone has any feedback on any of these questions/the situation please let me know.
Q1. Does anyone know how flaky hedgies skin can get when they quill? (Hers looks like mine does after i get a sunburn that starts to peel).
Q2. Does anyone have any pictures of hedgies who get ringworm? 
Q3. Will symptoms of ringworm just be dry flaky skin or are there other things i should look out for (I looked under her belly and no abnormal discoloring)?
Q4. How will the vet identify if it is ring worm? [I've read that using a black light doesn't really help to identify it as it could be a number of different things glowing or perhaps the ringworm doesn't glow. Also, i've read that only a skin scraping can confirm if it is ring worm. But I heard that you shouldn't do a skin scraping on a baby hedgie. Is this true?]
Q5. If they do have to do a skin scraping what is the procedure? will my baby have to be put under anesthia? or is it a gentle sample from the skin?
Q6. I've been keeping her quills. Some of her quills have some flaky skin on in. Can this be used to identify if she has ringworm?
Q7. If she does have ringworm, how quickly does it progress? Would it be bad to wait out the weekend to see if my hubby actually has ringworm or should i rush her to vet asap.

I know these are a million questions to answer, i guess i should be glad if anyone even reads all of them. Any feedback is appreciated 

I plan on calling my vet first thing tuesday morning (her first day back from the weekend) and asking her all of the same questions. I am just posting so i can put some of my nerves to rest/become more knowledgable about the subject so i don't waste the vets time asking "stupid" questions :/.

Poor Baby Bella she's had a rough start in her new home. First a URI.. now this. [She is on the road to recovery for the URI though  ]


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Oh my! I can't help you. But I feel so bad for you as you are so upset. You have been taking such good care of little Bella. I am sure Nancy or Nikki or Kalandra will be along soon. They are very experienced hedgie people.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Yes they can get very flaky skin when they quill. I had one that had it come off in sheets, much like a sunburn. He was extremely grouchy, itchy and quite a grump during the process.

Have you done a search on here for ringworm? I know there are a couple of threads and I think they describe how they treated and how it was diagnosed. I want to say that one of them sent a sample of quills and possibly a skin scraping off for diagnosis.

A skin scrape can be done while they are awake. The vet will take a blade or some other tool and scrape the skin between the quills then go look at the sample under a microscope. Its a pretty simple test.


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## BellaHog (Jul 21, 2011)

I read through alot of the forums mentioning ringworm last night. Mostly people say they have dry skin but usually they figure it out that it is ringworm because the owners get it on their skin and that is a good indicator that it's time to do a skin scraping at the vet. There is a picture of one who had it on their face, but I don't see that on bella. Not now at least. Thanks for the quick response. It is good to know about the dry skin while quilling. That makes me feel a little bit better until the vet is open on Tuesday.


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## Littlefootsmama (May 23, 2010)

I had two hedgehogs with ringworm and I never once got it myself, so waiting for your husband won't necessarily mean that yours doesn't have it. Ringworm is a fungal infection on the skin, so your vet will do a fungal culture and then wait and see if anything grows. Little Foot had bacteria grow within three days (he had a bad infection), but sometimes it can take up to three weeks; however, if they do have an infection I doubt it would take that long. There are oral and topical treatments for ringworm that your vet will give you. 

The symptoms for ringworm are extremely similar to having a severe dry skin problem or quilling. My boys had such bad dry skin I could peel it off like a sunburn and they lost quite a bit of quills. Gizmo lost quills in a circular fashion. It wasn't super obvious to the naked eye, but when the vet pointed it out to me I could kind of see it.

Ringworm is quite contagious and can be stubborn to get rid of you, so I would suggest calling monday morning and getting him/her in. Although, at 10 weeks old she/he is quite young and he/she could be going through one of their major quillings (hopefully a breeder can chime in and give more details on the exact age where they lose tons of quills). 

My boys were a ringworm treatment for about a month and then I had to go through and bleach all of their things to make sure that the bacteria was killed and they wouldn't get re-infected. 

You could always just call a vet and tell them what is going on and see what their opinion is as well since he/she is so young. 

Best of luck!



Oh also, I recently took Little Foot back to the vet because I thought he had ringworm again; He had the exact same symptoms. While I was waiting for the fungal culture to come back I was washing him in Aquaphor wash and doing a jojoba oil rinse with Vit e oil and that seemed to help significantly. I couldn't believe the results! I just got the call yesterday that his fungal was negative, so they can have very similar symptoms and just have dry skin.


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## BellaHog (Jul 21, 2011)

Well the good news is my hubby doesn't have ringworm. It went away in a day without any anti-fungal cream. Thanks for all the descriptions of your hedgies symptoms. it is very good to know that she could still have it even though it's not showing up on us. I'm currently awaiting a phone call from my vet to get an opinion/try to get an appointment (She starts her work week on tuesday).

I have noticed her skin near her belly seems a sort of pink red. I thought all her dry skin irritation was because of her quilling since at first i only noticed irritated skin on her quill area. (Shes about 10 weeks). But has anyone had their hedgie have irritated belly skin during quilling as well? Or is red skin near her belly not common of quilling at all? Is it a more an indication of a fungus or mites? I have pictures posted below. 

I put a small amount of flax seed oil from a capsule on her a day or two ago, i wonder if that could have caused it if she's allergic to it. I searched the forum to see if hedgies can be allergic to flax seed on their skin, and it was somewhat inconclusive. I have read oils can clog their skin if they have bacteria or fungus. Should i stop the flax seed until i know what is causing the red skin and quill loss. 

I have pictures posted below of her skin color change that i've noticed. Two pictures are taken the first day i got her and one picture is of her underbelly skin color. 

When i talk to the vet tomorrow/today should i ask to put her on preventative revolution just incase she has mites. (I'd do a skin scraping for mites, but since they can be inconclusive i'm not sure i wan't to put her through that. - she doesn't like me even looking at the skin near her quills)
As well as ask them to try to check for fungal as well? Does anyone have a ballpark amount your bet charges for the fungal test/scrape? I'm debating on seeing if revolution will clear up the redness or covering all my bases and getting a fungal test/scrape as well. I'm not sure how much a fungal test cost but it seems pricey to have to grow a culture. (I guess i will find out within 24 hours when i get a call back from the vet on the exact price)

As a side note.. I do not have a heating pad in her cage. Although could the red skin be because her cage where she is sleeping is too hot? Her blanket she sleeps on is near the CHE because i am worried she will get cold (Plus i read on the forum that after a attempted hibernation/URI warmer temps are better than cold temps in the 73-80 range). My house can get as low as 63 at night. I have a 150 W bulb which should be able to handle it and thermometers on the side that show it doesn't drop below 74 on the edges. But i still get nervous one day itll get too cold and the lamp wont be enough. (another CHE is in route so i can be extra sure she'll stay toasty in the future) I am hoping that if she is too hot she'll move the blanket herself.. although i'm new to hedgies so i don't know if she well). I have two thermometers in the middle that tell me that the temperature in the middle fluctuates between 78-79..sometimes 80. They are digital zilla thermometers. But the package says it is only accurate to 1.5 degree F. So i get worried that the temp could be 81 or slightly higher.. The CHE is controlled by a thermostart so it should adjust to the temperatures 

Geez.. im starting to notice i write novels. Thank you all for even reading all of this. I know it is long. Thank you so much for the responses i really appreciate them. I do know that Bella appreciates them even more


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## lcam85 (Nov 30, 2011)

Hi
Do you have an update on what happened?


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