# Bright Red Skin?



## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

I hunted high and low on the archives to see if I could find an answer, but was unsuccessful, so here goes.. 

Ivan (who is steady losing weight, thankfully) has been with us for almost 6 weeks. He's so large, that he has more skin sticking out than quills to cover it. That being said, I can only assume that his skin is more prone to irritation. His tush is bright red as is the skin on his sides. He's still very active and eating and even getting to be more comfortable around us. He's not pancaking or doing anything unusual to make me think he's too hot... I'm thinking it may be my shirt, as he was laying on me and I'm wearing a ribbed shirt, but I'm almost positive that he was this red last night too. He's a "Tobiano pinto," so he's fairly.. well fair. I read on an archive post that light-colored hedgies tend to have pinker flesh than darker ones. Nothing in his environment's changed since we got him, either...

On top of that, we can't go a day without everyone losing at least two quills, including Sebastian who just went to the vet 3 days ago and I made sure they checked the flakes in his carrier to make sure they weren't moving (they weren't). Everyone's been on two drops of flaxseed oil and I always use the Aveno powder and a couple drops of olive oil in baths (including just foot baths). I gave everyone a drop of Revolution last week too :roll: 

Am I being too impatient? Does it take time for their dry skin to clear up? Could dry skin be the reason for such a bright red bottom? Is he just embarrassed of being over weight ?


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

My hedgie has had a pink to red underside before - on both sides of her lower belly near the opening of her urogenital sinus. It comes from urine being trapped in her skin folds (she's a big girl) and from sleeping on plastic all day (she chooses to go under her liner and sleep on top of the plastic). I suspect that may be what's happening with your hedgie since you mentioned he was a big boy. 

As preventative maintenance, she gets a belly bath along with her footbath almost every morning. And we make sure she's dry before going back in her house. 

When it becomes really irritated, we have a creme from the vet that I apply morning and night. 

If it seems like that might be what's going on with your hedge, a vet visit might be in order. But I'd start with just making sure the area is clean and dry.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Thanks for the advice-- that makes a lot of sense. He did get a foot bath last night and I made sure the water was warm and up to his tummy. He likes sleeping on the plastic too instead of the liner.

Is the Aveno enough or is there something else OTC I should look into? 

What's the name of the cream? Our vet's office has been insanely crazy lately (understaffed) and it's usually faster/easier if I just tell them what I've heard of before (i.e. the antibiotic for URIs and Revolution).

I'll continue giving him tummy baths though and making sure we're extra good about drying him off. Is there a better way to do it or should I just let him air-dry? I don't want to rub him too much so as to avoid irritating it more... He doesn't seem to be in pain or itchy, so hopefully I won't have to wrestle with him every night attempting to put cream on him.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

The vet gave me Animax creme for her. She was initially thinking Desitin would work, but was concerned that Satin might try to lick it off, and felt Animax would be a safer choice.

I just use plain water to wash her belly when it's irritated. To dry her, I use a combination of blotting the wetness off her tummy with a towel and just letting her sit on a dry spot of the same towel for a bit. That way, there's no rubbing. 

A tricky bit with getting the meds on is keeping them on. Once she balls or unballs, she ends up wiping it away with her feet. So I've started waiting until she's pretty calm, then applying with either my finger or a q-tip, and setting her back in her cage under her liner so she doesn't rub it off while working to get back underneath the liner.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Thanks for the info. We usually let Ivan sit on a dry towel afterward too, but that usually because if we try picking him up/moving anything around him, he balls up :roll: 

I'll ask my vet about the Animax (if necessary)when I go to drop off his xrays


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## doug (Aug 28, 2008)

Milo had a sore and the vet gave us animax cream. It might have been the ordeal of the whole vet visit, but it seemed like the cream really irritated him, he was very agitated almost frantic after we put it on.

We didn't use the animax after that, instead we used vaseline, which Milo did not seem to mind and it helped the sore.

Animax is probably safe, it just might be that the smell bothered Milo. So I would just suggest trying a little bit at first to see how your hedgehog reacts to it.

In the meantime a bit of vaseline is a safe and effective treatment to help irritated skin.


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## sebian (Aug 29, 2008)

Really? That's good to know (and more cost effective). Like I said, he doesn't seem upset by it at all, it's just really ugly and kind of grossing me out lol. He doesn't seem to be swollen or anything either. 

Maybe I can attempt to put some on his mite-chewed ears... hopefully he won't flip out the same way Sebastian did when I tried doing that with the "unscented" lotion :shock: He'll be one greasy hedgehog! :lol:


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