# Guillermo Cut His Face :(



## chrisbourke (Feb 15, 2012)

Hey everybody,

I just got my hedgehog Guillermo about 2 weeks ago, and he's about 3 months old.
He's been awesome! Playful, eating, drinking, running on his wheel all night, friendly, easy to pick up, everything I could ask for.
I came home from class the other day to take him out of his cage and I noticed a pretty bad looking cut on his face.
I'm not sure if it's from scratching his face or from getting his nose in something, but it's got me concerned.
No blood has come out of the cut, but it looks a little nasty.

Also for some more details:

He does not seem to have dry skin,
I never see him itch,
He is young so he is still going through his first quilling and sometimes I'll find a quill if I let him sleep and run around on my bed,

-His back feet toenails were getting a little long so I cut them (after I saw his cut)
I'm wondering if he scratched with his back foot and his nails were just too long?



The flash in this picture I attached really highlights it, it doesn't look this bad to the human eye but nonetheless you see what I'm talking about.

Thank you in advance for your responses!

Chris


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## OwlCity19 (Mar 23, 2011)

I'm no expert but when I have problems with Chocolate I take him to the vet, that has only had to happen once, thank gosh. 

My suggestion like anyone elses suggestion on here would be to take your hedgie to the vet. They can probably give you some aointment or somethign for the cut so it doesnt get infected. Better safe than sorry.

Just take him to the vet and let them check him out. 

Good luck.


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## ReginasMommy (Apr 13, 2011)

Are there any sharp edges in the cage? What toys does he have? Do you have a picture of his cage set-up?

I believe you can use a bit of Neosporin on hedgies if they get cuts, but it has to be the regular kind only, NOT the extra strength kind, because the extra strength kind can be poisonous to them.

I would recommend using a warm damp compress (not hot) on the cut if he'll let you to get rid of the blood and draw out infection, then using the regular Neosporin applied with a Q-tip, but I'm sure someone more experienced will be around soon with suggestions.

I hope the little guy gets better! He's a cutie!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm inclined to suggest Neosporin as well, but my only concern with that is the placement of the cut...It looks like he'd be able to lick off the Neosporin, at least from the bottom of the cut, and I'm not sure whether it's safe for them to ingest or not. I'd give your vet a call and ask on whether that'd be a good solution, or wait for Nancy or Kalandra to weigh in on this. Also, if you do end up using Neosporin, make sure it's not the pain relief kind either.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

The tissue looks relatively healthy right now as it is, so it probably would be ok to just clean it with a bit of warm water(dab, don't wipe) either a cloth or q-tip and leave it. As long as it heals over nicely, shouldn't need more than that. However, if you want to try the neosporin, it wouldn't hurt, and it could probably speed things up. If you're really worried about whatever ointment you put on getting licked off, you can use unpasturized honey as an ointment. 

What sort of bedding are you using? If you use loose bedding(like shavings,carefresh) I'd exchange that out for fleece, just so you don't have particles of other stuff wanting to stick to his face. 

As to how... It doesn't look like a scratch from nails. It's too large for that. It's almost looks like what a ripped off scab would look like. Did you notice anything on his face prior to this? Is it possible there may have been some sort of scab there and he scratched it off?
Like said above, without knowing how the rest of your cage looks, can't really suggest much else as to what it could have been from. To me, personally, just doesn't look like a scratch from nails. Mostly because you would have noticed more scratching prior to this if he scratched it to this degree. How long was it before you noticed his face? Just so we have a timeframe. Did it happen overnight? Over 2 nights? etc etc.


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## chrisbourke (Feb 15, 2012)

Wow thank you all SO MUCH for all your helpful posts!
This is my first post to the forum and I'm greatly pleased with all the help you all are offering.

There are no sharp edges in his cage, I will take a picture when I get back home.
I think I'm going to have to get him a bigger cage and a carolina storm bucket wheel, 
but as it is now, he has a ceramic food bowl, water bottle, and metal wheel that is fixed on the cage.

I'm wondering if the wheel is maybe causing the problem.

He has a wood chip bedding, I'll go pick up some of the paper bedding from petco this evening.

As for the time span, this is something that must have happened overnight.
I was plain around with him at night and in the morning I realized the cut.

I had not noticed and scabs or anything prior to this.
Here he is a day or two before I noticed the cut, I don't see any scabs in any of my pictures, and I took a lot 

I'll try some neosporin (the regular type) with a q tip on his face after dabbing his face with warm water.

I don't mean to cross-contaminate the forums, but I'd like to get him a bigger cage to fit the flying saucer, 
I'd like to get him this one: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2753281
but I've heard a few things about it having a crummy build/not too well made.
Any suggestions?

Thank you all again so very much, 
hopefully Guillermo will be scratch free again soon 

Chris


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Are those the only scabs he has? If he continues to get more, it may be a staph infection, but use a tiny bit of regular polysporin on his face and hopefully they will go away. 

The cage you linked to is fine. There are no problems with it. I use that type and size as quarantine cages.


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## chrisbourke (Feb 15, 2012)

Yes they are the only scabs he has,
and great! I think I'll get one of those cages, as well as the CSW, 
this is the larger one right? With the litter tray?

Chris


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## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

Awwwe, rose got bit by a hamster before so i called my vet and they told me to apply alchohol with cotton swabs to avoid infection (keep it out of the eyes of course) and dont let it get dirty, it doesnt look to deep but keep an eye on it and if you see anything Wrong you should take him to the vet ASAP. im not an expert, i know this from experience.good luck


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## chrisbourke (Feb 15, 2012)

I put some neosporin on his face and he seemed pretty alright with me doing it.

I'm concerned now though, his face just looks raw on both sides and he's blowing a few bubbles out of his nose.
I've read that this may mean pneumonia, but I'm praying this is not the case.

Any ideas?
Chris


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Bubbles out the nose doesn't necessarily mean it's pneumonia yet, but possibly a respiratory infection that could lead to pneumonia. 

It's vet time.


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