# Help, my baby Sharpie's losing alot of quills.



## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

My poor baby has recently (within the last month or two) been losing TONS of quills. I gave her a foot bath yesterday(just to be able to check her entire body out) and was planning on cleaning up her cage today, and giving her a full bath. During the foot bath that i gave her, i noticed that she had some brown stuff on her ears. I went online to see what it could be, and was thinking it may be ear fungus? I also saw somewhere on this site, that ear fungus could cause quill loss. I noticed she has lost pretty much all her quills from behind her ear. It looks pretty disgusting, actually. Also, she has one bald spot on the right side of her back. The brown stuff on her ear was on the right ear, and the loss of quills behind her ear was the left ear. I havent seen any white dots moving around her cage or on her. I am planning to do a mite test on a black cloth. I cant afford at the moment to take her to a vet for this. I wanted your guys input on what this could possibly be? Ill try to upload some pics of how it currently looks. Also, some quills she lost during her bath all had the small ball on the end, so I dont think it could be mites. Please help, im heart broken, and completely at a loss of ideas of what it could all be.


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## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

Also, I forgot to mention that she was born in December of '09. So shes about a year and 3 months.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Black cloth testing and balls at the ends of quills mean nothing. Even if you don't see anything, it may still be mites. 

Whether it be mites, fungal or bacterial infection, they ALL need to be treated with medications you get from the vet. Treating for mites is usually the first path to take. But again, you will need to see a vet to get the meds. Sure, you can buy Revolution online, but it may not be reputable and there have been cases of it being harmful.

Has anything else changed? Environment? Food?


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## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

Nothing really else has changed. Except for the temperature. I live in south Florida, and the sudden temperature change once winters over it becomes HOT. Its summer here for 3/4 of the year. Could it have been the sudden change in temperature? The room she is being kept in is pretty humid, too. Could that be contributing to it? Today i put a dehumidifier in the room to see if i could make the air more normal.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

The fact that the quills had the ball at the end doesn't mean it's not mites.

She needs to see a vet, as addressed by the poster above. Whether it's mites, a fungus or bacteria infection, the vet will be able to prescribe proper treatment. 

If it is mites, she should be treated with Revolution, NOT Ivermectin which can be lethal to hedgehogs.


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## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

Well, in that case, does anybody know the average amount that would need to be payed for a trip to the vet for something like this?


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

hedgehog_owner1234 said:


> Well, in that case, does anybody know the average amount that would need to be payed for a trip to the vet for something like this?


It will depend of where you're located and it also varies from vet to vet. To give you an example, I'm in Massachusetts. My girl's vet charges $45 for the visit and I think $20 for the small container of Revolution. I don't remember how much for a skin scrape but I think around $20 too. I might be wrong on that one though.


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