# strange quills.



## HedgieIsabella (Nov 24, 2008)

when i was giving spike an oatmeal bath last night i began to dry him off after he had his fun, but when i was drying him off i noticed a whole bunch of strange, hair like quills, they're small and thin and they're all over his body , he can't be quilling because he is 1 1/2 , could this have anything to do with why hes so cranky?
also some of his quills are curved, and one is even curled, is this normal or is it a sign of something that is wrong?


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## r_k_chic47 (Aug 28, 2008)

Well quills are really just refined hairs, so I'm guessing that these quills are along the quill line (where quill meets fur) and It's normal for him to have them. Could you post a picture?

I'm not so sure about the curled quills though...usually quills break when they bend, they're not very flexible.. :roll: Maybe someone else can help you out there.


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## HedgieIsabella (Nov 24, 2008)

no, they're up by his quills on the top of his head, i think i've herd it referrd to as a "reverse mohawk" ?
and they're all over him, 

i can try to take pictures, but doesn't stay still, at all so i'm not sure if they're be clear

and i'll try to take pictures of the curled/bent quills


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## HedgieIsabella (Nov 24, 2008)

sorry for the extreme blurry pictures, he was really cranky and wouldn't stop growling and huffing


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## iamdbf (Aug 28, 2008)

It doesn't look that bad in my opinion. It could be what's annoying ur hedie, Normally from stuff that happens when hedgies are developing, they usually have a couple wierd quills, but I don't know why there is that many. Mautation maybe or he fell as a baby??? i'm no expert. ANYONE ELSE KNO? i am curious now...


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## HedgieIsabella (Nov 24, 2008)

haha it's really noticeable when you're holding him, you pick them out, you're like "oh, theres a bent one, oh! theres another one, and another"

i have no idea why he would be growing those small quill like hairs all over though, you probably can't see them in the pictures , its too blurry.
and i couldn't get a picture of the quill that is completely curled into a circle..

i hope nothings wrong with him..


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Those curved ones are interesting. My hedgie just has a curved one near her tail end. It seems to grow curvy, fall out, then a new curved one takes its place. It's a tad thinner than the rest of her quills. I've wondered if there was some sort of strange defect in the cells that grow that one. But yours seems to have a whole bunch of them. I wonder if it's a nutritional thing?? Sorry I don't have any definite answer on the curvy quills... but can, at least, assure you that there's more than one hedgie out there with a curvy quill


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## HedgieIsabella (Nov 24, 2008)

i don't know why spike has so many 
he eats cat weight loss formula
so i don't think its nutritional...
i hope he wasn't dropped as a baby  
the girl i got him from got him from a pet store, and she had no papers or anything
she also didn't hand tame him (she had him for 1/12 years )
i wonder if it could be stress from actually being loved.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

What brand of cat food is he eating. They should be eating a mix of foods as one food alone might not give all their nutritional requirements. 

I have heard that curled quills can be nothing more than a bent quill follicle but I've also heard it can be a nutritional deficiency. 

My Cinder had a couple of curly quills on her forehead but none anywhere else.


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## HedgieIsabella (Nov 24, 2008)

he eats Purina cat chow
advanced nutrition , weight management

and he loves eggs so he has some every now and then

he's very healthy , i suspect he may have mites though, when i got him 2 weeks ago the girl i got him from seemed almost eager to get rid of him, she handed him to me and left, i noticed he was scratching and shaking his head like a dog, i never found anything on him, so i figured its just a hedge-quirk , but yesterday when i changed his cage, when i lifted the food dish there were these..things i guess i would call them , they were very tiny and a peach-ish skin color,
are these mites or some other parasitic infection?
i just found these last night, I'm VERY worried, i have to wait until Wednesday to get revolution, but could these be whats causing he curly quills?


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I'm watching a boy right now who has several curved quills as well. They are in his visor. I'm not sure the cause, but he seems perfectly healthy regardless.


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## Alicat42 (Dec 9, 2008)

Perhaps it could be while the hairs are regrowing under his skin, they grow up curly like some other animals hair/fur, and then harden and form into curly quills? Luna had a couple, when she was still a baby, a couple quills behind her left ear. But they fell out and straight ones grew in. 
Stress or sickness shouldnt cause curly quills, could they? I know when cats are stressed they shed a lot. But quills growing curly?


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## iamdbf (Aug 28, 2008)

The front quills on the head are often slightly curved tho, right?


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

HedgieIsabella said:


> he eats Purina cat chow
> advanced nutrition , weight management
> 
> I work in a store that sells healthy dog and cat food. I just wanted to let you know that although the protein and fat levels in Purina may be apropriate the ingredients that make up those levels are not. Purina and other "grocery store" brands and even some vet recomended brands us alot of by products and unhealthy preservatives. I would recomend healthy wieght varety of wellness for cat if you can find it. If not solid gold, felidae are also brands with ingerdients I trust.


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