# Vet Cost?



## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

I think my hedgie might have mites  ..He has dandruff, itching alot and spends most hist time lately under his cage liner and sleeping...

This is gonna be the 1st time im bringing him to the Vet so im just wondering what type of cost I should expect? ..Vet visit plus cost of the mite shot? 

Thanks


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

If he needs to be treated for mites you'll want to make sure he gets Revolution and not a shot. Ive heard ppl on here where the vets try to convince them to get the Invermectin shot but it has been deadly in some cases. Revolution goes onto the skin. If you do a search on Invermectin you can read the bad outcomes from it. The Revolution for Kittens isn't really expensive and would run around 15 dollars at my vets when I priced it just so I'd know in case I ever needeed any. My vet charges a 30 dollar office visit so at mine it would run around 45 but it can vary depending on the vet. Hope your hedgie feels better


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

How old is your hedgehog? If he/she isn't a baby and you think he/she is sleeping too much there could be something else wrong besides mites. How warm is your cage? Do you have a proper heating set-up?

How long have you had your hedgehog for? All hedgehogs should get an initial vet check-up when you first get them. You should really get a full-checkup if this is the first time, that can cost more than $30, my vet charges $70-80 but that includes the annunal wellness checkup.

The flakes could just be dry skin, but treating with revolution as a precaution is okay. Make sure your vet gives you enough for a repeat dose in 3 weeks. The dosing should be .01 ml per 400g of weight so if your vet prescribes an amount that seems way above this, make sure you tell them this. You will also need to do a complete wash-down of everything and throw out anything wooden (you shouldnt have anything wooden in the first place, but if you do throw it out as it can harbour mites).

You can also buy some flax seed oil capsules and squirt one onto your hedgies back to help with the dry skin. A bath with aveeno baby oatmeal shampoo (unscented) will help too, just don't overbath and this can make the skin worse.

Definitely do not use anything other than revolution, especially no kind of shot what so ever!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Trips to my vet are $60 + any treatments necessary. For the revolution, the vet should not charge any more than $30 I would think.


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## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

SnufflePuff said:


> How old is your hedgehog? If he/she isn't a baby and you think he/she is sleeping too much there could be something else wrong besides mites. How warm is your cage? Do you have a proper heating set-up?
> 
> How long have you had your hedgehog for? All hedgehogs should get an initial vet check-up when you first get them. You should really get a full-checkup if this is the first time, that can cost more than $30, my vet charges $70-80 but that includes the annunal wellness checkup.
> 
> ...


Hes about 8 months I originally got him when he was about 4mo, ..I live in south FL so its always warm here..coldest it ever gets in my house is 77 MAYBE 76 if the AC is left on ...we were using a heating pad under his cage but that was really only for winter...He shows no other signs of hibernation ..
He has been quilling for the past week or so...nothing major I would guess maybe less then 15 a day,but no signs of balding or anything. All the quills have that lil'ball at the end of it.

I do happen to have flax seed oil capsules, when I apply it to him should I try and get as much directly on the skin as I can? or spread it over his quills and it leaks down?..is it ok if he licks it? I use the aveeno powdered bath soap..mix may be like a spoon or two in the bath room sink with some warm water and just pass it over his back ..


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

I would just have the vet do a full check-up then to make sure everything's alright since your hedgehog's never had one. The temperature sounds fine to me, but how many hours of daylight is he getting? Hedgehogs need 12-14 hours of light, if they aren't getting enough light this can cause a decrease in activity/hibernation too. Mine don't come out until after 11pm at night, so it is normal for them to sleep all through the day.

If your hedgehog is sleeping under the liner, you may want to feel his belly. Sometimes when hedgehogs sleep directly on the bottom of their cage they get cold. If his belly feels cold, you may want to consider putting the heating pad back. I normally don't reccommend using heating pads because then the rest of their cages feel cold and they don't want to come out...but if your hedgehog is getting too cold from sleeping under his liner, then it is important to keep him warm. 

Does your hedgehog have a hedgehog bag or blanket to sleep under? You could also try making his bed more cozy with some cut-up fabric so he can bury under them. This may make him less inclined to sleep under the liner.

For the flax seed oil, if you want you can break open a capsule and pour half on his back, and the other half on his food at night (one capsule per week is usually good, but if you're splitting it between skin and food you could probably do one capsule every 4-5 days). They can eat the flax seed oil as well as have it on their skin. What I do is poke a tiny hole in the capsule with a sterile needle and then the oil squirts out onto their back. This way it has a little bit of momentum to reach the skin, rather than just accumulating on the quills.


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## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

SnufflePuff said:


> I would just have the vet do a full check-up then to make sure everything's alright since your hedgehog's never had one. The temperature sounds fine to me, but how many hours of daylight is he getting? Hedgehogs need 12-14 hours of light, if they aren't getting enough light this can cause a decrease in activity/hibernation too. Mine don't come out until after 11pm at night, so it is normal for them to sleep all through the day.
> 
> If your hedgehog is sleeping under the liner, you may want to feel his belly. Sometimes when hedgehogs sleep directly on the bottom of their cage they get cold. If his belly feels cold, you may want to consider putting the heating pad back. I normally don't reccommend using heating pads because then the rest of their cages feel cold and they don't want to come out...but if your hedgehog is getting too cold from sleeping under his liner, then it is important to keep him warm.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply  ..its very hard to find a Vet that takes Hedgehogs..I found one but they said they cant take him til Wednesday ...I'm gonna try to find one for tomorrow..if not hes gonna have to wait one more day..breaks my heart when I hear his scratching 

I don't think he cares for the heating pad to much. Every time I used it he would go to the other side of the cage,...and that's on the lowest setting. Seems to me he would rather not use it. I put my hand to it and its not like its hot or anything , just a bit warmer. ever since we went from Bedding to liner hes been going under it...even if I put a shirt or something he can hide in,Every morning I would find him under it ...I tried doing the cut up fleece thing too but he didn't pay it no mind.

He gets plenty of light, His cage is in the living room and we have two big windows here that the sun shines in (through curtains) until it gets dark.

Ill try the flax seed oil thing tonight  
thanks again!!


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Sounds like you're doing everything right then!

Maybe he's just a crazy active guy at night so it seems to you like he needs more sleep during the daytime!

The flax seed oil should hopefully help his dry skin. But if he's scratching, he probably has mites. You can also try some lanolin or vaseline on his ears if those are dry or crusty.

Hopefully you can find a good vet. People usually recommend finding a vet before you a get a hedgehog for the reason that they are so difficult to find.

Hope your little guy feels better


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## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

SnufflePuff said:


> Sounds like you're doing everything right then!
> 
> Maybe he's just a crazy active guy at night so it seems to you like he needs more sleep during the daytime!
> 
> ...


Oh yea..I hear him running most nights on his wheel, and sometimes I find him still awake at 6am

BTW...flax seed oil Sinks!! i tried it last night...I didnt get it to "squirt" out more like drip off my fingers on to his back, i tried to get it on his skin but most of it i saw ended up on his quills ... luckily his ears are fine ..is it normal for him to be losing his fur?..its not much but noticeable when I pick him up with a black shirt.

oh and I found a vet and will being seeing them 2maro at 8am 
best part..1st visit is FREE   just gotta pay for the meds!
http://www.vcapromenade.com

thanks again for all your advice!!


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Not a problem,

I'm not actually sure about the hair loss i assume hedgies shed like
other animals but I don't know if it's also a sign of
other things ie. Mites, ringworm etc.

Hopefully someone who does know will chime
in. 

As long as it's not too much hair I wouldn't worry too much

Good luck with your first appointment!


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Quigley sheds his hair. I mentioned it to the vet who didn't seem concerned about it so I guess it's normal.


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## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

I'm at the vet right now...they just took hedgie in the back to test for the mites..
He is 323g 
They wanted to test the stool to "test" for other things but I turned it down as he is 
Eating normal and everything else seems fine besides the skin
So far they said the cost for everything is just over $100  , that's with the free visit
I guess if he needs it...


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## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

Well just left vet,...
He said they didn't "see" any mites but he would like give 3 treatments of the 
Shots...I said I would like to do the Rev if anything , he said ok walked out and that
Was the last I seen of him...then the RN or whatever their called came back with 3 packs
Of 25ml of Rev..I told them I only need. .01ml so I got 1 pack...Docs don't like to be wrong lol
Well the total cost ended up being 
Visit-free (would have been $49.50)
Waste mgmt-$4.99
Skin scraping-$44.52
Rev-$20.76
Total cost-$70.27. ..

Not so bad, ill wait a few days see how he's doing before giving him the Rev,
Vet did say he had the nicest skin he's seen in a while, only a few dry patches but 
Nothing much...must been the flax seed oil  ...


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

crazyjoezx said:


> Well just left vet,...
> He said they didn't "see" any mites but he would like give 3 treatments of the
> Shots...I said I would like to do the Rev if anything , he said ok walked out and that
> Was the last I seen of him...then the RN or whatever their called came back with 3 packs
> ...


Sounds like it went well  IMO skin scrapings are totally useless, so in the future I wouldn't worry about doing one, you should be good for mites after 3 treatments. Not sure how long the vet told you to wait between revolution dosings, but it's usually recommended to wait 3 weeks. The drug itself tells you you can wait 4, but in reality it starts to wear off around the 3 week mark.

The revolution is cat or kitten revolution right? Just want to make sure, because 25ml sounds like a dog revolution size, which is actually double the strength of cat revolution so 0.01ml is actually too much. I made the mistake of using dog revolution the first time I treated, not realizing it was double the dosing and my hedgehog went off her food for a few days - it obviously made her kind of sick.

Also after using the revolution for the first treatment, make sure you put the lid back on tightly or it could dry out, and tuck it back into the foil package. The drug is light sensitive so you want to make sure it stays concealed between treatments.

"waste management" ? :lol: that's kind of funny. I work at a vet clinic and let me tell you if someone paid me a fee for all the waste I have to "manage' on a daily basis, I'd be rich.

As for the fecal sample, personally I would have done it if I were you. New hedgehogs should always get a fecal sample to rule out internal parasites. It's a one time cost, as you won't need to repeat it if everything looks good. You definitely can't always see parasites either so you might wanna run one. You don't have to go back in for an appointment, just bring a fresh sample (less than 8 hours old, kept in the fridge) to your vet and they will run it. It should not cost you more than $20-35.


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## crazyjoezx (Feb 28, 2010)

I checked the package its for puppies and kittens so i think its the right one..I didnt start using it yet bc the vet said he didnt see any mites but I can hear my hedgie still scratching so I wanna start him on it tomorrow. ...oh and the vet gave me no advice on how to use it,how much to give or even how long.. :x So I pretty much learning everything from here lol..which isnt aa bad thing....I think he might have taken offense when I turned down his idea for 3 shoots and said I want to go with the Rev...either that or he never used it on a hedgehog and he just had no idea..

If I dont have access to any syringes would you say one "drop" from the bottle is .01ml?..
and just to be clear its once EVERY 3 weeks or once A WEEK for 3 weeks?
thanks again !!


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