Ear & Handling problem

[hedgepig]

Something is wrong with Bilbo!
A Discharge is coming from his ears (at least that what it looks like) and theres a brown thing (ear wax??) below his ear. And in the past few days whenever I took him out he would be very jumpy and would do short huffs everytime he popped up. He was also frisky & running widly around compared to his usual calmness. I'm definatley taking him to the vert tommorow, but does anyone have any idea what this could be? I havn't taken the little porker out yet so I don't know how he'll be tonight.
Any help would be VERY much appreciated!!

 

[Nancy]

Sounds like possibly ear mites or an ear infection.

Good luck at the vet.

 

[Kalandra]

Your probably right about the brown goo being earwax. Some can get a build up of wax over time... I've had doc clean it out of a couple of my hedgehogs when they have had to be anesthetized for another reason. but if it is running out, it sounds like there is excessive amounts.

I also had one that started freaking out one night. She would stomp her food, jump sideways and circle a bit with her ear near the ground. Doc found a very minor mite infestation in one ear. No clue where it came from, and it was quickly fixed. Doc gave us some ear drops (antibiotic) just in case there was any infection setting in which gave her immediate relief as it likely drowned the mites (As well as ivermectin. This was long before revolution was recommended for mites.)

Good luck at the vet.

 

[hedgepig]

Thanks everyone!
Last night he was in a way better mood (I bribed him with mealies) and we have a doctors appointment for tommorow, I wanted to get one in sooner but we couldn't do it. I'll post what the vet says tommorow

 

[Courtney]

Vette had a build-up of wax in her ear that caused symptoms similar to an ear infection - she'd run around in circles and rub one ear on the floor repeatedly. We went to the vet for a different matter, but I asked the vet to check on things for me. After he flushed and cleaned her ear, she hasn't had an issue since. It could be as simple as that.

Good luck!

 

[pricklesnquills]

Hope everything is ok. Keep us updated

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if it's ok to use the same stuff you'd use for a cat or dog to clean out hedgie ears?

 

[hedgepig]

We took Bilbo to the vet this afternoon and it went well!
First of all, they knocked him out because he wasn't in the cooperating mood..it was really sad
But the good news about the appointment is that he didn't have mites/fungus/any other tradegy, it was just some ear wax build-up. So they cleaned out his ears and also weighed him, looks like I need to plump him up a bit more! All in all the appointment was good but the only problem with vets is that they arn't very gentle. I mean they probably know what they're doing, but they were kind of rough with him. Has anyone else noticed this with vets?