home remedies for dandruff. help please!

[gavinjoseph]

So my hedgehog, lovingly named Corona, has been having bad dandruff lately. I tried what I have seen on websites to help with it, such as the vegetable oil and aveeno baths, but they haven't been helping really. I tried them for 2 days, maybe I should continue it longer? I took her to the vet and she said she doesn't have mites or anything (thankfully) and to add meal worms more so to her diet. She eats, goes on her wheel, and drinks water so I dont know what it is. I 've been trying that and she eats maybe 1 or 2 but half of each. Is there anything I can do for the dandruff? Thanks!

 

[smhufflepuff]

Assuming that it's dry skin and not anything bad (mites and infectios of the bacterial, fungal, and viral types are possibilities), there are several things you can do... none of which are very fast, but each helps a bit and you should notice gradual improvement:

Address it topically - apply flaxseed oil to her skin. Just a few drops here and there. You don't want to clog pores. You can get it in capsule form from the vitamin section of a grocery store/pharmacy. Poke a hole in the capsule and sueeze out a few drops. Vitamin e is sometimes also recommended. I find it's rather thick and sticky and prefer the flaxseed for that reason as it is less so.
Another topical intervention is an oatmeal bath. Don't go crazy with that though... too much bathing gets you the exact opposite of what you're looking for.

Address her environment - you can get a little meter that measures humidity from places like PetCo's reptile section. It may be worth the $5 to see what levels are like inside her cage. If it's low, consider getting a humidifier for her room. Dry winter air is pretty harsh on hedgies.

Address it nutritionally - you can squeeze a couple drops of the flaxseed oil on her kibble. Don't soak her kibble... you don't want to turn it into an "olestra moment." Ensure she's on a mix of high quality kibbles. Go ahead and give her mealies. You can add in fruits & veggies - check the faq's/stickies for safe and unsafe fruits. You can add a supplement like Sunshine Factor.

 

[gavinjoseph]

I'm going to try the flaxseed topically and see if that helps. The vet said she's good (checked out her skin and also got a fecal same for any parasites and it came back negative.) I should prob see if i can get her a humidifier for her since the space heater is usually always on because even though its nice out during the day here in NY, nights get pretty chilly. Thanks for your help!

 

[smhufflepuff]

Sounds good.

A bonus feature of having a humidifier for her is that it can help your skin if it's also become dry this winter