Weird dry skin patches

[Philogirl]

So Spike has notoriously had dry skin in the winter... I've been giving him oatmeal baths to soothe the skin every couple of weeks or so. And his skin seems to be looking fine... in some spots. Apparently, the places I was checking were fine, but then he has like splotches were he has skin literally peeling off like a snake shedding. Last night, I put him in my lap and tweezed away some of that dead skin. He seemed very happy with it. Anyone know what the heck this is? And what I can do to make him better?

 

[hedgie_kid]

I am not even close to an expert but seeing that Spike mainly gets this dry skin in the winter, I would guess that it is just an affect of winter as is with humans. However, I would check up with the vet to do a skin srcaping to check for mites. If Spike has mites, then resolution is the safest cure that I know of. Resolution tends to work pretty slowly so if your hedgie has a huge break out of mites I would go with a faster way which I'm sure someone on hee will say the name. Sorry to sound all negative but I like to asume the worst when it comes down to my hedgie. If it all just turns out to be winter dry skin, I would get some ointment on it but I'd wait for an expert to come along and clearify. Keep us posted!

 

[Philogirl]

I don't think it's mites... both of my boys had mites over the summer... Jack got Ivermectin and Spike got Revolution. I'm sure that there were no residual mites on the cages because I cleaned them with rubbing alcohol and hot water twice a day for weeks. And changed the liners and blankets twice a day.

Also, if he did have mites again, Jack would have them too... Jack has been battling an eye injury and has been to the vet every week since before Christmas. We had him checked for mites because they could exacerbate the problems with his eye if they were present.

Considering they are handled in the same towels and by the same people wearing the same clothes in between hedgies, based on deduction alone, it seems very unlikely that one hedgie would have mites and the other would not... particularly since the immuno-compromised one doesn't have mites.

What do you think?

 

[smhufflepuff]

Satin is having the same problem. But she's been treated for mites (one dose Revolution so far) and a bacterial infection. I hope we can both figure it out for our hedgies.

 

[drewmw]

When I purchased my hedgie back in November, the breeder said that if she ever had dry skin, put a bit of olive oil (I think she said olive...) in a syringe and apply a drop to the spot where the skin is dry. She said to be sure to rub it in, but to try not to get her quills really oily. I haven't had to do this, but it seems to make sense.

Hope that helped!

 

[Hedgie Girls]

Princess Chloe had really dry skin along with other skin issues due to allergies. Our vet sells a shampoo called Histacalm. It is therapeutic for the skin and helped Princess' skin become very healthy. We tried all kinds of stuff before and now we use this on all the girlz. At first we used it like 2 to 3 times a week for 2 weeks then once a week for 2 weeks and then once a month.