Do you have a pet hedgehog? So you may already know several things about their needs, basic care and possible he alth problems. For example, one thing that usually catches our attention and that can worry us is the fall of its quills.
Have you ever noticed that his quills fall out a lot? Do you know what it is and what you can do about it?
If you want to know why my African hedgehog loses its quills, possible causes and treatment, from our site we encourage you to keep reading this article where you will find the answers.
Why is my hedgehog dropping its quills? What should I do?
Have you recently been worried about your little one's quills falling out a lot and have you noticed that the floor in his kennel is full of them? Do you see any part that has been completely peeled? Don't worry, because there are several possible reasons for this and all of them have some remedy.
These varied reasons range from a normal change in the quills due to the growth of our African hedgehog, to possible problems due to fungi, mites or bacteria. Therefore, we have to look at various factors and symptoms such as, for example, whether the fallen quills have a follicle or not, if the hedgehog has areas without quills or if where we know that he dropped one, a new one does not come out, if he scratches much more than normal, if we see his dry skin, if he is very stressed and many other things that can guide us to know if it is a process normal or if we are facing a problem that needs to be de alt with.
Next, we will describe the main causes and their possible treatments. But first, from our site, we must remind you of the importance of periodically visiting your trusted veterinarian to keep an adequate control of the he alth of your little friend and also go to this professional whenever you detect any sign of discomfort or something out of the ordinary. in the behavior of your hedgehog.
Quilling or change of quills
If your hedgehog is a few months old, you notice that its quills are falling off and that they have a follicle, it is most likely a moult of quills , also known as quilling in English.
This is a completely natural process for them, as they make this change several times from the first or second month of life, until their final quills appear. Even so, it is possible that as adults they will change some more loose picks. A spike that has a follicle indicates that it is he althy and that after its fall another new spike should come out to take its place. In general, the process of changing quills throughout the life of a hedgehog follows the following steps:
- First quilling or quilling: Usually occurs at four weeks of life, thus changing the nest quills for juvenile calls.
- Second quilling: Usually starts at six weeks. This time the first change in the coloration of the spikes occurs.
- Third quilling: Begins between the eighth and ninth week of the hedgehog's life. A second color change occurs, leaving behind the juvenile color to take on the adult color.
- Fourth quilling: This occurs between the twelfth and the twentieth week of life. In this phase, the quills are changed for firmer and thicker ones that will be the ones that remain as adults, already with their definitive color and structure. For this reason, this phase is also known as adult quilling.
When we observe this happening to our little hedgehog we should not be alarmed as long as we see that there is a normal rhythm and that new quills continue to grow.
Other causes and possible treatments
As we have already mentioned before, there are many causes of the fall of the quills in a hedgehog. We have already talked about the most natural reason and that we should not worry, quilling or change of spikes. But, among other factors, if we observe that several spikes fall together, that the fallen spikes do not have a follicle, that in the area where the spike has fallen they no longer come out, that our hedgehog is getting bald, we observe wounds, dandruff or scabs, skin irritation, etc., then we will have to think of other causes.
If our African hedgehog shows abnormal quill drop (a lot and outside of changing seasons) together with any of the symptoms mentioned above, we should quickly go to our veterinarian, as it will be necessary to evaluate his condition to rule out possible problems and diseases, diagnose the cause of the problem and start appropriate treatment as soon as possible. Now we will go on to discuss possible causes of the fall of the quills that indicate some type of disease or problem in our little companion and some possible booster treatment:
- Stress: Dropping tines can be a secondary effect of stress. Only the veterinarian can confirm this cause after checking if the environment in which the hedgehog lives can cause stress and after eliminating other possible causes through tests and laboratory tests. Once the stress has been diagnosed, we must correct our hedgehog's environment, be it his kennel and the objects he uses, such as his diet or his daily activities. After a while of having corrected the erroneous points in his environment, we will see that the stress goes away and his quills begin to recover.
- Fungus: We will see some crusting and flaking around the base of the tines. We will observe areas with low density of spikes and the skin of our hedgehog will be darkened in some parts. The veterinarian will carry out the appropriate tests, mainly a fungal culture from a sample of the hedgehog's skin, to confirm or rule out this skin condition. After confirming it, he will be able to prescribe the most suitable for the type of fungi that the skin of our little one presents. The treatment for fungus is usually long and is usually based on special antifungal shampoos and oral antifungals. We will have to go back to the vet to check the progress of the treatment and see if little by little the new quills are coming out.
- Mites: The appearance of mites in hedgehogs is quite common, especially in a poorly controlled environment. The presence of these small arachnids on the skin of our little ones with spikes can be a serious problem if they are not detected early, as they can cause the hedgehogs to end up suffering from scabies. We will observe that our hedgehog scratches a lot continuously, we will see that its skin peels and its quills fall off. These mites usually appear when the defenses of the hedgehog, that is, its immune system, are low. This detriment of the defenses could be due to some other main disease or also due to stress. If we observe these symptoms in our pet, we should take it to the vet to confirm if it is mites and prescribe the best treatment to start it as soon as possible. In these cases, antiparasitics such as Stronghold are prescribed. We must remember that a hedgehog is a very small animal, so if we take care of the doses to administer ourselves, we must be very careful with them and always follow the advice of the specialist veterinarian to avoid an overdose. It is vital that the treatment is carried out in its entirety, that is, for as long as the veterinarian tells us and if possible a few more days even if our hedgehog seems already cured, since scabies and mites are very persistent and can spread again quickly. After doing it properly and going to the necessary veterinary check-ups, we will see how the mites disappear, the hedgehog stops scratching and its skin recovers little by little.
What to do to avoid these problems on our little friend's skin
The most important thing to avoid these skin conditions that cause our hedgehog's quills to fall out of their stages of change is to keep their environment cleanand suitable to your needs. You have to ventilate the enclosure or the cage in which the hedgehog usually lives, you also have to disinfect that area, change every few days the shavings or the material that we are using as a bed or base of the floor, at the same time that we remove all the remains of urine and feces. Just as the enclosure or the cage is cleaned every so often, it must also be done with the accessories and toys that our little companion uses. The cleaning products that we must use must be indicated by the veterinarian. In addition, it is really important to maintain both internal and external deworming of our African hedgehog. If we have several hedgehogs and one of them has fungi or mites, it is vital that the treatment is also carried out on the rest of the individuals, even if they do not yet show symptoms.
It is also very important, especially if we normally take our hedgehog to the field or other areas outside the home, that we know how to bathe a hedgehog properly as this will avoid many possible skin and quill problems, among others. In addition, other factors that must be taken into account are the daily activity and the feeding of the African hedgehog.
