foster hedgie......please advise

[hedgewood]

Hi everyone, my good friend manages the pet store in town, and once in a while I take in a sick, injured or behaviorally impared animal to nurse back to health and happiness.

I went down there on my lunch break today to visit the sweet little baby boy hedgie that she just got in last week. He is super beautiful, and so sweet. He absolutely never balls or hisses, just looks at you with his sweet little innocent eyes.

Anyway, when I went there, upon picking him up, I noticed that he has a HUGE gash under his right eye, his eye was a little pussy and he has another gash under his jaw (on same side). We have concluded that his sister, bit him. I am so frustrated, because I know that you should not keep two hedgies together no matter the sex or age, however being that they were litter mates, came together, and seemed to get along well, the pet store kept them together. So now he is injured and I feel horrible for him. The little girl is ok, I checked her over. My friend separated them immediately and I picked him up right after work.

He is now here and upon looking him over, I realized that he also has two cuts on his leg and the tops of his feet are very dry and scaley. His poop is also slightly green and soft.

I am going to bath him tonight, clean his cage really well and give him some antibiotics that my Pixie is on for GI infection. I was also wondering what to do about his face, it has healed over a little, but I was wondering if I should apply something to it. I don't want it to get infected, but at the same time don't want to apply anything so close to his eye.

PLEASE ADVISE, I just feel so bad for him and want to make him happy and healthy again.

And I am so mad about the situation he is in and am not sure how long it would have taken for them to actually notice, if I would not have gone down there today. :banghead:

[kaiteedyd]

Depending on how bad the gash it I wouldn't worry too much about it. You may want to take him to see the vet if the cuts are more serious. I wouldn't give anti-biotics prescribed for another hedgehog without a vet's recommendation.

One of my previous hedgehogs, Ickus, had a semi-bad cut on his arm and the vet gave him an anti-biotic injection.

[Nancy]

I agree with Katie. He shouldn't be given antibiotics unless under a vets advice.
A bit of neosporin on his leg cuts and under his jaw should help. I wouldn't put anything close to his eye.
I would put him on liners until his cuts heal up. They will prevent shavings or loose beddings from getting into his sores. :)

[hedgewood]

thank you for your advice, I'm not sure why it would be unwise to give him the antibiotics, as when the vets prescribed them, he said it would also take away any infections.

[paris26]

It's usually not a good idea to give an antibiotic that hasn't been prescribed. If it's the incorrect medicine for the injury/illness, you've just given them antibiotics for no good reason. Does this make sense?

Also, if you use the neosporin, make sure it is the regular kind with out the pain reliever because that can actually slow down the healing process

[hedgewood]

Okay, thank you. I won't give the little guy any antibiotics. I just really wan to help him. I bathed him tonight to try and ease the pain. He just laid there in the towel, with his little face sticking out, looking up at me, until he finally feel into a sound sleep.

It's weird though, he has one sore under his eye, one under his jaw, one under his ear, one on his shoulder , and a bunch of scabs on his back legs and feet. Could this be from the other Hedgie, do you think he has an alergie, what could be wrong with him? I've kept him in a separate room from my hedgies, do you think there is anything contageous that I should be concerned about?

He also has very mucousy green poops.............He is still eating and drinking though.

[paris26]

The green poos I would attribute to the change of environment and probably food. A fecal will rule out anything serious. I guess I have heard of allergies or allergic reactions in hedgies that involve quill loss and red irritated skin. From the conditions he was living in, the other hedgie sounded like the one behind the attacks.
I quarentine all my new hedgies for 30 days to watch for illness (mites, bacterial overgrowths, etc). I also make sure they are eating and drinking well and if I have to change foods, I start the change while they are isolated. Plus it's just a good idea to let them acclimate to your house quietly- especially since this guy is on the mend

[hedgewood]

I hope you guys did not misunderstand, I can not keep him. I brought him home to foster back to health........unfortunately, my husband says that I can not have any more. I just want him to be healthy and happy when he gets a new family. I know it will be hard, because I am already starting to love him.........I just hope he gets better soon.
He is very little and has been loosing quills, I assume quilling.........is it possible that he is itchy and scratching to the point of injury????

[paris26]

I'm sorry! I did misunderstand you. I have never heard of hedgies scratching to the point of bleeding during quilling. I have been through quilling with all of my hogs except one and they all had itchy skin, daily loss of quills for a few weeks and they were mostly crabby pants

[Pringlesmom]

I hope this little guy gets all healed up. Good for you, Hedgewood for wanting to make sure all animals are happy and healthy. :applause: Where are you located? Do you have any prospects for a new home? I am glad you didnt give the antibiotics. When they prescribe them they give the dose depending on the weight of the animal and take other things into account so I am glad you changed your mind about that. I was going to suggest neosporin like was already posted on the cuts. Pringle gave himself a fresh cut on his leg from one of his quills from getting all upset and rolling into a ball at the vet. I put neosporin on it and it healed quickly. It was also a fresh wound which helped the healing right away. Are the wounds on his face and chin fresh or are they scabbed. I know you said that he had scabs near his quills, but I wasnt sure if his face was scabbed too. What this little guy needs is a vet opinion I think. Good for you for asking advice. Let us know what happens. :)