Losing Fur?

[jaafit]

Hi,

I got a hedgehog just a couple months ago and he's been great so far. I have one concern right now and was hoping someone could tell me if what I'm seeing is normal.

I notice when I have Hans under a bright light I can easily see the skin on his belly. It is most apparent when I'm looking at him from the side and slightly behind. I've noticed this from day 1, but it shocked me last night when I had him under a good light and could see him clearly.

I also noticed that his skin is bright pink!

Does he look ok? It's not the best shot but shows some thinning above his front leg.

http://h1.ripway.com/jaafit/SSA50211_c.jpg

More info:
* He's about 3 months old
* He sleeps on top of a bare plastic cage, which is on top of a pair of jeans, which is on top of a heat pad set to "low." The bare plastic feels only slightly warm to the touch. (I use pine bedding for the cage, but he insists on digging and sleeping on bare plastic).
* That orange mark on his back is from the breeder marking him for identification.

[raywhite]

I actually looks normal to me. I just checked min and they all look simular. Might be the picture though..... anyone else?

[HedgeMom]

Hedgehogs aren't heavily furred and pink skin is part of his genetic makeup for the color he is. Keep in mind that they are tropical and they wouldn't have a dense fur coat. I see nothing wrong.

[Nancy]

Looks totally normal to me too. :)

[Jessicy]

He looks normal to me.... I can see popples belly skin too and it's pink.

[southcalihedgie]

Hello,

I have seen hedgehogs with hair loss on thier bellies, along with some redness on the skin. It was due to the skin being irritated from being in contact with soiled surfaces too often. These hogs were housed in a bare aquarium with a couple of t-shirts for bedding. The hedgies burrowed under the shirts which caused thier bellies to be in contact with thier urine, feces, excess food ect. We washed these guys in a mild shampoo, applied a baby lotion (used for diaper rash) and placed them in a care fresh bedding. The rash cleared up, ad the hair grew back. Maybe the bare plastic because it is not absorbent is exposing the hedgie to its own waste which is irritating the skin.

Maybe absorbent bedding can be added, along with a bath, and some ointment. I hope this helps! Good Luck.

[hemi_mygirl]

Also, as hedgehogs get bigger, they tend to get some sparse patches (in both fur and quills), due to the skin stretching and there not being enough quills/fur to cover. Hemi went through that a couple months ago, when I was trying to get weight on her (she's now up to a healthy 500g from the 100 or so grams when i got her last May). Her fur still isn't as thick as it was, but it's slowly growing in.

I've also found that when a hedgie gets wet, their fur looks even thinner, due to it being white. Why, I don't know, but I'm guessing its the same as when a white tshirt gets wet. lol.

[keeja820]

looks just like my kazzer:D looks normal to me!

[FiaSpice]

My Litchi look just like that and she's 2 months old (on Wednesday)

[jaafit]

Ok thanks for all the feedback. I thought I might be burning him with the heating pad but it seems like everything is fine.

I've also found that when a hedgie gets wet, their fur looks even thinnerhemi_mygirl, this picture *was* taken during a bath, but at the time he was so reluctant to get in the water that I think he was still pretty dry.