No questions yet...

[Finghin]

Figured this was the best place to put this. Just got my first hedgehog last night as a suprise gift from dad. No, it wasn't "spur of the moment get my daughter an animal that she has no clue about" it was more like "get her the animal she's been researching for months and be very sneaky about it"
I'd been waffling between chinchillas and hedgehogs, finally deciding my room was too warm for a chin. I have all the things he needs accept for a wheel which i'm giong to attempt to make on saturday.
anyway, here he is!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Fiach/hedgehog.jpg
and here he's trying to hide under his new turtle... and not succeeding very well.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Fiach/hedgiehiding.jpg
Soooo yeah, don't have any questions just yet, but I'm sure some will pop up. I've been haunting these forums for awhile now and i'm glad i finally have something to contribute :D

[j4782]

SO cute! :) That's great that your Dad is so observant. ;)

[Finghin]

lol.. if he couldn't tell i would worry that he was blind and deaf. I made more than one "hint" at wanting one. i never actually expected to get one from him though, i was just planning on buying one when i'd saved for one :)

[razzle]

OH he's so cute!!! Did you name him yet? I love his coloring!

[Finghin]

ok just named him, Bloo, partially in honor of his blue butt, partially due to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

[HogMom2B]

Cool dad you have there! And a very cute hedgehog! I am envious I still have a couple weeks til I get mine. Have fun!

[illinidairychic]

He's a very cute snowflake :) Congrates on the new hedgie!!

[groovychic]

:welcome10: to C-N-Q Bloo! You are one handsome little guy and I love your coloring. I lalso like your turtle buddy that you are hiding under. I am sure my hedgies would like something like that in their cages too.

[Finghin]

ok got questions. his poo started out firm and moist, now it's all runny. yesterday was the firm moiststuff, this evening it got runny, is this just from the stress of moving?
and today i had him out in his corral and he scratched himself a lot. i don't know how often they normally scratch but he seemed really itchy. is this likely dry skin or just regular scratching? sunday his poppy butt is getting a washing in oatmeal shampoo so maybe that will help.

he did very well during his first play time and crawled all over me and around me. at one point he was under his turtle and walking around making it look like the turtle was alive, heehee.

[j4782]

Well...your guy is little and just moved. Stress is a likely culprit for the runny poos, but with any small animal, make sure he's drinking to make up for the diarrhea. I think he's going to need a bigger bowl! Just in case, what's he been eating?

As for the scratching: put him on a dark surface or play with him on dark materials. See if flakes and other light stuff comes off. Is there quill loss?

If it's mostly flakes, and no quills, try to look between his quills for dry skin or at his ears for raggedy skin. If it looks dry, the oatmeal bath will help, as well as a vitamin E drop (from a softgel capsule) on his skin or a bit of flaxseed oil on his food (just 1 or 3 drops--too much will affect his poo, too).

If there aren't any flakes or other stuff, but just quillls, scratching at that age (he's so small!) is likely quilling. Check for new quill growth. Watch for cranky behavior. Extreme discomfort is common with a quilling baby.

If you're find both light flecks and quills, look for odd colors on his skin and quills (not white; orange-red rings at the base of his quill, weird crusty stuff on the quills, etc.), it might be mites (go to a vet to check for them). Ask your Dad if he remembers what Bloo was kept in or on when he got him. Some cage types and bedding materials are prone to having mites. If there's no odd stuff and he's mostly flaking, it could be a combination of dry skin and stress quill loss (which should stop within a week or two once he's adjusted to his new home--and new quills should be growing in) or quilling.

If anything that came off moves, go to a vet!

Have you been researching area vets & looking for an emergency animal hospital for him? At a vet's you can get a skin scraping for mites. And if he turns up with mites, make sure the vet uses Revolution (topical treatment), NOT Ivermiticin (or however it's spelled. That's an injection that has been known to kill hedgies--easy to overdose).