Is it possible to be allergic to hedgehogs

It is extremely rare that hedgehog dander produces any sort of reaction. The majority of people who think they are allergic to their hedgehog are actually allergic to the bedding. You might want to try switching to different bedding options if you are affected. I am allergic to almost all of the bedding, so I use a hepa filter right beside my hedgehog cages.

Due to my allergies, if the quills prick my fingers I get a little rash that disappears within minutes of washing my hands. I know that some people get hives after handing hedgehogs and that is probably due to an allergen being pushed into the skin.

If you find that you have a severe reaction to the bedding, you should try fleece or corduroy fabric that is cut to fit in the bottom of the cage. Remember to look for loose threads in the fabric, since hedgehogs have been known to get their feet caught and lose circulation which leads to amputations. If you suspect that you are allergic to hedgehogs, it can help to bathe the hedgehog monthly in lukewarm water and a drop of olive oil.

It is also a good idea to keep an air purifier with a hepa filter close to the cage. Since hedgehogs produce very little dander, this should be all that is needed to relieve your symptoms. Then, gently pat dry the area with a clean cloth. Feel like taking a shower or an oatmeal bath instead? You could do that too and it should help you. Running cold water on your hives while in the bath will work the same as what we suggest in our next paragraph with the freezer packs or bag of peas.

But, we want you to do that step too. Place something cold on your hives like a freezer pack or even a bag of peas for a minute or two. This should help minimize or stop the itch and reduce inflammation. We know — they are really itchy, but resist the urge to scratch. When you scratch, you create pain signals which tell your brain to produce serotonin. Serotonin can take away the itch, according to medicalnewstoday. No thank you. Now comes time for the anti-itch cream.

When using these, make sure your hedgehog does not come into contact with the medication. This is only to be used after, when you are done holding your hedgehog and have already washed your hives. Using something like Benedryl anti-itch cream and cooling spray is a great solution, or the kids version for those 12 and under is available too. If you are looking for something that also moisturizes the area afterwords as well as reduces swelling and itchiness, there is something that will do both and won't irritate your skin further.

For that we recommend First Aid Beauty Anti-Itch moisturizing lotion , which was suggested to us by one of our readers who provided a photo for this article of her hedgie hives. With an Amazon Prime membership, you can get this lotion on the same day or the next day depending on your area, because it may not be available in your local pharmacy. After you have applied your desired anti-itch cream, again place something cool over your hives for a few minutes being careful not to rub the area, and your hives should go away within the hour.

Don't have the option of getting to a pharmacy immediately or need something now to help with the itch until your cream arrives?

If you have any of the following on hand at home, you may get instant relief. Let us know below if any of these has helped you:. You may try taking antihistamines thirty minutes before handling your hedgie if allergies get you every time. Before it gets to that point though of constantly taking antihistamines, we'd rather you pinpoint your allergy. Head to the doctor for an allergy test and go from there.

You may be allergic to something in your hedgehog's cage like their bedding or their litter. Or the maddening itch could also just be aggravated by something your hedgehog has anointed with, their saliva, or their other bodily excretions we know you know they make.

In that case, you would want to increase the amount and type of washings that you give them. We highly recommend attempting to litter train your hedgehog if they are not already, you can read how to do that here. We're sure you've seen the big mess on your hedgehog's quills after they party in their cage during the night. You know that poop boots are a real hedgehogproblem, so giving them regular foot baths in either just water or a gentle baby wash will help your hedgehog stay cleaner.

We do highly recommend adding something to your hedgehog's bath water, something our own Quilly uses — CBD oil pet drops! The research on the benefits of CBD oil are readily available right at your finger tips, but we go into more detail in a previous article that we wrote for you.

In short; CBD oil has anti-histamine, antimicrobrial, moisturizing properties, among other helping things. Lastly, checking your hedgehog for any kind of infection will be helpful if you cannot pinpoint the cause for your allergic reaction. Your hives may be an indication of mites or a fungal infection. Our favorite trick is using unscented baby wipes to wipe their quills daily before handling them.

If the hedgehog hives are still appearing on your skin, then their baths should be increased to once a week at most. Bathing any more than that risks trading your hedgehog hives for a hedgehog with dry skin.

Like we mentioned in our bathing article , hedgehogs already have a problem with dry skin and baths really bring that out. So, wiping your hedgie down with a safe baby wipe is the perfect solution to removing debris from their quills to stop the cause of the allergy at its source!

Going even deeper, identifying what you are allergic to with your doctor can be an important step in minimizing hedgehog hives. Allergic to dust? Try dusting more and running an air purifier. If you are allergic to a certain food that your hedgie is eating, don't feed it that. Do you react to a certain material that your hedgehog uses, such as their bedding? It's time to use a different bedding or litter choice! Approximately 2 months after adopting a pet hedgehog, an year-old boy first noted urticaria after handling the hedgehog.

The wheals most commonly occurred on the volar surfaces of the lower part of the arms and only when the boy handled the hedgehog when it was frightened and exhibited the curled-up response. A demonstration in the presence of one of the authors A. The wheals appeared within a few minutes after contact with the spines and cleared spontaneously within 30 to 40 minutes after onset. The patient was otherwise healthy, except for allergic rhinitis in response to cats and seasonal frictional lichenoid dermatosis.

The mother of the year-old boy described above had no problems when in contact with her son's hedgehog until a few months after the initial exposure. On subsequent handling, she routinely experienced palmar erythema and marked pruritus within minutes after contact with the hedgehog.

In addition, regularly spaced small wheals, identical to those of her son, developed within minutes when extended hedgehog spines contacted her skin. The mother was healthy, but she too had allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis after exposure to cats. Prick testing was performed with hedgehog dander that was collected by stroking the spines with a clean toothbrush. The material collected on the brush was suspended in sterile saline for prick testing, which resulted in immediate wheal formation.

Two individuals without known sensitivity to animal dander underwent prick testing and did not react to the hedgehog extract.

Hedgehogs are quilled mammalian insectivores that have spines for protection from predators. The spines are modified hairs that have a spongy matrix and an outer keratinous shaft. We describe 3 patients with urticarial reactions to hedgehogs. In all cases, the reactions occurred within minutes after handling and were characterized by intense pruritus and erythema. The wheals resembled the wheals resulting from a prick test in appearance and course and corresponded to the pattern and spacing of the hedgehog spines.

In addition, 1 patient developed a more persistent papular eruption in the areas affected by the hives. The course and morphologic characteristics of the eruption in our 3 patients resembled the results of a prick test in which antigenic material present on the hedgehog spines is inoculated. Interestingly, all 3 patients reported allergic reactions to cats.

In contrast, 3 additional family members of patients 2 and 3 who had no reaction to the hedgehog also had no history of animal allergies. The presence of reported allergies to cats in these patients may indicate a predisposition to an allergic response to other animals.

Contact urticaria has previously been reported in a number of small animals, including cats, dogs, rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and toads. To our knowledge, there are no published studies examining hedgehog antigens, and further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship of an allergy to cats as a predictor of an allergy to hedgehogs.

A second factor that may increase the irritation or antigenicity of the hedgehog spines is a behavior termed anting or anointing. When a hedgehog encounters a new or interesting object or food, it will chew it and hypersalivate, which causes the formation of a foam that the animal then spits back onto its spines.

It is believed that this behavior may cause the accumulation of toxins on the spines to make the hedgehog less palatable to predators. The presence of saliva and organic material on the spines of the hedgehog may also increase the potential for skin irritation in pet handlers. Transmission of fungi from the hedgehog to humans is another cause of dermatoses due to these pets.

Trichophyton erinacei , which is closely related to Trichophyton mentagrophytes , causes an extremely inflammatory and pruritic eruption that resolves spontaneously 2 to 3 weeks after onset. Potassium hydroxide preparations show fungal hyphae, and the dermatophyte grows well on standard dermatophyte media.

An additional cause of dermatoses from handling hedgehogs may be the presence of ectoparasites on the pet. Fleas Archeaopsylla erinacei , mites Caparinia , Chorioptes , and Notoedres , and ticks Ixodes hexagonus are all potential parasites of pet hedgehogs.

In summary, hedgehogs may produce cutaneous reactions in pet owners by several different mechanisms. Although not previously reported, the propensity to develop acute urticarial reactions to hedgehogs such as we have seen is likely to be common.

The transient nature of the eruption and the clear association with handling the pet may decrease the likelihood that the owner would seek medical advice.