Orange fly eggs on a hedgehog

[Hedgehoggy]

Hi, just wondered if anybody knows which kind of fly lays orange eggs? I’m used to dealing with the standard white/cream fly eggs on hedgehogs, but today I picked up a small hedgehog from my vet which had clusters of orange eggs on its spines (as well as trillions of ticks). This is only the second hedgehog I’ve encountered with these orange egg clusters and I’m curious to know what they are. I’ve tried googling, but all the search turns up are orange fruit flies which I very much doubt these are on a hedgehog! Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

[valleyforge]

Hi Hedgehoggy,

From what I know of fly strike (myiasis), the eggs are generally deposited in or around wounds, skin lesions or orifices (eyes, ears, mouth, nostrils, anus and genitals) ... that is damp places.

I've never seen it on the spines ... and like you have never seen orange eggs.

One of my reference books however (BSAVA Manual of Wildlife Casualties) makes mention of Harvest (trombiculid) mites (sometimes called berry bugs) being not uncommonly found on the pinnae (spines), or between the toes of hedgehogs, so my guess is that's possibly what you encountered.

Expect that they are hard to recognize as mites without a hand-lens or microscope.

Appears that they are of little clinical significance though and effectively countered by topical application of ivermectin, which I expect your vet has used.

I've never come across these personally, so thanks to your question I've learned something too.

[Hedgehoggy]

Hi VF Thank you muchly for taking the time to research this for me in your reference book. I didn’t even consider mites (nor did my vet!), so this is perfectly viable given the location of the clusters. My vet injected hoggy with ivermectin to kill off all the ectoparasites it’s harbouring, but I scraped off the orange egg clusters as soon as I got back home - just in case they hatched before the ivermectin took effect Sooo relieved to discover they wouldn’t have hatched into trillions of minute maggots!

[valleyforge]

No problem HH ... hope your hoggy makes a good recovery in your safe hands.