Pallidity
09-12-2008, 02:27 AM
A few days ago my area had a sudden drop in temp (from 80 degrees to 50 overnight) and it's become exceedingly overcast. The evening before the temperature drop I switched my little guys food to one I had heard from a friend as being better (he has a hedgie as well).
Two days ago I noticed that when I picked him up he wouldn't warm up to me, just stayed in a ball and huffed. My first concern was that he was ill from the food change, so I let him be. Yesterday he didn't move when I took him outside for play, and I realized after some searching he might've been trying to hibernate, so I warmed up a towel and tried to coax him out of it. After about an hour he seemed to be doing better and finally uncurled, only to wobble over and roll back into a ball. After another hour or so I coaxed him back out from his ball, and (I hope this is okay for this forum) noticed that his male parts looked a little gross. They wiped off fine, and have since looked normal, but as I've never observed this in him before wasn't sure if it's typical hedgehog behavior or not.
I left a lamp on near his cage overnight, and slid a warming pad underneath to try and warm things up even though it's been in the mid to high 70s for the past 36 hours or so. Today, once again, I had to coax him out of his ball. He played a little bit, but his quills never relaxed, and whenever I tried to get near him he'd roll back into a ball. The same behavior occured again tonight when I was holding him. To make matters worse his quills seem to be pointier than he's ever made them - to the point where I have to wear gloves when I hold him, which has never been a problem before.
His poop seems mostly alright (it's been brown with a tinge of green). His appetite has been a bit unusual in that he's eating MORE and drinking MORE than normal, which is what has me puzzled the most. He's also been sleeping funny. Either he doesn't unroll all the way, or he lays in a sort of standing position (not flattened on his belly, but similarly).
I'm fairly sure it's not cancer since the other hedgehog I owned several years ago had cancer and the symptoms of that were obvious. He's never tried to hibernate before, and I've never had any health issues. The fact that it's warmed up and he's still not snapping out of it completely has me freaked out.
Also, I would've just taken him to the vet, but the only vet anywhere around here that will even see him doesn't know too much about hedgehogs.
Any suggestions or help?
Two days ago I noticed that when I picked him up he wouldn't warm up to me, just stayed in a ball and huffed. My first concern was that he was ill from the food change, so I let him be. Yesterday he didn't move when I took him outside for play, and I realized after some searching he might've been trying to hibernate, so I warmed up a towel and tried to coax him out of it. After about an hour he seemed to be doing better and finally uncurled, only to wobble over and roll back into a ball. After another hour or so I coaxed him back out from his ball, and (I hope this is okay for this forum) noticed that his male parts looked a little gross. They wiped off fine, and have since looked normal, but as I've never observed this in him before wasn't sure if it's typical hedgehog behavior or not.
I left a lamp on near his cage overnight, and slid a warming pad underneath to try and warm things up even though it's been in the mid to high 70s for the past 36 hours or so. Today, once again, I had to coax him out of his ball. He played a little bit, but his quills never relaxed, and whenever I tried to get near him he'd roll back into a ball. The same behavior occured again tonight when I was holding him. To make matters worse his quills seem to be pointier than he's ever made them - to the point where I have to wear gloves when I hold him, which has never been a problem before.
His poop seems mostly alright (it's been brown with a tinge of green). His appetite has been a bit unusual in that he's eating MORE and drinking MORE than normal, which is what has me puzzled the most. He's also been sleeping funny. Either he doesn't unroll all the way, or he lays in a sort of standing position (not flattened on his belly, but similarly).
I'm fairly sure it's not cancer since the other hedgehog I owned several years ago had cancer and the symptoms of that were obvious. He's never tried to hibernate before, and I've never had any health issues. The fact that it's warmed up and he's still not snapping out of it completely has me freaked out.
Also, I would've just taken him to the vet, but the only vet anywhere around here that will even see him doesn't know too much about hedgehogs.
Any suggestions or help?