She won't stop.

[Silly_Quilly]

Ever since I have made my huge C&C cage, Rosie has been trying to hibernate. I check on her every day to make sure that she is doing alright but every few days she's either cool to the touch or really cold and sluggish.

I have made liners out of fleece for the bottoms of the cage to help and supplied them with a pile of rags, I have the heat cranked up in my room, I took away her tp so that she will sleep in the rags instead of out in the open, but Rosie still attempts hibernation. Brandy, on the other hand, is fine 9 times out of 10.

It's definately not cold in my room at all. My boyfriend and I find it quite warm when we are hanging out and watching tv. My dad says it feels like an oven. I keep my door closed to keep the heat in also. I was going to buy a space heater but i'm not sure that I can handle my room any hotter than this... I wouldn't be able to sleep.

I think i'm going to have to resort to my last option. I'm going to have to dismantle the cage for the winter. During the cold season I will keep them in large tote cages and then I will reassemble the bigger cage in the spring.

So, tomorrow i'm off to Walmart to buy the largest totes that I can possibly find. Hopefully it's not going to cost me too much to do it since I just spent over $100 making the C&C just before Christmas. I guess the only way to look at it is that it will cost me a heck of a lot more than that if they get sick from the cold... so i'm saving myself some money in the long run. It will also be easier to move their cages downstairs by the fire in the event that we lose power sometime over the winter.

*sigh*

Does anyone else have the problem with their hedgie constantly trying to hibernate? I know it lowers their immune system... but why? I thought hibernation was a natural thing that their body does for a reason?

Animals are so wierd sometimes. :rolleyes:

[Ododad]

What is the temp. in there? It may very well be TOO warm.
http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/hibernate.shtml
Being too hot is called Aestivation and can mimic Hibernation. The above link has a lot of information on this.
The domiscated hedgie does not go into true hibernation and that is why it is so dangerous for them.
Odo had this problem when I moved her from the bedroom to the hedgie room. I kept checking her 5 or 6 times a day for a warm belly and using a heating pad and her baggie when she was cool. She finally stopped and I have had no problem with coolness since. I keep their room at 75F and sometimes it dips down to 73F for a short while until the space heater kicks on. Both of my guys are doing fine at this temp.

[Silly_Quilly]

While it's good to ask about aestivation also (which I didn't know of) i'm positive that she is trying to hibernate. If she were getting too hot I don't see how her belly would be ice cold to the touch.

I don't know for sure what the temperature is in here. I have my thermostate set on 18 but i'm not sure if that's what the temperature is.. if it is then it's only about 65 or something I believe, but it feels like an oven and it's really too warm for the humans in the room. I normally use flannel sheets on my bed in the winter but right now I have regular sheets and my comforter.... no other blankets, and wake up too warm sometimes.

In the 19 years that I have lived in my house I have never turned the thermostate any higher than 16.... and now on 18 you'd think it would be toasty for them too.

I'm stumped as to why it keeps happening. This is why I think I should pack up their cage for the winter and use totes...

[kimberly08865]

Did you try a heating pad placed under the blankets set on low or med.

[Ododad]

According to my studies, when a hedgie attempts either aestivation or hibernation, their metabolisum (sp?) slows down as does their heart rate and blood flow. This causes the coolness to the belly. Thats why I said that aestivation can mimic hibernation.
Since I don't seem to be helping much, I will leave this to those with more experience. Hope you get it worked out and your hedgie is ok.

[Nancy]

While it's good to ask about aestivation also (which I didn't know of) i'm positive that she is trying to hibernate. If she were getting too hot I don't see how her belly would be ice cold to the touch.

I don't know for sure what the temperature is in here. I have my thermostate set on 18 but i'm not sure if that's what the temperature is.. if it is then it's only about 65 or something I believe, but it feels like an oven and it's really too warm for the humans in the room. I normally use flannel sheets on my bed in the winter but right now I have regular sheets and my comforter.... no other blankets, and wake up too warm sometimes.

In the 19 years that I have lived in my house I have never turned the thermostate any higher than 16.... and now on 18 you'd think it would be toasty for them too.

I'm stumped as to why it keeps happening. This is why I think I should pack up their cage for the winter and use totes...

NO she is not hot.

18 is WAY TOO COLD. I mean it is seriously too cold. 18c is only 64F. That is COLD. You need to have it at least 22c.

18c is going to be too cold regardless of the type of cage you use. You have to get her environments temperature up. A heating pad will not help at all at that temperature in an open cage.

I am no expert but if she has been at 18c/64F for more than a few days I think you can expect she is going to have some health issue from it. Get her in a bin with a heating pad and turn up the heat in that room. Watch her very closely and at the first sign of sneezing or runny nose get her to the vet.

[Titanium]

When I made my huge re-vamped parrot cage (like a C&C cage) Tigger started becoming sluggish and wasn't eating as much. I installed a heat lamp with a thermostat built into it so she wouldn't get cold from possible drafts and all the open space. This helped for Tig, but Heidi who shares the same cage still looked sleepy. I took a small rubbermaid container (about 6x12x6) filled it with shavings and drilled a hole in the side that she could fit through and attached a piece of PVC to that so she wouldn't track the shavings all over her cage. I then drilled several holes in the lid, put in her igloo (or a hedgiebag) and put one an 3 of the four levels so she would always have somewhere comfy and warm to sleep.

I hope this will help!!!

[Silly_Quilly]

Thanks Teasel's Mom. That's what I thought. My mom had suggested heating pads or something but since the cage is so airy and big she just wanders away from it and it's too open for it to even radiate heat to them.

I'm going to build the totes today and get some heat to them. Lots of blankets and everything.

Its strange that in the same temperature Brandy isn't trying to hibernate...

I have been checking on Rosie several times a day and on the first sign of coolness she is put in my bed on a hot water bottle. She hasn't sneezed once and hasn't had any mucous. I think i'm catching it and dealing with it early, which is what I want.

I just got off the phone with the breeder and she doesn't have the same problem with hers and they are in totes... so I guess that's my answer for beating the winter months. Until I get her cage done today I'm going to put her in my cat carrier and set her to sleep in the recroom by the fire.

I'll let you know how it works out. I also have warm blankets that I can wrap around the totes to keep heat in also.

Thanks for your input. It's greatly appreciated.

[Nancy]

One thing everyone needs to remember is that heating pads and warm areas to sleep are only good when they are actually sleeping. At night when they are up and active that area needs to be warm also or they cool down and can start hibernation. Then they go get in their warm beds which brings them out of it but the next night when they are up and in the cool area they cool down and start to hibernate until they get in bed...... well you get the idea. Cool down, warm up to sleep, cool down... not at all healthy for them.

Also they need 12 hours of light a day.

Good luck with her and keep us posted. :)

[Silly_Quilly]

I feel crappy about this whole thing. These are my first 2 hedgehogs and my first winter with them. I did my research and knew that this could happen and tried to prevent it. I guess I feel a bit like a failure.

I always take the time, effort, and money that is required to give all of my animals the best care that I can give them. A lot of the time I go a little overboard with it.... I mean, I built them a nice huge cage that they love, but I didn't think this could happen. I feel bad putting them in tote cages after they are used to having so much space, but I know that they are benefitting from it so I take some comfort in that.

I have seen the way that my father and his fiance treat the cat and dog... they are fed crappy foods, don't get the attention or vet care that they probably should have, and I get hassled sometimes because I spend a lot of money on health care for my animals..... you know what? At least I can sleep at night knowing that I am making a difference in their lives and giving them more than they really need to survive. That's how I believe it should be done, but I do not judge others if they can't spoil their animal as I do, I just hope they would get the care that they need.

I know that this is a little off topic, but I want you guys to know that I'm not just learning about their hibernation attempts now. I did know about it in advance and have tried my best to prevent it.... I hope that nobody thinks i'm not willing to do what I have to do for them. I'm trying to comprimise so that they can live soundly and healthily and I can also be comfortable. Moving them out of my room is not an option and the rest of my house is colder than it is in here... so I don't want anyone to think that i'm freezing them for my own comfort.

I'm sorry this is off topic and I really have no idea where this came from. I'm really grateful for this forum and for those who are here to help out people like me who are still learning. I want to especially thank Teasel's Mom though because she has been one of the first people to reply to every single question or comment that I have posted.

I'll be sure to post pics when I get everything built and everyone situated.

Titanium, in response to your post about the heat lamps, the reason I didn't try that is because the cage is so big and airy that they won't necessarily benefit from something like that. Same goes for the heating pad idea... in the large cage it will only heat that one spot, and I can't force them to sit or sleep on it. In a tote cage with solid walls I think that the heat would radiate and be held in a little more, thus heating that one spot but also the air in the cage. I hope i'm right on that.