Can Harriet be sick?

[jennypants]

I went to clean harriet's cage and when I took her out of it she felt cold and her nose was very cold and wet. I sat her on my lap for a little bit and 5 minutes later she peed on me. The pee was very cold. The room I have her in is warm. Do you think she might have a cold?

[HedgePigLove]

You need to warm Harriet IMMEDIATELY! Take her from her cage and tuck her under your shirt for the moment.

[HedgePigLove]

As I said before, you need to warm-up Harriet. Unlike the European hedgehogs, our hedgehogs CANNOT handle getting cold. The fastest way to warm Harriet is to tuck her under your clothes and hold her against your body. You may want to crawl under a blanket in order to keep the heat from escaping. She should warm-up and start moving around within an hour.

If she doesn't respond, get her into a vet RIGHT AWAY. Call your vet to let them know that you're coming in and then go - don't ask for an appointment, just get her into the office.

If she does respond, offer her some water - at room temperature or even a bit warmer. If she has a favorite food that can be warmed, offer that to her as well. You want to try and warm her from the inside, too. Make sure that she has an additional heat source in her habitat and make an appointment for her to see the vet ASAP - she needs a check-up to find out what's going on.

A cold hedgehog is not a good thing. It is possible that she was in an un-noticed draft and that chilled her. However, it is also possible that some other things are going on.

How old is Harriet?
Has she ever gotten cold/behaved like this in the past?
How have her feces looked recently?
How has her appetite been?
Has she been active as normal?
Have there been any recent changes to her environment (change of cage, bedding, location, additions to her habitat or surrounding room)?
Has she been behaving normal (suddenly more grumpy, more lethargic, more anxious)?

[PrettyHate]

Agreed. She needs to get warm ASAP. If you have a heating pad, use that. Turn it on low. Wrap her up in a towel and keep her over it.

Warm blankets (can warm them up in the dryer) can also help. Make sure they are warm and not hot. You dont want to burn her.

If you cant do either of those then hold her close to your body like Laura suggested. She REALLY needs to get warm!

EDIT- If you cant get her warm she needs to get to the vet ASAP. Being cold like that is VERY dangerous for a hedgie- it could even kill them.

[jennypants]

Well we just got back from the vet and false alarm. The vet said she seemed fine, but I should get a urine sample so she could check for diabetes. I guess i'm just very over protective. I know you're not suppose to play favorites, but Harriet is. :lol: