Screaming hedgie?

[southcalihedgie]

Hello All,

A strange thing happened to me last night. I was doing my normal socialization routine with a rescue, and when she started to unball she poked her face out, opened her mouth and let out a 15 second blood curtling scream. :eek: When she was done I put her back in her cage and she started to eat then decided to run in her wheel. It was really scary! Has anyone experienced this before? I was not even aware that hedgies sreamed unless they get a foot caught or they are being injured. I inspected her this morning and she is fine (she just has a wellness exam 3 days ago where she was given a clean bill of health...except for her obesity). But with her reduced fat diet and acess to a wheel I am confident that she will loose the wieght.

Was I scaring her? Is this normal? I am really worried about her.

Thanks

[Nancy]

That's the Hedgehog Scream of Death. I've never watched one do it but I certainly have heard it. I've heard it once when Pebbles had a toenail caught in her blankie and numerous times when someone was royally ticked off about something. We re-arranged Emma's cage one time, not to her liking he she had everyone in the house running. :laugh:

[HedgeMom]

We got hit with it at 2 a.m. today. Mercy and Faerie live together. They have a 3" blow up beach ball that they like to play with. And a water bowl.

After bolting out of bed to rescue whoever was screaming (Mercy likes to drag Faerie around by the leg and we thought that was it) and finding two hedgehogs staring at the beach ball floating in their water bowl, we assume that they were annoyed that their ball was "beached". Removed the ball, dried it off. Checked both girls for gaping wounds, missing limbs, etc. Went back to bed.

[southcalihedgie]

Okay here is the deal, when ever I pick her up she looks at me and screams!! She will not stop unless I put her back. I just held her in my lap and waited for her to stop, hopefully that would train her to realize that I am not going to put her down just becuase she is screaming or hurt her. But she will just scream until her little face becomes blue!!! I have never had to deal with anything like this before. Who is going to want to adopt a screaming hedgehog? It is terrible to hear, it sets the dogs off, and scares the other hedgies. I have tried treats, working around her schedule, waiting for her to stop...nothing.

Is this just something her owner is just going to have to live with? :dunno:

[j4782]

Sounds like your newest rescue is upset with strangers. Hopefully with patience, she'll bond with someone new and stop. Or you can start desensitizing her because she's got to get tired sometime!

I rescued Houdini and the previous owner's suggestion was to wear him in his carry sack and let him get used to me (she had him in there while she did dishes, but unfortunately, she developed major allergies to him :().

[mommy2ryan]

Maybe offer her a mealie while holding her?

[groovychic]

Wow! Poor little girl is certainly upset about something. I am glad I have never heard the "Hedgie Scream of Death". It sounds pretty terrifying! I hope you make progress with this little one and hopefully it is just a "stage" she is going through. My Kahlua does something similar ....she poos and poos until she is put back into her cage. She is over a year old and you would think that she wouldn't do this anymore, but no she tries. I just clean it up and keep her out....and reward with treats for staying out. Let us know what happens and good luck!

[HedgieMate]

But she will just scream until her little face becomes blue!!!I too hope I'll never have to hear the dreaded HSD... I tend to agree that the poor girl has gone through some terrible experience to form such an unusual and sad habit. I sincerely hope the proper care and tender loving she is receiving now and will be receiving in her new permanent home will remedy the habit. Even though the prospect of finding someone to take her in may seem slim at the moment, there are some people with very big heart out there, so I wouldn't abandon hope just yet. Best of luck to you & the poor little girl. :heart:

P.S. The cases mentioned above seem to be all females. Is this more of a "girl" thing? :hmmmm:

[southcalihedgie]

Hello All,

Someone suggested that I offer her a mealie when she is screaming to make her stop, so I did. She stopped chewed up the mealie...smacked her lips and then.....EeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeK! She contined screaming! :O . Well I give up! She is healthy, well cared for, and will toterate handling without biting...if screaming is the worst of her problems I guess it could be worse :dunno: .

I have decided to name her Janice (Janice Joplin sp?) her blood curtling screams remind me of her name sakes famous screaming solos.

Thanks for all of the responses.

[HedgieMate]

Janice is good, but I was really hoping you'd name her "Yoko" as in Yoko Ono who formed an avant garde rock band called Plastic Ono Band in late 1960s and was famous for her "blood-curdling" high-pitch voice.

As you said, if she is healthy and doesn't have any other bad habits, that's not bad. I keep my fingers crossed that her screaming will become less frequent and less frightening over time (and I have a hunch she will eventually). Good luck and keep us posted. :)