# Anyones hedgehog go completely crazy/nuts???



## HixVAC (Oct 14, 2009)

Okay so my hedgehog has been acting like hes been doing (removed by moderator) lately!

He has been like !!!! when i go to take him out he doesnt just huff and puff anymore he JOLTS...ALOT! And even when i go to pet him he still does it and WILL NOT STOP, this has been going on for 2 days straight now and I am probably going to bring him to the vet tomorrow to see what his problem is...

He also BOLTS all over the place, I let him roam free today hoping he would spend some of his energy around the room instead of just at me and he was ALL over the place, finally he got himself stuck behind my computer/computer desk, I had to move the whole darn thing to grab him out, AND i have had to use gloves again after not having to use them for the past 2 weeks hes been suck a pain over the past 2 days....


...ANYONE????


----------



## Stephanie76 (Nov 2, 2009)

First, what exactly do you mean you have "had" to use gloves? Gloves can be an extremely terrifying thing to our little hedgies because they use their sense of smell to identify us and gloves can possibly confused that. When Pequop (pay-kwop) decides to be difficult (which is extremely rare, thank goodness), I have a pink fleece blanket (HER blanket) that I used to handle her. I think this relaxes her and she is familiar with it.

As far as the "jolting", would you be referring to your hedgie "popping"? Popping is another sign of irritation that can usually accompany hissing and puffing. This behaviour varies from hedgie to hedgie (as do ALL behaviours), but isn't something you should really worry yourself over. 

For all the running around and zipping from here to there, that sounds like a personality trait as well. You actually might just have a very busy hedgehog that has SOOO many things to do!!! :mrgreen: Does your hedgie have a wheel in its cage? 

I hope this helps. :>


----------



## HixVAC (Oct 14, 2009)

No, no, and uhhh...no.

I had to use gloved when I first got my hedgehog, he knows the sent so that is definitely not the problem, or one at all for that matter.

The JOLTING is NOT the same as you describe, yes he used to do the usual, I've had him for over a month now so I know the difference, he is extra bothered for some reason, more jumping less quil pointing!, its almost like hopping, NOT the same as him getting angry or upset like he would normally, this whole thing is COMPLETELY different from the usual....or I wouldnt be posting it.

And the running and zipping around is abnormal as well, he has never been like this, he HAS a wheel and has had one, and continues to use it as well, I think I may leave him be for a night or two and see what happens.


----------



## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

HixVAC, please do not make drug references on this site. We are kid-friendly and that isn't something that needs to be mentioned. Try and keep it appropriate in the future.


----------



## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

Are you able to video your hedgie and then post it to give people a better idea of what you're describing?


----------



## Stephanie76 (Nov 2, 2009)

Well then I suggest two things:

No gloves, ever. Use a blanket/towel (watch their nails in the towel as they can get caught).

Get a wheel for your hedgehog.


----------



## LyzziFall (Oct 2, 2009)

Stephanie76 said:


> Well then I suggest two things:
> 
> No gloves, ever. Use a blanket/towel (watch their nails in the towel as they can get caught).
> 
> Get a wheel for your hedgehog.


Stephanie, he has stated clearly twice that he HAS a wheel for his hedgehog and has HAD one the entire time.

While the gloves are not the ideal choice he has stated that he has used them before with the hedgie, so they are not the key reason why the hedgie is freaking out.

HixVAC, I have been thinking about this a lot and while I know I am not a hedgehog expert in the least, I have to wonder if this freaky behavior is a result of a neurological injury that your hedgie might have sustained during one of the times he was dropped or the kicking accident that happened in the past weeks.a (This is NOT to make you feel bad IT is just the immediate thought that came to mind when I read your post a day or so ago.) I really think you should get him to the vet ASAP just in case. OR it could just be something poking him like LG said.


----------



## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

He sounds like something might be poking him, or in some way is making him uncomfortable. (I think Nancy posted in the other thread that a quill might be bent in) Some hedgies are just active though, and running around frantically is just a normal thing.  I agree, a video might help if you are worried something is wrong.


----------



## HixVAC (Oct 14, 2009)

Okay, I am going to take him to the vet, if they find nothing wrong with the lil guy, I will take a video with my phone or webcam of him and see if anyone on here sees anything wrong with him! Thanks for the help guys!


----------



## HixVAC (Oct 14, 2009)

So they didnt find anything wrong with the little guy, she said shes pretty sure its just because hes "going through puberty."

If thats the case ooookay. I guess I'll just make due for the time being!


----------



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

Sorry about bumping this old thread, I just found it while searching for info a few days ago when I was worried about Quinn's odd behavior, and I might have found a reason, so I figured I'd post here so HixVAC could see it.

A few days ago, Quinn pretty much went nuts, in a way similar to what's described in the original post. I had her on my knees, she was exploring as usual, when at some point she pretty much started bolting away from me, and struggling to get out of my hands when I'd catch her, to the point where I was forced to put her back in her cage because I was afraid she'd injure herself.

She then spent all evening and night bolting around her cage, rolling in her litter (ew), pushing all of her furniture around. While this might seem like usual hedgehog behavior, the extremeness of it compared to her usual behavior was still very odd. I was worried, but at the same time I didn't know if I should be. It felt odd to be worried that my hedgehog was over active, right?

I had much trouble sleeping that night, because I kept hearing her trash around, and had to go check on her once in a while. She flipped her waterbowl over twice (by pulling the fleece liner), so I ended up having to remove the bowl and putting a waterbottle up instead. When I got up for work she was still at it. Before I left for work I put her cage back in order (she would jump away from my hands instead of balling/popping). When I came home that night she had messed it all up again. Her cage was like a war zone, with all of it's content pushed in a heap in the middle of the cage, food strewn everywhere, and she was sleeping in a corner of the cage, directly on the plastic floor (since she had messed up the liner too), and started huffing when I got close, silly head had messed up her cage so much she had nowhere to hide!

I gave her a bath (she did roll around in her poop after all) that night and cleaned up her cage. She was still a bit hyperactive that evening, but she did not mess up her cage again. She went back to her usual behavior now.

I had seen her act strangely like that about a year ago, but it was a little less extreme and didn't worry me as much.

I was planning to just post my experience here, and see if other people had ideas about this kind of behavior, but before I did I visited a few threads, and found a link to Hedgehog World. Funny coincidence, the front page has an article that appears to explain this exact situation!



> Over the years, we've made a lot of observations about how the weather can influence hedgies. Most hedgehog owners have had the scary experience of attempted hibernation first-hand, or have seen hedgies splatted out when the weather is warm. What many hedgehog owners are not aware of is that hedgies can be significantly affected by changes in barometric pressure!
> It's been my experience, and that of many hedgie owners I've talked to, that hedgies get more active when there is a gib weather front moving in. The incidence of "My hedgie is going psycho and trashing its cage" emails that I get rises significantly and I see it in my own hedgies too. It also seems to affect hedgies' breeding. When weather patterns are amok, it has been my experience, and that of other breeders with whom I've spoken, that hedgie mamas are more likely to abandon or destroy litters when there are rapid changes in barometric pressure. This seems to be a greater factor than time or season of the year. I'm not sure how to put together a statistical analysis of this phenomenon, but the observational data is pretty persuasive!


This could have a lot of sense! On monday we had a lot of rain, and through the week the temperature oscillated over and under the freezing point. Today we got a good little snow storm. The freakout happenned between tuesday and wednesday. It doesn't look like I can see the barometric pressure of past days on my weather site, but I wouldn't be surprised there were unusual changes, considering the week we had.

I'm glad Quinn got back to normal, and I had figured it wasn't something to be too worried about since it only lasted a day, but I'm pretty glad I found a possible explanation for it.

Could this be what happenned to your hog, HixVAC?


----------



## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

This to me is a possibility but I feel like there could be more to this. I don't think the weather would really affect their personality THAT drastically...especially if the spot in the house that you keep them in is always the same temperature. 

I would consider these few things first:

-Are they getting the same amount of light and dark in one day.... all at the same time, or has that changed?
-Have you switched foods, bedding, shampoo, detergent to wash the wheel or cage?
-Has the animal been put in a traumatizing situation where it could have left it mentally affected or fearful?
-Is there anything in the room you have the cage in "scent wise" like a fragrance spray or candle, cleaning solution for the floor or NEW animal that may have disturbed them?

I feel that a change in behavior like that has much more to do with their daily care and a change in something. I am not an expert or anything but I am trying to use logical thinking here as to why that would happen. Egon will do that JOLT motion when I first try to pick him up every day-like he will huff then he will snap his head to one side continuously and jump (tiny jumps) until he settles down.


----------



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

I did consider anything in her environment that could have changed and affected her, but really, nothing did. My hand soap, the soap I use to wash her stuff, my hand cream, her food, everything's been in use for a good while. Her cage hasn't been moved and she still gets the same amount of light ect.

As for a traumatizing event, well I put her on my lap to watch TV. :/ I did dab a bit of vaseline on the tip of her ear since it was dry, but that's the second time I do it and she didn't have any issue with it the first time. Her ears are nice and smooth now.

Apart from that, I dunno. I did practice my sax a few hours previous, but again it wasn't the first time I did, and she's used to noise (though I admit that my sax is louder than my TV ect will be). I did wonder if I hadn't accidently hurt her when I picked her up, like moving a spike in an uncomfortable position or something, but since the freakout lasted so long I'm not so sure anymore.

I'm not sure something I would have done that could have bothered her would have affected her for over 24 hours... I though the weather change thing made sense because it would have kept affecting her constantly, as opposed to something I would have done that had stopped the day before. If I had changed something that made her cage smell different, maybe that could have been an explanation. But since I can't find anything, this article is pretty much the only thing I found that fits my issue.

I don't think it's that farfetched to think she might have been affected by barometric changes. Even if we're inside and the temperature in my appartment doesn't change, I'm still affected sometimes by drastic changes in the weather outside (dry hands, itchy back, stuffed sinuses). And animals ar well known to sense those things better than we do. And I'm not sure being inside shields us from the barometric pressure...

Anyway in my case everything is fine again, I just wanted to post this for others who might see it happen. I know that I might freak out a bit less if it happens again. I lost a night of sleep over this. I just like having a possible explanation for what happenned.


----------



## Betsyc (Jan 22, 2010)

This is probably not helpful because everyone has African pygmy hedgehogs..

BUT! I read recently that Brandt's hedgehogs t will snort loudly and jump up and down when they are upset. 
http://www.breedingcentresharjah.com/Small Mammals.html


----------



## leannem (Mar 27, 2009)

I think that barometric pressure is a great culprit. Many animals are affected by changing weather and barometric pressure. Dogs become very anxious when there is a sudden change in barometric pressure. My aunt's dog recently passed away at 17, surprisingly not from old age but from vestibular syndrome (which actually has a good prognosis but unfortunately there were other complications). I won't explain vestibular syndrome (do a google search) but while there is no known cause the best explaination found is change in barometric pressure. I think that animals are probably affected by the weather more than we think. And just because they are inside doesn't mean that they don't feel the changes. When it's dry outside, it's often much drier inside as well.



Hazesti said:


> I did practice my sax a few hours previous,


I totally read this whole section wrong the first time i read through, LOL!


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Animals can sense changes in barometric pressure, upcoming storms, earthquakes before they happen and other weather changes. It can affect their behavior. I had a dog that would crawl up on my lap, or under the blankets on my bed, about 2 hours before a thunder storm hit. There wouldn't be a cloud in the sky, she would do this, and we could guarantee that there was going to be a storm. She was never wrong...and never missed it once.


----------



## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

I still don't buy it. I feel its quite far fetched. I think something else had to have disrupted the hedgie. Maybe some of the vaseline got into her ear? Maybe the sax hurt her ears. Who knows. I just feel like its more than just a weather change thing.


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I'll make sure to tell my vet, who agrees with me as to why my dog acted like that and also told me all animals can react to changes in weather/barometric changes that you don't believe him, and don't think its possible.


----------



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

Morel3etterness said:


> I still don't buy it. I feel its quite far fetched. I think something else had to have disrupted the hedgie. Maybe some of the vaseline got into her ear? Maybe the sax hurt her ears. Who knows. I just feel like its more than just a weather change thing.


Don't worry. I only dabbed the tips of the ears, and even then she wasn't really cooperative so I didn't get to put much of it on there anyway.

As for the sax, well while I was playing she came out of her hiding place and walked around her cage a bit then sat in her litter box until I was done playing (I guess that was a statement about my skills ). While I can see I bothered her by waking her up, I was watching her while playing and she didn't flinch at all, so I really don't think I hurt her. I really hope I didn't. I usually play in another room, but I needed to play a track on my computer that time.

I still think the weather thing is the best explanation I got. When this thing happenned last year, there was neither vaseline or a saxophone involved.


----------



## KathyS (Jan 19, 2010)

The hubby is a hydro-met tech with the National Weather Service.  
As far as wondering if there was a great change in the barometric pressure, you can always call your local weather service and ask about those particular days. They can go back to which ever day you need.They can tell you if there was a big change. Go to the NOAA website and input your zipcode or click on the map. You can pull up thier phone # from there! If you keep a log of this behavior you may be able to see if it is weather related. 
Also if there was any earthquakes in your state you can pull that up too. Just look up "earthquakes" and your state. Even though you may not feel a thing, stuff is happening all around us and the critters are a little more intuned than we are.


----------



## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

I don't need rude comments that made me look like I am an idiot. Has it ever occurred to you that vets don't always know what they are talking about either? I am not saying its completely untrue but there is nothing solid backing this up as a reason for a hedgehog to suddenly spaz. I am only offering my suggestions and "opinions". People need to calm down about it because its unnecessary to get all hyped up over it. This is why we have a forum... to discuss.

And its possible that your sax could have disturbed your hedgehog. I know this because Loud noises ...sudden loud noises upset mine too. He doesnt flip out later but he will curl up in his litter box until it stops.


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Over the years I kept records of what was going on with the weather at times of unrest, cannibalization etc and I can say with confidence that weather does affect them and other animals as well. There are times when food intake is down with them all and often I can attribute it to a change in weather even if the change was not something dramatic. Cannibalization and litter abandonment are high during storms or if a storm is on the way or just past. 

The same goes for unusual noises, construction happening close by or loud or different noises in the house. 

During severe storms, often many of the hedgehogs are up and wheeling or wandering around, even during the day. We used to have a german shepherd that would get under the toilet tank when a storm was approaching to the point that the bathroom door had to be kept closed. She also used to go under the bed and once the storm was gone and she was no longer scared, she couldn't get out and we'ed have to lift the bed up for her to crawl out. 

Often when a hedgehog suddenly freaks out there is a possibility that a quill is turned over and poking into him/her. Also, look for a bug, spider or something in the cage that may have bit him.


----------



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

Morel3etterness, I don't see how I was rude to you? I thank you for your concern, but Quinn is fine now.

I know that my sax bothered her. She did come out and sat in her litterbox while I was playing. It was the first time I played in the living room instead of my bedroom. She also came out and wheeled around the first few times I vaccuumed the living room after I got her. I never interpreted this as a bad thing, just that she had been woken up by a scary sound and couldn't just stay in her hiding, and needed to know what was going on and if she was in danger.

I don't think I should stop doing those things? I mean sure, I'll keep the sax to the bedroom as much as I can, but I still need to vacuum. Besides, after a few times she stopped coming out when I vaccumed. I took it that she now recognises the sound as something that while bothersome, isn't dangerous. I'm pretty sure it still wakes her up and she probably doesn't enjoy the sound either, but it doesn't freak her out anymore than the TV or my voice (or the extremely loud upstairs neighbors) do.

I still don't think the sax alone is a good explanation for the overnight freakout.

Nancy, I did check her up the next day when I washed her and she didn't look injured in any way. The turned over Quill was something that came to mind since it looked like she freaked out while I was handling her.

Maybe the freakout was a combination of several things that bothered her, who knows. Maybe the weather wouldn't have scared her that much if I hadn't woken her up with a loud instrument than later on put her on my knees. 

KathyS, thanks for the idea. I'm in Canada though, but I did check the government's meteo archives. It seems they don't keep barometric pressure. Oh well. If it does happen again I'll be sure to take notes.


I'm just happy to have another explanation for this event than "Oh god she's hurt/sick". This episode messed up a night of sleep and a day of work for me. I think I'll be able to handle it without freaking out worse than she does if it happens again.


----------



## Morel3etterness (Dec 5, 2009)

Haz I was not referring to you being rude to me. I guess I should have used a name. Sorry for the mix up


----------



## eyesack (Oct 30, 2009)

Hey Haz, I've experienced the freak outs a few times. I like to try and consider myself a good hedgie owner, like yourself and all others on here, too. Hedgehogs to me, and I hope I don't sound TOO spaced-out, cuz I'm not lol, but I just think they are very curious, mystical creatures that I'm not quite sure I'll ever FULLY understand. I freak out when the weather changes. Arthritis, Migraines, Sinus Headaches, Lack of sun, the works lol. I can't blame a little hedgie for freakin' out either.

I realize this was of very little informational value, just wanted to know you're not alone! =D


----------

