# will my lovely friendly hedgie return?



## pammie (Aug 31, 2008)

well about a week ago my beautiful Momo had a hibination attempt. since then i have warmed the room up a lot and while in most ways she is back to her usual self she gets really grumpy when we pick her up. she seems like she just does not like being touched, for her this is really weird as she has always been a lovely friendly girl. will she get back to normal or stay like this? please help


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## Kean (Jan 4, 2009)

you should take her to a vet, if she is still acting that way, keep an eye on her, of course if you were at the vet then she may be pregnant, have you left her with a male recently?how old is she, if she is 6-8 weeks olds and lost quills, adult ones could be poking up and disturbing her, how would you feel if you and prickly hairs growing from your head?
just make sure to regulate her heat and make sure she has everything she needs to make her happy


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

I'd say you should re-examine how you're keeping her living environment. This is the second hibernation attempt for her that you've posted about, the first being in November, which makes that two hibernation attempts in a three month span--and if it's cold enough for her to do it twice and you're talking about it like it's no big deal that it happened a week ago, how many times has it happened that you haven't posted about? You HAVE to keep her environment 73 degrees or above, or you're going to keep running into this problem. Each time it happens it weakens her immune system and makes her more susceptible to becoming sick. 
I would recommend a vet visit because the repeated hibernation attempts have probably weakened her immune system to the point that she's caught something and isn't feeling very well. She's not quilling because you said she's two years old in the previous post, so that's not why she's grumpy. Even if she's not sick and she's just grumpy, her grumpiness is trying to tell you something: keep the temperature at a good level for her! You're jeopardizing her life every time you let that temperature get below 72 degrees Fahrenheit.


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## pammie (Aug 31, 2008)

well, as you said this is the second time this has happened...ONLY the second time. i know thats not good it shouldnt happen even once, but after the first time i made changes to her enviroment keeping the heat a lot higher and leaving the heat mat on at all times (not across her whole cage only part so she can cool if she needs to). she seems back to herself now and im hoping she will stay that way but i would love if u had some suggestions on how to stop it happening again. i am making sure there is enough light in the room during the day and as i mentioned am keeping the temp higher. i bought a ceramic heat emitter but she has a solid cage rather than a wire one so i think it may get too hot if i put that in. let me know any sugestions as im out of ideas and as you say i cant have this happen again.


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## dorasdaddy (Dec 23, 2008)

as long as you have the emitter hooked up to an adjustable thermostat it cant get to hot in her cage....the thermostat works like a regular thermostat for your house, turn on below a certain temp then turns back off once that temp is achieved. What kind of cage is she in? do you have plenty of holes drilled in the sides for proper ventilation?


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