# Hibernation Aftermath (still sick or just angry with me?)



## Mcericville (Apr 20, 2011)

Long story short, my hedgie Felony was left alone for a night while I was studying for finals at my campus library. My roomate blew a fuse and didn't turn it back on so the heat lamps she has turned off for the night (it's December in Chicago, so it's cold). I came back to find that she hadn't run on her wheel, eaten, or drank anything. She was unresponsive (muffled hisses, but not very audible) and curled up, with a cage temperature at 64 degrees with no heating (I feel so awful, poor hedgie). I heated her up with body heat and fixed the fuse problem, and I also called the breeder who sold her to me who came over and helped me heat her up. Six hours later, Felony has a cage temperature of 75.2 degrees, but is still sleeping and hasn't eaten or drank much. When I just brought her out to see if she was okay, I found her responsive, however very hissy and unwilling to lower her quills. I am trying to figure out if this is hibernation, if is she still has something medically wrong, or if she is just pissed off and needs some time to "cool" off attitude-wise.

Felony's info
- She is roughly 10 months old, and I have owned her for about eight months.
- She is a good weight, good breathing patterns, with moist nose and normal urine/poop frequency, coloration and size.
- Her cage is a C&C cage that is roughly three by two feet and I use linens for bedding.
- I have two overhead heating lamps, the normal cage temperature is between 73-75 degrees.
- I don't have a timed lighting pattern, but I have a standing alarm where I turn the light off between 10pm-10am.
- Skin is good last I checked, but I can't tell right now
- No vomiting, strange movements, or other symptoms

Felony's current status
- Curled up in igloo with fleece, lights and on, and a cage temp of 76 degrees (I'm scared to go below 73)
- Not friendly if woken, quills raised and heavy hissing regardless of what movements or noises I make (she is normally quite friendly)
- Belly feels warm, but she hasn't eaten or drank much


Is she just pissed off about the night's events? Or is something else wrong?


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## tracie (Jun 16, 2010)

Something like this has just happened to me, as well. My hedgehog was cold, so we warmed her up, and then she started eating less, until 2 days ago, when she was out of her igloo in the middle of the day, just looking at me. I picked her up, and she was scrambling to get down. I put her down again, and she did the same thing, so I put her in the top level of her cage, and she ran into her igloo. Then later that night, she was just laying on her side next to her litter box. I took her to the ER. They kept her overnight, and ran some tests on her. Nothing showed up on her urinalysis, they couldn't get blood from her, her teeth were fine, and on her x-ray, they found some gas bubbles in her intestines. They thought it might have been blockage, but the gas bubbles moved. So the vet doesn't know what it is, why she's acting like this, and why she's not eating. Every time I pick her up, she desperately tries to escape like I'm torturing her. So I'm kinda wondering about this too, and what I should be doing for my hedgehog. Is this a sickness from the hibernation, or maybe did I give her bad chicken?

I would say, keep an eye on your's, and don't let her not eat right for very long- take her to the vet. Hedgehogs are so small that it takes them a shorter time to get very sick, and if she's not eating, it's probably a good indication she's getting sick.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

How is Felony acting today? If she isn't eating/drinking or behaving normally, get her in to see a veterinarian. Hibernation attempts can cause their immune systems to slow and they can become sick quite quickly.


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## Mcericville (Apr 20, 2011)

I took her to the vet, but they couldn't find anything wrong. She's a little better, but she's still a little less active and she's ignoring her mealworms now. It's all very strange


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