# Urgent Help Needed, Heavy Breathing / Gagging / Unactive



## ben1002 (Mar 1, 2014)

Hi, I am extremely woried about my hedgehog, in the past couple of days she has been coming out in the day, and today I have noticed that she is 

Breathing really heavy (You can see her back going up and down but really sudden movements)

When we have her out she is not acting herself. She keeps opening and shutting her mouth like she is gagging.

She seems really unresponsive, if you put her down she doesn't do much and doesn't have any fear, she normally doesn't let anyone near her other than me, but today she is letting everyone pick her up and letting me hold her on the back and rub her belly which she never has let me do previously.

Normally she will not let you touch her head, she will curl up into a ball, but today she is letting me stroke her head as well.

Also, I believe she has not been going on her wheel and I haven't really heard her out lately. 

The only change I have noticed is normally I keep the tank at about 74 degrees, but about a week ago it spiked up to about 85-90 degrees, quickly sorted it out but still strugling to get the temp down, its at about 80 at the moment but I believe that is fine?

Please help me!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

She's way too warm. You need to get the temperature down further, closer to what she's used to. Is the temperature spike related to weather or something else? If it is, if you have air conditioning, you need to put it on and get the room/tank down to at least 76*. If you don't have air conditioning, try putting a freezer pack or frozen water on a towel on top of the tank to let the cold air sink down - just watch it closely so the temperature doesn't drop too fast and shock her.

If she's still heavily breathing and open-mouth breathing or continually opening & closing her mouth, you may need to get her to a vet so they can safely cool her and support her while they do so.


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## ben1002 (Mar 1, 2014)

Got the temperature down now. She is still like it. Looks kind of like she is straining. I will see how she is in the morning. Unfortunately it's going to be hard to get a vet consultation tomorrow and I'm not aware of any local vets that deal with hedgehogs


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## ben1002 (Mar 1, 2014)

Took her to someone who specialises in hedgehogs this morning. They said she looked like she was trying to regurgitate something and her stomach was swollen. Got her home and she passed away shortly after


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh shoot...I'm so sorry.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

I just wanted to say that I am very sorry for your loss. I am glad you were able to get her to a vet before she passed. It sounds like you were very attentive and I am sure she knew that you cared. May I ask, how old was she? My hedgehog Snoball died when she was 3 1/2 from a blood clot that travelled to her lung. She was acting very much the way you described but she died w/in 5 minutes of this happening. I know you must feel very sad. I hope that you will think of all the good memories and that will make it easier.
Take care,
Susan H.


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