# Hedgehog isn't eating



## musical2one (Nov 28, 2011)

So, she didn't eat her food last night. I have noticed she has been eating less and less each night. I am setting her up for a vet visit tomorrow if she does not eat tonight. I turned the heat on just encase she wasn't eating because she was too cold. She has not gone into hibernation or anything, but my roommate had the A/C on at 68 degrees and it was a cold night. Could that be the problem? I am going to go make her a bunch of blankets tonight.


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2012)

The temperatture should be 70 degrees minimum ideally higher 72-76 for most hedgehogs. 

Do you have a thermometer in the cage?
and does her belly feel warm or cold?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sounds like she's too cold, even if she's not to the point of a hibernation attempt yet. Being at too cool of a temperature is still dangerous, even without an attempt, because prolonged exposure can still lead to a URI and/or pneumonia. Vet visit won't hurt, but personally I'd wait a couple nights and get the heat up for her cage. It should be at least 72 or 73 degrees, and most people tend to go with 75 for a good temperature until they see whether their hog needs it warmer or prefers it cooler. It sounds like you can't rely on keeping the room/house to a safe temperature (with a roommate), so I'd suggest getting a heating set up for her room or cage. Space heaters will keep the whole room to the right temperature, and CHE setups will keep just her cage to the right temperature. There's more information on both here - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4579 I'd suggest saving the money on the vet visit for now and spending it on a CHE set up and thermometer for her cage to keep her warm. You may also want to syringe-feed her tomorrow if she doesn't eat much tonight with the temperature back up. Once they don't eat for awhile, their stomach starts feeling icky and makes them less likely to eat, which just gives a downward spiral. For syringe-feeding, you can just crush up her normal kibble and mix it with baby food (chicken, turkey, sweet potatoes, and peas are all common favorites) and syringe it to her. Hopefully she'll eat on her own tonight though, if you get the heat back up. Keep us updated!


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## musical2one (Nov 28, 2011)

So, my baby girl is eating again and she is active again ( I heard her playing all night last night). Apparently the cold nights where I live have stopped for at least the time being, so it is warmer again. And my roommate knows about her having that problem, so we're keeping temperature at 74 degrees in the entire condo, which I do not mind at all. I hate temperatures at 68 degrees and below. So she is doing better, and I made her a bunch of blankets that she can sleep and cuddle under for random cold nights. I picked her up in one of them and she took a nap with me on my bed for like 15 minutes. So cute!!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

musical2one said:


> So, my baby girl is eating again and she is active again ( I heard her playing all night last night). Apparently the cold nights where I live have stopped for at least the time being, so it is warmer again. And my roommate knows about her having that problem, so we're keeping temperature at 74 degrees in the entire condo, which I do not mind at all. I hate temperatures at 68 degrees and below. So she is doing better, and I made her a bunch of blankets that she can sleep and cuddle under for random cold nights. I picked her up in one of them and she took a nap with me on my bed for like 15 minutes. So cute!!


Glad she's doing better! You really need to have another source of heat for her though, if there IS the probability of cold nights bringing the temperature down. Blankets aren't going to help her much since if she's warm under there and not warm elsewhere in the cage, she'll be discouraged from coming out to eat, drink, and run. If she does decide to come out, then going from warmth to cold could also trigger a hibernation attempt. Sometimes hedgies will get more sensitive to temperature changes and low temperature as they get older, so even if it' doesn't have a huge effect on her right now, she could start having issues with it at some point in the future.


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