# Please help! No idea what to do about hedgehog



## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

I've had my two year old hedgehog for about 2 months now and I'm worried about him. First of all he never lets me pick him up without me getting bitten and I don't know what to do about it. He just nips me quickly and then rolls back into a ball. I can't even walk near him without him curling up in a ball huffing. At first I was using garden gloves to pick him up, but now I realize he doesn't like them so I stopped using them, but he still bites me. Hard. The biggest reason I'm concerned is that for the past couple of days he hasnt been eating much or at all or running on his wheel. Last night he didn't poop or run on his wheel. I have fleece blankets which he sleeps in and he hasn't come out from there (as far as I can tell) in more than 24 hours. He sleeps a ton usually, but more lately than normal. I really don't know what to do because I can't pick him up to check on him and when I put my hand in his cage today like I've done countless other times he tried to bite me hand. I could really use some advice from someone who is more experienced with hedgehogs than I am. Please!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

What's the temperature in his cage? Do you have a heating set up and a light schedule for him? He needs a temperature between 73-78*, kept steady, and 12-14 hours of light during the daytime, around the same times each day. It sounds like he's too cool and attempting hibernation.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

The room is probably at about 70, but I think it might get colder during the day because no one is home to make sure that it stays warm in the house. We usually open the blinds at 6am and close them at 6pm. What about his usual biting though? Even when he seems perfectly healthy he seems to bite me for no good reason..


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## ajweekley (Aug 8, 2013)

70 is too cold. Colder than that is DEFINITELY too cold. Warm him up pronto. You can't deal with the biting or anything else until he's warm enough to keep from hibernating.


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## ajweekley (Aug 8, 2013)

And by "pronto," I mean NOW. Not tomorrow. Not trying to sound harsh, but the longer you wait the worse off he's going to be. If you have a space heater, get it and warm up his room. If you don't, get him a heating pad of some sort, whether that's a hand-warmer wrapped in a towel, or an electric blanket, or something. And hold him and warm him up. And then get a space heater or a CHE first thing in the morning, if you can't get one tonight.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

Trying putting a tshirt that smells like you (sleep in it first) in the cage, so he associates your smell with home and comfort. Also, be sure your hands aren't scented with soaps and lotions, they have very sensitive noses and scented lotions, perfumes, etc bother them.
You can try talking to him softly before you get him out so he's not startled, have the room lighting dim when you get him and try to do it about the same time every evening. And patience 
Good luck!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

You really need to get him a heating set up then. 70 is too cold, and definitely points towards hibernation attempts. CHE set ups or space heaters are the two main options. There's more information about them both here - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...-heating-your-hedgehog-s-cage-simplified.html CHEs heat just the cage and space heaters heat the whole room. I would also start leaving a light on for him - in most places, the days are getting noticeably shorter about now. Just outside light isn't going to be good enough. Most people just put a light or lamp on a timer (you can get them for $5 at a store like Walmart) to make sure it stays regular.

For short-term help...If he's attempting hibernation, you need to help him out of it. Try picking him up (you can use a fleece blanket or old t-shirt, or something similar to protect your hands) and feel him with your bare hands. If he feels cold, he's attempting hibernation and needs your help now. If he feels warm, he might just be less active due to the cold (but could still attempt hibernation if it's not fixed).

Do you have any kind of heating pad? If he is cold, he needs to be warmed up slowly - no water. Heating pads would probably the best way. I usually like to just stick them under my shirt, but obviously that'd be a bad idea for you guys! If you don't have any kind of heating pads or handwarmers, try microwaving towels and keeping him wrapped up in those until he's warm again. You'll need to warm the house up tonight - like AJ said, either a space heater or turning the house thermostat up will do for now. If he doesn't stay warm (I would aim for at _least_ 74*), he'll continue to try and attempt hibernation - they can die from this, or get a URI (which requires a vet visit to avoid it leading to pneumonia and death).

So the biting...it sounds like he's just having a hard time getting used to you. Do you know what kind of situation you got him from? Was he handled much, or mostly left alone? He might not be very well socialized, which is causing some of the problems. Otherwise, he might just be a hard-to-win-over hedgie. You can use a blanket or t-shirt to pick him up, which might help protect your hands. Make sure you use scent-free soap before you handle him to rule out scent-related bites. Have you ever hand-fed him? That can also cause biting. Otherwise it sounds like he might just be very scared and/or very grumpy. How often do you handle him and how do you do so? How long do you have him out each day?

Sorry for all of the questions! But a better idea of the situation will help us help you both out, hopefully.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

The house usually tends to be at 73 degrees, but lately it's been a little bit colder. I have a space heater that I can start using at least until we turn on the heat in our house. I'm not sure about the old owner, but I know that she only had him for 2 months before she moved and she had to sell him. She said that he doesn't like to be "poked at", but I'm not really sure what she means. It's possible that he just has trust issues because he hasn't stayed in one house for very long so I'm definitely NOT about to get rid of him. I can even live with him biting me, but he deserves to have a consistent home for the rest of his life. Thanks for all the suggestions regarding warming him up. He definitely got up and pooped and ate last night so I think he might be doing a bit better. I had a blanket covering all but the front portion of his cage so that may have been enough to prevent him from getting way too cold. I'll definitely know now when he's getting too cold and needs to be warmed up. Thanks!


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## Chloethehedgie7 (Jul 24, 2013)

At least have the heat on 75. 80 is too much. I see the concern. I have excperienced this before. What has helped is turning the heat up. He is probably in false hibernation. False hibernation is where the hedgehog never comes out of his blankets, never uses his wheel, doesn't eat or drink. So, the room temp is probably the problem. Keep the room on 75, because that will be sure to get him up and going.

Hope this helped,
Katie (ChloeTheHedgie7)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm glad you're so determined to keep him, even if he keeps biting! He's a lucky little guy, and you sound like a great owner for him. 

I would still at least get a thermometer for his cage, just to be sure of the temp in there - it can vary in different rooms of the house, and in different spots in the room. So that'll give you a better idea of his actual temp. Make sure it's a digital one with a probe - they're most accurate. Towels/blankets are great for helping keep heat in the cage, but make sure he's still getting enough light - that's a huge part of preventing hibernation attempts too.

Good luck with working on the biting too! If you're still having trouble in a couple weeks & want to get some more suggestions on things to consider for preventing or avoiding them, you could try looking through similar threads or starting a new thread in the behavior forum. There's been a number of biting threads posted there recently, so you might find some more tips/advice there.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

I finally got him to come out of his blankets and figured out what the bigger problem I was missing was! He had poop on his feet, and lots of it. I gave him a bath tonight and most of the poop is off, but now I'm noticing that there's hairs wrapped around his feet and legs and I can only imagine it hurts  I feel like a terrible pet owner and I don't know what to do to get it off. I have him out and he's running around the room a lot, but his feet still look like they're in bad condition. Our vet isn't open today, tomorrow or the next day. Is there anything I can do for him on my own?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh dear... :? I would see how much you can get off on your own - they really need to come off ASAP. Hedgies have lost their feet due to things like this...Does your vet have any kind of emergency line? Sometimes if you call & wait for the message, they include one in that. Otherwise I'd start calling around to other vets in the area right away, looking for any emergency vets open and get him in ASAP. He's probably going to need to be anesthetized to get them completely off & to assess the damage.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

That's what I'm worried about :/ It`s going to cost me a lot of money, not that I won`t do it because of that. I live in a really small area with only about 2-4 vets in the area and none are open  I read somewhere that you could try using razor blades to cut it off?


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## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

That could be dangerous. Do you have a stitch cutter from a sewing kit?


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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

If you have a problem keeping your hedgie unballed while you do this, put a half-inch of water in your bath tub (warm water!) and try getting them off while he's in there. Safety scissors or child scissors (with blunted ends) would be infinitely preferable to razor blades - hedgies are squirmy!

Do you see any cuts or discoloration of his feet where the hairs are wrapped? Is your hedgie walking okay? Those would be red flag needs-a-vet signs.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Agreed with Zamxonk's suggestions. Depending on how tight the hairs are and how much they cut off circulation, it could be a major problem - he may end up needing amputation, or otherwise infection will set in, make him sick, and he could die. If his skin is discolored, or if they're tight enough that you can see them embedded into the skin or cutting off circulation, he seriously needs a vet ASAP. Get as much off as you can yourself, but if there's more left or any of the problems mentioned, you need to start calling around to all of the vets to check for emergency numbers.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

Well guys, I took him to the vet because we always have one on call in the city. She was able to get the hair off by cutting it and assess the damage. One foot was looking mostly pink, and bleeding a little from where the hair cut in. The other foot wasn't doing as great it was discolored in most places. She gave him antibiotics and ibuprofen and sent him home with me because she didn't want to amputate it just in case it recovers. He can still walk on them and isn't acting lethargic and still eating. I have to give him an epson salt soak twice a day. She said it might come down to aputation and euthanization on the left foot. I'm just wondering if anyone knows of a hedgehog who does well and lives happily with a missing foot? I have a really tough decision to make ad if I know he will be relatively unaffected by a missing foot I'll definitely go through with it.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I would definitely amputate if it comes to a choice between that and euthanizing him. I have seen other threads of 3-legged hedgies on here, and once they get used to it, it doesn't seem to bother them almost at all, from what their owners have said. There's always the chance it'll rebound, so definitely worth a try with treatment first! Good luck and let us know how he's doing. I'm so glad you got him in & checked out. I'll keep fingers crossed for that left foot.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

I have another appointment Tuesday and the vet will either decide that the foot is regaining blood flow and will be alright with antibiotics or that we need to amputate it. Hopefully she would only have to amputate the foot and not the entire leg, but thanks for letting me know he'll do fine without it! His right foot is doing great, apart from a bit of discoloration where the hair was it's nice and pink and healing.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

Cedric is going in for surgery tomorrow morning he needs to have his left foot amputated, but provided that the surgery goes well he's going to be perfectly fine! The vet also said that since he's such a grumpy fiesty little guy he should be fine! Keep him in your thoughts and I'll let you all know how he does!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thank you for the update! I'll keep him in my thoughts tonight and tomorrow for sure. Can't wait to hear how his recovery is going afterwards!


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

I look forward to reading about his recovery!

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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

I dropped him off at the vet this morning and then got a call about an hour later. Once she had him under anesthesia she was able to take a closer look at his foot and noticed that the tips of them were a bit pink. So she decided to try cutting off the dead skin and what was underneath seemed to be alive and full of circulation and just to make sure when she was cutting his nails she intentionally cut them too short to make sure they would bleed. And they did! So Cedric still has 4 feet! Of course there is still a recovery after having had a layer of his skin removed and there's medications to be taken, but she says that he'll be running in no time since he's so feisty and stubborn. Thanks so much for all the advice and for caring about little Cedric! I'll let you all know when his feet are completely healed and how he's doing!


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

That's great news!!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh, that's a fantastic discovery! I'm so glad to hear it.  Can't wait to hear that he's back to running again!


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## grins&needles (Sep 10, 2013)

Doing well at home?

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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

He's doing great! I just let him run around in my room again for the first time and he's so happy. A lot more friendly now, although he still bites unless you've just taken him out of the bath. I'm not sure why, but the bath makes him really gentle! I'm not sure when to give him back his wheel yet, but I know he's not ready for it just yet.


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## Chloethehedgie7 (Jul 24, 2013)

I am so glad he is alright!


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

That is fantastic news. What a great ending. It will remind us all to be vigilant about checking on our hedgies tiny feet! I am so glad Cedric is OK.
-Susan H.


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## purplemurple (Sep 19, 2013)

It's so important! Even just making sure my floor is clean before putting him down there is important to me now! It happened again, but not so severely and this time I was able to get them off immediately and it was a good clue that my floors needed a good cleaning.


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