# Attempting to Hibernate



## nougat (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm worried my hedgie is attempting to hibernate. I've had her for about a week and she's not eating, she does drink some water. All she wants to do in her cage is sleep. When I take her out, she seeks out corners, blankets, things to curl up in and go back to sleep. 

She's comes alive when it's pitch dark in her room - because I can hear her. So maybe I need to work on her day/night cycle and investing in some lighting?


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## funkybee (Mar 27, 2009)

Is she a baby because they sleep A LOT when they're young. I only ever got a few minuites of "awake" time when I first got Milo, usually he spent our bonding time asleep on my lap. :lol: And a lot of hedgies won't come out unless it completly dark. If she is up at night and responds when you handle her (even if its to find somewhere to fall back asleep) she is probably not trying to hibernate. But I would be concerned if she is not eating, perhaps you should count her kibble to see just how much she IS eating each night. What are you feeding her?


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Hedgies are nocturnal and baby hedgies sleep alot more than adults. Hedgies need aprox. 12 hours of light a day and you should keep the same routine daily,for instance I turn the lights on in my hedgie room at 7:00 am everyday and I turn the lights off at 8:00 p.m.


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## nougat (Jun 3, 2010)

She's six months. Her last owner was feeding her sunseed. From what I've heard she would gobble it down. I don't know, she might be a little sick, when I got her she was in a fish tank with pine shaving that were damp with water and there was mold growing with some small bugs.



> I turn the lights on in my hedgie room at 7:00 am everyday and I turn the lights off at 8:00 p.m.


I'm definitely going to start doing this. I've been taking her out at 8pm every night too.


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## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

What's your temp set at for her house? 

She might still be adjusting to the different temperature of her new house.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

She's probably adjusting to new surroundings. When she gets more comfortable she may even come out in dim lighting (instead of just in no light) If you count and discover she is actually not eating it would be a good idea to put some kibbles or her whole dish in her bed/hiding place. Sometimes they prefer to be covered up while they eat, especially in a new place when they feel shy.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Is she still being fed sunseed? If so is it mixed with dry cat food?


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Have you done a vet check-up yet?


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## nougat (Jun 3, 2010)

It was 81 this morning. I tried once putting her bowl under her blanket with her but she ended up using it as a litter box. 

Her food isn't mixed, but I could try mixing her food with cat food.

I'm strongly considering going to vet, I don't know what else to do besides syringe feeding her. Which I might just try today.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Most people here feed a mix of three quality cat foods,sunseed is a crappy hedgehog food.
If your hog will not eat you could try getting some Royal Canin Babycat 34,it is very small in size and hedgies love it.


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## funkybee (Mar 27, 2009)

I recently bought some sunseed for Milo and mixed it in with his cat food...he won't touch it. He will eat all the cat food around it and I'm left with a bunch of sunseed at the bottom of the bowl every morning. He goes nuts for now!(turkey and duck) though he gobbles those kibbles up like they were mealworms :lol:


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## nougat (Jun 3, 2010)

Mixing her food with cat food and syringe feeding her worked out great. When I went to store asking for syringes, they gave me three small ones for free - I thought that was pretty cool. I got turkey, sweet potatoes and squash baby food, and some all natural wet cat food - I forget the brand. She loves it.

Thanks for all the help and advice, she's going to plump up real fast.


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Glad to hear she's doing better  You will want to take her to the vet for an initial health check up anyways. And it probably wouldn't hurt to have the vet listen to her lungs, sounds like she was living in some nasty conditions before. That plus the stress of moving to a knew home could result in a URI so initial health checkups are always a good idea when you first get a hedgie. Plus that way you know your vet and know whether or not you have a good one, and believe me it's better to find out now than it is months down the road when something big goes wrong.

Congrats on your new hedgie and I hope she continues to improve


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