# Heavy breathing, not moving



## HickuptheHedgie

Hello, I have an albino hedgie who's over 4 now. I am at home in Ontario for the next two days and my hedgies are being looked after by my room mate in Quebec. She just called me to let me know she went to go feed Luna and she is breathing hard, spiked up in a ball and not moving very much and refuses to eat. I do not know if it's attempted hibernation or something else, and cannot fully understand the symptoms as I'm not there.
I can't bring her to to the vet currently, as I am far away and can not ask my room mate to do that. I also do not have the money as I brought her to the vet a few months ago which I still have not recovered fully from financially.
I just want opinions on what could be wrong/solutions...

Just a little history: She has a lump on her right side and I brought her to the vet. She has hyperplasia (all her teeth on the right side are covered by gums) He removed some but said removing any more would be risky as she is a 'senior' and since it is not blocking air pathways and she is not in pain it is not worth the big surgery.
I feed her soft food twice a day because of this, and keep an eye to make sure it doesn't get bigger (it hasn't)
I do not think it could be related to this, but wanted to throw it out there. 
Any help would be awesome! I am so worried as I cannot be there with her right now and feel bad putting this burden on my worried room mate, especially on Thanksgiving.


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## Lilysmommy

Ask your roommate what the temperature is in the cage. Does Luna get a light schedule of 12-14 hours of light every day? Can your roommate pick her up and see if she feels cold to the touch? If she does, it's a hibernation attempt and she needs to be warmed up. I'm guessing your roommate would be adverse to sticking Luna under her shirt (my favorite method), so the best way would be to put her on a heating pad set on low and keep a close eye on her. Make sure she knows not to put Luna in water - that will make things worse. If there's no heating pad, she could try putting towels in a microwave or dryer to warm them up and wrap Luna in them. Just make sure to keep changing them out with new warm towels. 

It's very hard to tell just by internet if it's a hibernation attempt or something different, especially since you don't know symptoms for sure either, but that'd be my first guess. 

If Luna's not cold and it doesn't seem to be hibernation, see if your roommate can give her a physical exam - see if she can get her to unball and check her eyes, try and encourage her to walk to see if she will or can, or if she shows any shakiness or reluctance/failure to use any limbs. See if she can get Luna to bite on something or open her mouth to see if anything's blocking her airway. 

Honestly, if it's not a hibernation attempt and she doesn't improve, the only other thing I can tell you is that a vet is probably the best solution...Internet advice can only do so much.  Keep us updated and I hope it's only a scary hibernation attempt...


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## HickuptheHedgie

I'm not sure what the temperature is and do not know how to measure it. I was worried about it being cold, so I told her to keep it on the highest temp while I was gone just to be sure. 
There is also a heating pad in the cage and she has been on it the whole time, so not sure why she would attempt hibernating but feel as if she has trouble regulating her temperature sometimes.
My room mate did say she felt cold. She would not want to put her under her shirt, but put up the temperature on the heating pad and put her in layers of blankets on the heating pad and said she'd get back to me soon.
I will keep you updated, but it's getting late and I'm sure my room mate will want to sleep soon. I've tried instructing her on what to do, but she seems like she'd rather not be dealing with the situation, which is understandable. I would have rather she kept her with her out of the cage, but oh well.
I did ask her to check her mouth at the beginning, and she said it seemed fine. If it is a hibernation attempt and she gets better, what should she do after? Just keep an eye on her/keep the temperature up and the heating pad on until I get back?
Also, usually my light is on at least 10-12 hours a day, but I think she might be keeping it off while I'm gone (not sure)

Also, once she becomes responsive, would force feeding her soft feed and water be a good idea? One time she almost died because we didn't realize she wasn't eating/drinking (I was at school in Montreal and the hedgies stayed with my mom in Ontario for a few months until I got an apartment where they could join me) and when my mom picked her up she acted like she was dying, so she warmed her up and force fed her food and water and that saved her.


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## Lilysmommy

It's best to have a digital thermometer to be able to keep track of temperature. It's important to keep the temperature between 73-80* and it needs to stay steady - should only fluctuate 2-3 degrees at most. Heating pads are not the best sole heating source - it's entirely possible that it caused the hibernation attempt, if she left the heating pad and went into the cooler air in her cage. The whole cage needs to have the air heated. The best ways to do that are with the central heating, a space heater, or a CHE set up.

All of this doesn't help now - it's for the future. She's definitely in an attempt if she's cold. It's a shame your roommate won't keep a closer eye on her... :/ She needs to stay warmer for the next week or so, when she has more of a chance of attempting hibernation again. See if she can check on her again every 10 minutes or so for the next hour - she should hopefully be warm again by then. The best thing for your roommate to do until you get back would probably be to keep the temperature up, at least around 75*, higher if that's what it normally is. Make sure she's keeping the light on as well.

When are you going to get back? Is there any way you can get back sooner? She needs more of a heating set up and a thermometer in the cage, as soon as you can get them.


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## HickuptheHedgie

Hello, I got a call from my room mate a little while ago. Luna passed away.

I have had her for 3 years now, and had another before her. I also still have another named Snowflake, and did a lot of research on hedgie care. I never had trouble with temperature. I did not know you should have a digital thermometer but have always kept the room extremely warm and never felt it was too cool for them. I did not just use the heating pad, that was added as a precaution but had central heating until I got my new apartment but I still have heating. (Furnace)

I do not think she died from trying to hibernate at this point. My room mate had checked on her before she left and taken her out earlier that day and she seemed fine then, although I'm not sure is she was acting different as my room mate did not really know what to look for.
I am assuming it was due to old age (she was also never very healthy and always had health issues)
I guess I would like to think it was due to old age, I do not want to start blaming my room mate for not checking on her/the heat as she was kind enough to offer to take care of them in the first place.
She made a few weird noises a few days ago before I left- not sure if that was a symptom of something, but I checked on her after she made the noise and she was fine, although a few days before that she had made another weird noise and had some foam around her mouth (what she would get from licking a lot or anointing. I checked on her and she was fine, alert, moving, and eating so I passed it off as a lot of saliva or anointing.

The only concern of mine now is my other hedgie Snowflake. They shared a cage and they were close. I'm not sure how she will take her absence. 

Thank you for your help and feed back. I'm mainly upset now that I could not have been there with her while she passed away, as she only liked being handled by me. I also feel as if I might have been able to help more if I had been there. If it was something as trivial as her being cold I definitely would have been able to prevent her death.


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## Lilysmommy

I'm so sorry.  Hibernation attempts can sometimes be symptoms of illness, so it's possible she could've had other things going on and the attempt was just the last straw. I'm sorry you weren't able to be with her...but I'm sure she's at peace now. *hugs* I'll be keeping you and Snowflake in my thoughts.


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## abbys

I'm sorry about your little one.  Don't be hard on yourself - you loved her and gave her the best life possible. *Hug*


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## SiouxzieKinz

There is never an opportune time for crossing over the rainbow bridge. I'm sorry you are dealing with a loss - keeping you and your current hedgie in my thoughts.


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