# Drastic change in personality...something wrong??



## _gatecrasher_ (May 8, 2009)

I have noticed a DRASTIC change in Olive's personality in the past two days and I'm worried that something is wrong as in, could she be sick? 

Normally, Olive sleeps in her house, comes out for a bite to eat in the evening and otherwise, runs back into the house when she's not doing any of this. 

Last night I cleaned her cage and plopped her in her playpen. When I was finished cleaning, I took her out of the pen and gave her a bath with Johnson's baby shampoo and put some vitamin E oil on her afterwards (she has dry skin). She did NOT like this and balled up. So, I held her in a clean, dry fleece on my lap and she eventually un-balled. She just sat there and let me pet her (which she does do on occasion, but usually gets squirmy and wants to not be held). I then put her back in her cage, realizing that she was probably hungry because I had not seen her eat yet. She took a few bites of food, and instead of typically running back into her house, she hopped on her wheel which I thought was odd. She HATES being watched while she's running and will only run in the dark. And here I was watching her and my living room light was on. Then she hopped off the wheel and walked to the corner of the cage that she usually doesn't go to which is closest to where I sit on the couch. She sat down and just stared at me and sniffed the air. Then, she walked up on top of her house and sat there for about 30 minutes staring into a different corner, which I thought was bizarre. She never does this and I am worried that there could be something wrong because it's so unlike her. :| She eventually went back in her house, but I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and she was sitting back on top of the rock again and this morning it doesn't look like she used her wheel very much last night. She is walking just fine (no WHS symptoms) and her temperature in her cage is 72-76. She is about 4 1/2 months old and I've had her since Mid-May. 

Could she be sick??


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

She may just be getting comfortable enough to wheel in front of you. If you have concerns, count her kibble so you know exactly how much she is eating.


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## _gatecrasher_ (May 8, 2009)

Thanks Nancy. She definitely is eating...she ate her typical half-crock of kibble last night. I know a lot of people get freaked out when their hedgie becomes grumpy...I think I'm the opposite. :lol: Last night Olive went from skittish/shy to being ultra-relaxed and just wanting to sit by herself or sit in my lap - within 24hours!. The only thing that I've done differently lately was give her some plain turkey cold cuts and I did this for maybe three days in a row earlier this week as a treat (she hates crickets and mealies) which she loved. She loved it so much she even let me hand feed her for the first time. Maybe she was expecting treats and therefore was trying to be on good hedgie behavior?  

I'll keep an eye on her just in case.


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