# Cool belly, warm temp



## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

Petunia didn't leave behind much poop last night, and ate less than usual (all of her mealies and crickets are gone, of course). I picked her up, and her belly was cool. Her temp is always between 76 - 80 and she's never had a hibernation attempt in these conditions. Any ideas why she seems cold? I have her sleeping in my palm inside a hedgie bag on my lap right now.

Stats:

- How old is your hedgehog?
8 months old
- How long have you owned your hedgehog?
6 months
- Has there been any changes in the 2-3 weeks prior to the symptoms starting, such as, you on vacation, hedgie cared for by someone else, new cage, different cage location etc 
No
- What is the temperature of the hedgehogs cage? 
77
- What is the lighting schedule?
7 am - 8 pm
Please add dates that symptoms occurred such as, Aug 11 green poop. August 13 diarrhea plus vomiting
April 28 (today) cool belly

Weight
392 g
Do you weigh regularly? If so, how much has hedgie lost or gained over X number of days.
Weigh almost daily, has steadily increased weighed; 10 grams per week (seems to be going through a growth spurt)

Poop
normal size and texture

Urine
normal

Nose
sneezing - only does it when poking nose into fleece (burrowing)
Mucous - clear liquid
Licking nose? No more than typical

Breathing
normal

Eating
less than normal
- How many kibble per day? normally around 2 tablespoons, last night less than one plus 4 crickets, 2 mealies
- Any difficulty crunching food? No
- Has there been a new food or treat recently and if so, how long ago? Was this one time, or given daily? Nothing new
- Is the water the same as usual? same

Skin
Scratching – rarely
Dry skin – not really
Sores – none
Rash – none
Quills - no quill loss

Vomiting 
none

Activity
seems a bit lethargic this morning

Meds
none


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## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

Also, she likes to burrow under her liner, and I've often wondered if the canvas bottom of the cage was making her cold. Maybe?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Have you turned the ac on? Ac that reads 77 will still feel colder than it reads. So in the summer, since my boy is used to 75, I have the ac at 80. Though having a che setup would help with this, but you may have larger fluctuation of temperature at places further from the lamp. 
Have you checked for drafts? Again it's getting to be ac season, so there may be more drafts you didn't encounter in the winter.


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## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

Immortalia said:


> Have you turned the ac on? Ac that reads 77 will still feel colder than it reads. So in the summer, since my boy is used to 75, I have the ac at 80. Though having a che setup would help with this, but you may have larger fluctuation of temperature at places further from the lamp.
> Have you checked for drafts? Again it's getting to be ac season, so there may be more drafts you didn't encounter in the winter.


Actually we're going through a cold spell in Indiana, so the heat has been on. When we do turn the A/C on, we close the vent located in the bedroom with Petunia. Since we have that vent open with the heat on, I wonder if the air is creating a draft near her cage... but how else can I heat that room? Her cage has two CHE lamps, and fleece lining the walls.

I might try to see if I can get that vent to angle the air pointing a different way.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Laying on a plastic floor will not make them cool, unless they are heading towards cool anyways, and then the cooler floor certainly won't help. For a normal, healthy hedgehog, the plastic, or canvas floor will not make a difference. Are you certain there wasn't a dip in her cage temperature? 

Just because she was fine at those temperatures in the past, sometimes they become more temperature sensitive as they age. I've had a few who as babies were just fine but once they reached adult, they became temperature sensitive. We like to think that 77 is a good temperature for all hedgehogs but some need it that warm plus a heating pad. 

Cool belly usually means less eating, less eliminating and lethargic. 

Everything you have written seems fine except that she is cool. It may be that she has reached an age where she needs more warmth, or she may be getting sick but not enough yet to show other symptoms. 

You could try turning her temperature up a couple degrees and see if that helps, or try a heating pad under the cage in the spot she sleeps. Wrap the heating pad in a towel so it is only slightly warming the floor of the cage. 

Hopefully with a bit more heat, she will be fine.


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## Sar-uh (Sep 6, 2011)

Nancy said:


> Are you certain there wasn't a dip in her cage temperature?


Sometimes during the night I will wake up to find that her cage temp is slightly below 76, though before now she has always tolerated it. I will try keeping her cage on the warm side, and look into getting a good heating pad for her at night (the one I have now has auto shut-off after an hour).

Thanks for the advice. It's so troublesome to find a cold hedgie


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It may be that she is one of those hogs that is sensitive to sudden temperature drops, even though the drop is not below a temperature that she tolerates. Our Emma was like that. If the temperature dropped slowly over a few days, she was fine, but if it dropped suddenly as in overnight, she'd be cool.


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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Hmm, my hedgehog (3 months old) had something similar happen today. He was fine this morning, I came home from work and the house temperature was 80, his cage temp was 82, and the air conditioner's vent is on the floor several feet from his fleece-wrapped cage. His belly was cooler than usual, and after about an hour of cuddling on my belly hasn't changed significantly. He's wiggling around trying to get comfortable every time I twitch, which is normal. I'll be turning up his thermostat a little, just in case. Is there anything else I can do?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Another thing to check is light schedule - it's starting to get closer to when the days get shorter, and a hibernation attempt or cool belly can come from not having quite enough light. They need 12-14 hours, and it's usually best achieved with a separate light near your hedgehog's cage or on the cage. A lot of people use a timer (cheap to buy at a store like Walmart, around $5-10) to make sure the light goes on/off at regular times.

Just make sure the temp stays steady otherwise, and his light is good and keep an eye on him. Does he feel clammy or just cool? If his belly doesn't go back to warm, or if he gets worse, it might be cause for a call to the vet, in case it's a symptom of illness. That's good that he's acting normal otherwise though. Keep us updated!


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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Hmmm. I brought him upstairs to the unairconditioned part of the house, where it is 92, and his belly is still cool and now clammy - I'm assuming sweat, but why isn't he any warmer?

He hasn't pooped on me all day, which is completely unusual for him.

He does have a steady day/night cycle with a lamp on his cage. He gets handled everyday around 10pm, and gets a foot bath after I wake up (6:45 on weekdays, usually around 7:30 on weekends) followed by a cuddle. If I get home early in the afternoon I will usually take him out for another cuddle and do something quiet while he naps. I'm kind of freaked out. I'm going to go back downstairs, where the temperature is around 80, in case he's too hot and therefore sweating. I just don't understand what could be wrong! Even if I turn his heat lamp up to 77, the temperature in his cage read 82! Should I turn it up that high?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Hm. I'm wondering if it might actually be estivation then - he's too warm and his body temperature has lowered to compensate for it. Try lowering his cage temperature (slowly) to 78-80 and see how he does. I wouldn't do anything to actively cool him at this point, since that can easily backfire, but lower the general temperature around him and see if he improves. If you start your own thread (and give the background that you gave here), you may get more answers & notice as well.


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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice, Lilysmommy. If he still feels cool this evening, I'll post a thread. He warmed up and I put him back in his cage to sleep undisturbed. It's still reading ~82 in there, unfortunately our air conditioner is set at 80, the real temp is around 81, and it's usually a degree or two hotter in his cage. He has gone up to 86 before without problems, but that doesn't mean this couldn't be the cause.

He's been having some green poop/reduced poop volume the past two days, which I assumed were due to a new treat I introduced. He's also been sleeping off and on under his wheel, I assumed that was because he is a hedgehog and he does what he wants. He's also been super grumpy the past two mornings. I wrote all this off as maybe not feeling so well because the new food didn't agree with him. 

So I really (clearly) don't know what to make of this, he's never felt cool to me before, but he was squirming as always, huffed when I woke him as usual, no lethargy or wobble. What the heck, pig?!?!?!


ETA: also, he was lying half on the plastic bottom of his cage, half on his fleece liner. He does that a lot, because he likes to dig at the liner, so I don't know if it was heat related.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

They can definitely be a mystery! I'm sorry he's giving you so much worry...Hopefully it's all just coincidence. If he still seems to be off tomorrow or the next day, it might be worth a vet visit...But it can be so hard to tell sometimes. Nancy's the resident health expert, and personally I'd trust her advice (or Kalandra or Nikki) over anyone else on the site, probably. If you are still concerned, I'd see if she pops up to offer her opinion, or start a new thread or something.  Keep us updated with how he's doing too!


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## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Thanks! Will definitely post updates. Ah, how these hedgies like to keep us guessing. I am hoping one day he will settle down and I will be able to go several months without going "AH, WHAT IS THIS, IS HE OKAY?" 

I was so grateful when he started pooping brown poop on me again, and now it looks like that was a short-lived victory. BLEH.


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