# runny nose and clear mucous



## pixieperf (Apr 19, 2013)

I put this in the respiratory infections section, and no one has responded. -_- Hopefully posting it here will get some kind of attention.

Quilbur was treated for a URI in October, and I'm fearing this might be it again. 

This time, her breathing sounds clear, but she has a pretty bad runny nose (clear mucous) and quite a bit of sneezing (I hear her stop running on her wheel to sneeze all night). We moved to a new apartment about a month ago, so I figured it isn't an environment change, since she's had time to adjust. I'm in the process of transitioning food (to Blue Buffalo). The only other sign I'm seeing is looser than normal poop. It's not runny or anything, just a lot squishier than normal. It's a medium brown color, nothing too out of the ordinary. She is also on fleece liners, but would dirty liners possibly be an issue? I haven't washed them in a couple days.

I want to take her to the vet, but I live in Chicago and it's so incredibly cold out, and unfortunately I don't have a car. I don't want to make it worse for her. But if you guys think she needs help asap, I'm going to find out a way to get her there safely.

Also, she is eating and drinking normally. I actually gave her 10 extra kibble than normal last night so I could try and count how many she ate and she wolfed it all down. So it means she ate 10 of her old kibble and 60 of her new kibble.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

...I just don't have enough health experience to be helpful, aside from bouncing this back to the top of the Active Topics list in the hopes someone with more experience can chime in.

I know some hedgehogs can have very sensitive noses, and develop allergies, so doing laundry and seeing if that helps won't hurt. 

Any new smells in the house? Cleaning supplies? Dust build-up? Anything that she could conceivably be allergic to?

I know URIs can come back, but I don't know under what circumstances, and I don't know how long apart is cause for more substantial concern (like getting nose-cultures done to identify the type of infection) verses just renewing the same medication as before.

One small comment -- generally hedgehogs are free-fed, so if she's eating all the food you put out each night, leave out a little extra so there's some left over.

What's heating & light look like? Has she had any hibernation attempts in the past few months? I know they can have weakened immune systems in the months following an attempt and be more prone to URIs, so it's generally advised to crank the heat a bit higher than normal.


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## pixieperf (Apr 19, 2013)

We've got hardwood floors, so dust buildup is bound to happen. It might be that. I'll be extra thorough when I clean tomorrow.

I'll give her more kibble tonight. It's actually like she's gotten a bigger appetite lately. I used to give her about 50 pieces, and now it's upwards of 70. I'll give her enough to have leftovers tonight!

Heating is always good here. Thank goodness for radiators that never turn off. It stays a solid 78 all winter long. So no hibernation attempts.

I'll just keep a close eye on her to see if anything else happens or worsens. Hopefully it won't stick around!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Don't post threads in multiple locations to get attention. If your first thread does not get attention, try posting a "bump" to it to bring it back to the top of the active threads list. Typically we delete duplicate thread postings.


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