# Symptom of overheating?



## nexxerus (Mar 9, 2009)

Hello, I'm new to this forum, but I'm glad I made my way here because I have no one with which I can compare hedgehog behavior and the rest of the internet provides only sparse details. 

My hedgehog Isabelle has demonstrated one particular odd behavior a few times. She puts her belly directly on the floor and extends her front limbs all the way forward and her hing legs all the way backward in a superman-like pose. It looks like an EXTREME form of a stretch, however, the first time I saw it I thought she was having a seizure or had lost control of her muscles (as owners you all probably have an idea about how freaked out I was, but my friends were worried I'd truly lost it). 

I've seen her do this about three times and think it occurs when shes in an abnormally warm situation. The most recent occurrence was on an unseasonably warm day here. Id been out and hadn't turned the heat down and it must've gotten around 88ish (which is bad). She was huffing a lot and didn't want to unball. When I took her out and finally got her moving she was acting extremely erratic (think hedgehog panic attack) and repeatedly did her weird superman thing as well as some other strange contortions. I'm convinced she was trying to get her belly as close to the tiled floor as possible in order to cool herself off. But the erratic behavior was unnerving. From what I've read on overheating it resembles a less-severe form of hibernation. I haven't been able to find anything about Isabelle's behavior. I was wondering if anyone could offer any insight or has seen similar behavior in their hogs. 

P.S. Izzy is fine now. She is happy, healthy and enjoying the 77º temperature


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## Reaper (Aug 22, 2008)

Yes this is called "splatting". Hedgies will do this if too warm or sometimes when extremely comfortable. If they splat on you it is a huge sign of trust. Usually if they are too warm they will also have their tongue out and be panting.


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