# Clicking and huffing when drinking?



## kris_jprice (Jun 16, 2010)

When Koosh drinks at night, he makes a sort of clicking or popping sound, then it sounds like he is blowing air out of his nose. Almost like he keeps getting water up his nose. He doesn't like me watching him (you know how these little stubborn buddies are!). Has anyone seen/heard this before? It makes me concerned because it seems like it might be causing drinking or breathing problems.


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## nuttynutmeg (Dec 12, 2011)

My Nutmeg does the same thing! Her clicking I kind of take as chirping, which I believe to be happy sounds. The semi-sneezing I wouldn't be concerned about. When my hedgehog drinks, she DRINKS. Fast and a lot at once. My dog does the same thing and then makes sounds like she drank too much too fast. I don't know for sure, but I'm going to guess this behavior is relatively normal.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I would keep a close eye on this... inhaling water can result in pneumonia. Have you tried putting a little less water in the bowl so it isn't as deep? I would try that and see if it helps. You can also call your vet and see what they think about it. I know most vets don't have a lot of experience with hedgehogs as pets so they don't see the things we do day in and day out, but they might know why Koosh does it and if it could potentially result in health issues.


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## kris_jprice (Jun 16, 2010)

It sounds a lot like sneezing. I'm going to upload a youtube video if possible of the sound he's making. I can't take water out of the dish, as it's one of the self-replinishing water dishes. I would like to get something lower to the ground for him. 

I used to put his food in a little bowl and had ever since day one, but I've noticed that he flips over the food bowl, so I don't use the bowl anymore and, instead simply leave the food on the ground as this seems to be what he was trying to do anyway. This could probably also help with whatever balance/standing issue he seems to be having.

Does anyone think having a bowl lower to the ground would help?

Another theory I'm having is that our water in Rutherford county, TN is very hard and there is a pretty thick white ring in his food bowl (and any dishes that go through the dishwasher). Could the type of water he's drinking be having this effect on him?

Again, it's very much like sneezing. a "pffft, pfffft" sound. It wakes me up almost every night, and there's little I can do since I don't have a night vision camera, and anytime I get up to try and see what he's doing, he hears me and runs off.


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## ashh51191 (Dec 23, 2011)

i'm not personally sure if if will effect him in a bad way but you might want to give him filtered water just in case all those minerals may upset his belly.


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