# Why is my hedgehog acting irritable?



## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

Hey all,
My Elana is about 6 months old, so she's bordering on adult. For the past 2 days she's been pretty irritable. She likes to sleep in my left hand and have my right hand rub her along her quills, but as of the past 2 days, she randomly hisses when I do it. It could be because I'm sick and my heaving breathing is bothering her, but I tried it while holding my breath and I had the same response from her. She also started biting my left hand (which she leans against). I read a post that said it could be something as simple as she was hungry, but she didn't eat. In fact, she hasn't eaten since she got this way. One strange aspect though, is that when I approached her she always hisses and curls up into a ball; but starting today, she hisses once, realizes its me and then just waits for me to pick her up. It's not consistent with the way she's been acting. So I'm stumped.... any suggestions? She's my first and I'm pretty nervous about keeping her healthy, so i could just be acting neurotically (as you guys have probably seen in previous posts' of mine), but I'm just double checking


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

Has she been dropping any quills by any chance? Usually hedgies go through quilling at around 6 months, and some get their final quilling at a year old. Quilling is when a hedgie loses their baby quills and grows their longer, adult quills and determines their final coloring. It's a very painful process that can make a sweet hedgie into a giant grumpasaur. So don't take it to heart if she's grumpy sometimes. If its not quilling, then it could be a random change in routine that shes not happy about, or she could just be having an off day like we all do sometimes.


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## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

I thought it was quilling at first. She looses about 5 a day at max, but I haven't found more than one or two since thursday. I've been taking her out the same amount I normally do during the weekend (2 times a day for about an hour each)


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## reedwoman814 (Mar 4, 2013)

If she's not eating, and acting grumpy, she may be sick. Could she be constipated? Try some pumpkin or squash maybe? Might be time for a vet check.


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## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

She's not constipated, and It's not bad enough for a vet check, It's only been 2 days and it's nothing that poses immediate danger to her


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

If she hasn't been eating for two days, she needs to be syringe fed. Fatty liver disease can start quickly once they stop eating. Count her kibble and if she doesn't eat tonight, then start syringing her first thing tomorrow. Better yet, if you have syringing supplies, syringe her now.


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## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

I'm going to see if she eats tonight. I'm taking a picture of the food dish, and I'll compare it to tomorrow morning. Also, I'll check for extra poops which would prove me wrong. But what could cause the behavioral changes?


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## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

Nancy said:


> If she hasn't been eating for two days, she needs to be syringe fed. Fatty liver disease can start quickly once they stop eating. Count her kibble and if she doesn't eat tonight, then start syringing her first thing tomorrow. Better yet, if you have syringing supplies, syringe her now.


Because of that I just went back to her cage and just put her in front of the food dish and she ate a piece of kibble, so maybe it's just my fault / i'm being incredibly neurotic. And for the third time she didn't curl up when I picked her up  That made my day

I'll still monitor her food intake to see if its substantially less than normal


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## reedwoman814 (Mar 4, 2013)

You should count her kibble or weigh it.


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## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

As I said, I took a picture of it  Thanks


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

A picture isn't going to tell you much. You need to count it.


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## Arksaw (Apr 2, 2013)

She ate last night. I wasn't looking for moved pieces of kibble, I was looking for small crumbs that she leaves around the food dish because she moves around while she eats.


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