# Can't get up by himself



## Alana (Sep 28, 2011)

Hey everyone, I posted a thread before about Hudson. It has been smooth sailing since then - but I noticed he can't get up by himself. I was checking care guides and I couldn't find much about it, but I remember reading it could be a sign of obesity, but I keep an eye on his weight and he is anything but obese now. since I am no expert on Hedgehogs(although I do know general care), the best I can do is fill out this form and hope some of you guys could give me an idea. I'm thinking it could be fungal infection(from what I've read), but I'm not sure.. he can get up sometimes, but most of the time he needs help getting up. he is a good looking hedgehog, doesn't look to fat or anything. runs all night on his wheel.


- How old is your hedgehog? Please state year plus months as a 3 year 1 month old hedgehog is not the same as a 3 year 11 month old hedgehog.
I can't give you a positive answer as we adopted him, but I believe hes around 2 years 6 months
- How long have you owned your hedgehog?
Roughly 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. well obviously we cleaned out his cage, but we use gentle stuff for that and thats a regular thing.



- What is the temperature of the hedgehogs cage?
- What is the lighting schedule?
I can't answer the above two questions because I didn't know you had to keep track of those at all. we have a book that we got from the old owner that I read through cover to cover, and they made no mention of this. can someone explain how I should give him light etc?

Please add dates that symptoms occurred such as, Aug 11 green poop. August 13 diarrhea plus vomiting
Feb. 20th he couldn't get up, and since we've had him hes had flaky skin.

Weight
Do you weigh regularly? If so, how much has hedgie lost or gained over X number of days.
No we don't. last time I checked he had gone from 800 to about 500 grams(this was over the period of a number of weeks after he received his wheel.)
(My mom literally just weighed him, hes gone up to about 650 grams)

Poop
it all seems to be normal. he doesn't go to the bathroom in his house, his color is fine, but his stench has always been bad. I've been told this is normal for males.

Urine
is all fine.

Nose
He was sneezing an excessive amount last night. it lasted for about 2 minutes before he stopped, but he was also burrowing around in his substrate(when we change his cage we always give him tons of it, it poofs up and he loves to dig around in it) when this happened. his mucus seems to be fine

Breathing
Normal.

Eating
Eats about one bowl of food a day, has no issues eating.

Skin
Scratching – frequent/occasional
Dry skin – large flakes, covered in them
Sores – none
Rash – red/pink skin all over under his flakes
Quills - i haven't noticed any loss at all, so minor if anything.

Activity
Normal. he runs around for about 1/2 an hour at least with the rabbit during the day.

Meds
- Flax seed oil
- Duration was for about 4 weeks, saw little improvement but couldn't keep the dry skin away.
- Never, didn't help.

I've looked into several medications for his dry skin, but flax seed oil seems to be the only stuff people can agree on, so i thought it'd be safe to dry it.. but like i said it doesn't work.

should i be looking into taking him to the vet?


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## Nicole753 (Dec 16, 2011)

My initial worry is the heating/lighting schedule. Do you know what the heat in the room is at? Hedgehogs need to be kept at around 75F, but this can fluctuate between 73 and 78F. Also, hedgie's need 12-14 hours daylight and the rest of the time dark. If the room has been too cold, then your hedgehog may have been trying to hibernate, in which case you need to warm him up immediately, but not too quickly - using body heat is a good way to do so - and then monitor him because odds are he is going to try hibernating again. This can also happen if the lighting schedule is off.

Here is the thread about heating the cage: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4579
Keeping a lighting schedule is as easy as having a desk lamp on a timer beside the cage.

It also sounds like your hedgie has dry skin. Though I don't believe this is causing his mobility problems, flax seed oil works wonders - use the capsules, and sprinkle some of it onto his food and it'll help his skin to be less dry.

Hope you can figure out what is going on, and hope this helps a bit!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I agree, my first concern is the temperature. Get a thermometer in his cage and see what the temperature is. Is his belly cold? If it's cold, or he's a bit wobbly on his feet, those are both signs of a hibernation attempt and he needs to be warmed up. Many books out there don't have correct information and are outdated, so they're not a good thing to depend on.

If he doesn't seem to be hibernating and the temperature and everything is fine, or if he doesn't improve upon warming him up and monitoring the temperature in his cage, there may be something else wrong. With not being able to get up being the main symptom, there's a LOT of things it could be, so the more information you can give, the better. How's his walking? Does he seem to be walking strange at all? Does he seem to struggle as he tries to get up, fall over at all, or does he not even try unless he has help?

What kind of bedding do you have him on? From your description, it sounds like you're using Carefresh or something like it? Carefresh is very dusty and drying, so that may be a major contribution to his dry skin. A lot of people on here prefer to use fleece or fabric liners, either made yourself or bought from someone on here - we have a lot of people that make awesome liners. If you get the bedding out of the equation, flaxseed oil may do more for helping his skin.

One more question, just wanted to check since your previous information came from a hedgehog book...What kind of food do you have him on? A lot of books and such will still recommend hedgehog foods, but most of them out there are no good, and some are even harmful.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

There is a lot that can be wrong if he can't get up on his own. I'd be most worried he's not able to get adequate food and water on his own if he can't get up. 

I would suggest a vet visit so you can make sure he's not dehydrated or going into fatty liver disease if he hasn't been able to eat right and to of course find out the reason he can't get up.


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## Alana (Sep 28, 2011)

Hello everyone! Thanks for the great responses.

We moved Hudson right next to the lizards cage(we have him in an area with the bearded dragon, guinea pigs and rabbits) so he has her lights shining on his cage as well. He's lit up for around 14 hours... The house doesn't drop below 59F on most nights, but now that we know he needs it Warner we will keep it warmer in the house. Of course we are in a old house and we have Canadian weather, but if it's to cold we are usually up to warm up animals, so he doesn't stay cold for to long.
We are using care fresh. I told my mom about that last night and we will be sure to start making some liners! Thanks for the info .
He's on store bought hedgehog food. If this isn't the proper diet, any links to where I could find a diet? Special diets are no issue..we have so many animals on them there like part of our daily lives .


EDIT: I just read that thread and I am absolutely furious that the book did not include that! 
I will be getting a space heater set up for this evening and I'll try to find a thermometer ASAP.

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


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## coribelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Hedgehog foods aren't typically recommended because they seem to be like the "junk" food of the hedgie world - all fillers and nothing nutritious 
Most people here on the forum feed a mix of one to three different kinds of higher quality cat food. There is a great sticky with all kinds of information regarding it:
http://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

From there you should be able to figure out what is available to you and what you might like to feed your baby


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