Really Cold Hedgehog. Help.

[Bunnygirl]

When I went to feed Aisling my hedgehog tonight I decided to handle her for a while because I hadn't done that today. Last night I finally got around to replacing the litter in her cage with a fleece bottom like she has in the cage she came with. Well, last night when she settled into sleep, she buried herself between the hard, cold, plastic bottom and the fleece blanket (instead of under or in her hiding place or under the folded part of the fleece). I pulled back the fleece and picked her up. Normally she uncurls immediately and starts sniffing around (she's done that from day one) but instead she stayed curled up. I was a little confused at that point but finally got her to uncurl a little bit before she curled up around my fingers. She was so cold! I couldn't believe it. I have a heater in my room that runs all the time (unless it actually gets hot enough during the summer) and keeps my room between about 70 and 80 (though I try to keep it about 72). The temperature next to her cage was 73 when I was in there with her. I'm always so paranoid that I'm going to do something wrong with my pets and I'd feel horrible if I ever hurt them. I've heard that hedgehogs will try to hibernate if they're too cold and so I try to avoid that (hence the heater). I ended up bringing her to my bed (and switching all of her living supplies to her old cage) and I have her tucked under the covers. I had her walk around earlier and she was shaky and seemed to have a hard time balancing. She also seemed rather groggy. I just picked her up and she seems to be a lot perkier but she's still pretty cold. Is she going to be okay? I've had her for just a few months and I'm very new to hedgehogs. I don't want anything to happen to her and I'm so worried that I did something wrong and that she's not going to be okay. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[GG.]

when you tucked her under the covers, did you mean in her cage?

have you tried warming her up by putting her gently under your shirt, next to your stomach or chest for a little while to warm up from your body heat or have you tried a heating pad on low in half of her cage for a little while?



I don't know that much about hedgehogs but have found a couple of links that may help you a little

from what I read searching links, her behaviour may be from being cold, but after slowly warming her either with body heat or the heating pad on low - you need to stay with her if you put her on the heating pad to monitor her temp - if her symptoms don't go away in about an hour, they all recommend getting in touch with your vet





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Hedgehog Care

Keeping Your Hedgehog Warm

 

[Bunnygirl]

from what I read searching links, her behaviour may be from being cold, but after slowly warming her either with body heat or the heating pad on low - you need to stay with her if you put her on the heating pad to monitor her temp - if her symptoms don't go away in about an hour, they all recommend getting in touch with your vet

Keeping Your Hedgehog Warm

Thank you for your advice and the links. I got her to cuddle up next to a warm rice bag so we'll see how she does.

I do have a heating pad but on the lable it says not to put it under you so I wasn't sure if I should put it under her cage or not.....

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

When I raised Gerbils and guinea pigs, I would keep a warm spot in their cage by putting a heating pad under half of their cage (sitting the cage on the heating pad. I put a piece of plywood down on the table, then the heating pad and then the cage on top of it. If the rodents were cold, they could go to the warm part of the cage and if they were too warm, they stayed in the cooler part. This was in the 1970s and 1980s before all these neet cage warmers we have today, when I lived with my parents in a house with an unreliable coal fired furnace. Worked great with the heating pad control on low for the animals.

There are now electric hot rocks and roosts, etc you can buy to help keep an animal warm, but if I have a cold/sick bird I use my aquarium and my Avi-temp panel and that works great. Again, the panel is only over half the aquarium and the bird can move away from the heat if they wish. Much safer.

 

[Bokkapooh]

I would defintely use a heating pad or heat lamp. Make sure they are running properly and you check the area where they are at to make sure its not scorching hot.

 

[Bunnygirl]

Okay, so I've done a bit of looking on the internet and on the warnings on the heating pads and it doesn't sound like it's a good idea to put tha under the cage since it's made for humans. Having used heating pads before, do you think it'll be okay to use it temperarily?

 

[HungryBird]

Can you snuggle her in your shirt or sweater for a bit and see if it makes her feel better? Never had a hedgehog before so I don't know too much about them. I do know that there are safe ways to heat her but you have to buy something specifically made for pets. What about those heating rocks?

 

[Chantilly Lace]

It sounds like she is in hibernation, which can be deadly.

Do you have a heating pad for her? They always need a heating pad under half of their cage. Get the cheaper ones, they are the ones that usually stay on if the power goes off, the more expensive ones seem to shut off and need re-setting.

<7.3> Is he just asleep or hibernating?

I would get her to the vet if I were. Hedgehogs can die from hibernation.

 

[Danita]

There is another message board
chins and hedgies, it is fairly active.

 

[Bunnygirl]

Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice.

She seems to be doing much better. She's warmed up and perky again. I'm going to go to a pet supply store A.S.A.P. and get a good heating pad for her.

 

[Bunnygirl]

There is another message board
chins and hedgies, it is fairly active.

Oh. I didn't know that. Thanks, I'll go look into that.

 

[GG.]

glad to hear she is better this morning

 

[Birdiemarie]

So glad to hear she is doing better this morning.

 

[Chantilly Lace]

Be ware about that chins-n-hedgies forum. They can be pretty rude and awful more often than not, I used to be a very active member there for years and years, but the way they treat new members and breeders is terrible so I left. Just an FYI! No harm in lurking though! Hedgehog central has some good information.

 

[coral]

i have no clue but we have hedgehogs in my animal care program and my teachers are all vets so i could ask them!