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New hedgehog acting a bit strange

2K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  stringmouse 
#1 ·
Hi there! I just got my baby on Sunday, and brought him home~ He's been pretty anti-social, doesn't seem to really be eating or drinking, and doesn't seem to be soiling his cage. I found one solitary piece of waste on his wheel, but other than that, I have no signs that he's been wheeling. He's still very hissy and prickly when I try to get him out of his cage, but I definitely understand that this is all normal.

Tonight however, he's acting really weird. I took him out for a bit of playtime and he was really reserved, more so than usual. Again, I understand he's getting used to me, so this is totally normal. I put him back in his cage, on his wheel, and he just sat there. Over the next 30 minutes, he inched towards the side of the wheel.

Now he's laying in his litter, on his side, his belly facing the edge of the pan. This seems odd D: Should I be worried ;-;?
 
#2 ·
What temperature is his cage at? It sounds like he could be too cold. Is his belly cool to the touch? Try cuddling him against your stomach (under your shirt) to see if he perks up from the body heat.
 
#4 ·
This doesn't sound normal.
Do you have a lighting schedule?
Is it completely dark at night?
How old?
Has he been eating at all? Drinking? If not, he's getting to the point where fatty liver disease could start setting in, and you'll have to syringe feed him, and syringe him water as well, as dehydration is dangerous for babies.

Can he walk at all? Movement in his legs?
It may be wise to call the vet in the morning. When a prey animal flops to their side and not move, especially in a new environment, with a (dangerous) human looming over them, he should have scurried. Prey animals scurry and hide as quickly as possible, usually, though some do "play dead". Turn off all the lights, don't make a sound, and see if he scurries and moves. If not, I would definitely call the vet in the morning.
 
#5 ·
He has the lights on from 2 pm to around 1-2 am. At night, it's totally dark. At dawn, the shades are shut still, so not much light gets in!

He's about 3 months old, I think :)

No eating that I can see, he took a few sips of water the other night.

I'll try to get him up and see if he can walk. I shall return in a bit with the results.
 
#6 ·
Lights out at 2am may be cutting things a bit short. My boy usually goes to bed at around 6am, whether or not there's light out. And his light turns on at 8am and off at 9pm. Many times, when I wake up for kennel duty at 5am, it's still pitch dark and when I peek into his room, he's already in bed. So essentially, your hedgie only has from 2am to around 6-7am. Unless you know for a fact that he stays up until later?
 
#7 ·
He seems to be walking a little - just put his water dish on him and he took a few sips.

I placed him on my desk and he seems to want to eat ALL the things xD. He's nibbling on my laser pointer.

I should have mentioned, he is quilling, so I know he's gonna be a little sad.
 
#9 ·
Count his kibble for the night and make sure he is actually eating. Have you counted/weighed his kibble prior to this? Do you know how much he normally eats? If not, start now, you must make sure he is eating. If he hasn't eaten much by tomorrow, syringe feed, and call the vet and ask for advice. What food are you feeding? Same as before you bought him? Did you try putting food in front of him to see if he'll eat?

I know that 2-2 is 12 hours, however, they tend to naturally go to bed earlier, at around 5-7am. so with lights out being at 2am, it's possible that your boy may only be awake for 2-5 hours before having to hide again. Unless, like I said above, you know for a fact that he stays up longer.
When I had my boy in my bedroom, lights off at 9pm, he'd wake at 9:30, go back to nap at 11pm, wake again at 2am and he goes all night till about 5am, sometimes 6am. So the problem would be... what if your boy wakes up at around 2:30am, and goes to bed at 5. That's less than 3 hours of "awake" time. And especially now, even without seeing the sun, those birds in the morning are loud lol Many things to signify morning.
 
#10 ·
I've never weighed his kibble since I've only had him two days :> So I don't know how much he normally eats, either. I do feed him the same food from the breeder.

I don't actually know when his wake schedule is! How do you find these things out? Just note carefully when he wakes up?

I've decided to do the same thing you do, I'm going to turn on the room light and open the windows at around 8:30 AM, and I will be sure to turn off the room light at 9:00 PM. There will be mild lights from the computers in here, but they hardly produce any light. Do you think this will be an issue? The original light schedule was so that the computer lights would be on when the room light was so as to not bug him :)

Right now he's cuddled on my chest. His belly doesn't seem cold, which is good!
 
#11 ·
I agree that the light schedule could be related. Regardless of when exactly the light goes on and off, hedgehogs, like humans and other animals, have a sort of "biological clock". This is especially going to be true since you just got him, and I assume he was on a more normal light schedule before you brought him home. If his internal clock is telling him to go back to sleep around 6am or so, for example, but the light being on prevents him from coming out until 2am, that light schedule is really limiting the amount of "awake" time he has. So, changing the light schedule is a good idea. Computer lights will sometimes bother them, but a dim computer light isn't as bad as having the whole room lit. If it seems to be a problem, you could move the cage to a different room.

How much food do you put in the bowl every day? They should be free fed, which really means having a little more available than they tend to actually eat. Adults eat 1-2 tablespoons and babies will generally eat 2 or more.
 
#12 ·
I'm definitely going to change his lighting, and see if the computer light bothers him. If it is, I can see about moving him. Trying to find the best option for him!

I free feed him at the moment. Right now, there are exactly 70 pieces in there though, which I will check against in the morning :)

Thank you everyone for your input, I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date!
 
#13 ·
Heh, you'll notice all the quirks the longer you have him. (stalker pet-parent syndrome)
When I kept mine in my room, I would cover parts of his cage(that was facing me or the computer) with a bedsheet, to block off excess light. He wasn't bothered by whatever leftover light there was, and he'd still come out, while I was on the computer.

Try offering him some kibble now to see if he'll eat while you're holding him. Then make note of how much he ate in the morning.
 
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