quilling at 9 months?

[HedgieIsabella]

hi everyone, it has been a while since i have been on here.
but i noticed something odd with Kaila, she has always been friendly... towards humans but the past few times she seemed cranky .
it may be because i haven't been spending much time with her, but i have found her an excellent new home which she will get every bit of attention she deserves.
i was wondering, when i did pick her up she was huffing and clicking (which she has never done in the past) but she was also shedding quills. is it possible for a hedgehog to quill at 9 months? and also she is extremely overweight, i have no idea why. i have her on a diet, 1/4 bowl of food a night, it may seem cruel but she can't even roll up into a ball... she has her wheel and uses it, and while i haven't been handling her she has been around my house running quite often. i have absolutely no idea why the sudden weight gain? is it my fault because i haven't been holding her as much lately?

[Zalea]

Where is the sudden weight gain? Is it overall weight gain or is it a bloated area on her tummy? If it's bloating, you need to see a vet ASAP. Has she been pooping regularly? Bloating can be caused by intestinal impaction as well as other reasons. If it's very sudden and seems like bloating instead of weight gain, get to the vet.

If it's come over a month or two span, she is pooping normally, and there's no bloating, there are a few things to look at.

What kind of kibble are you feeding her? What's the fat %? Instead of limiting the amount of food, try slowly switching her to a lower fat kibble.

Are her nails trimmed up? If she's normally a runner and you haven't handled her much, she may not be running because her toenails are curling under and hurting her feet--they can do so in a month's span; if that's the case, she may have stopped running as much because her feet hurt. Check her feet for that and for injuries. It definitely sounds like she's in some form of pain since she's huffing and clicking when you pick her up and she doesn't normally do so.

Not holding her should not cause the weight gain. The most likely cause is it's uncomfortable to run so she isn't doing it as much. When you say "around my house running quite often" what do you mean? Just that she's running on the wheel while at your home?

Some hedgehogs will have a slight quilling around a year, but it's usually just a few quills if any at all. Monitor the situation and if it continues, a vet visit will likely be in order--especially if bald spots start forming.

How long has it been since you handled her? If you're not getting her out and doing leg checks every day, that can make her cranky as well. You don't have to spend tons of time with her daily but you HAVE to at least get her out to do a physical check and make sure everything is okay, preferably twice each day. A day or two with no handling at all can cause some hedgies to be totally grumpy when you try to handle them.

If her nails are fine and no leg/foot injuries, you may need to consider a vet visit. Because it sounds like she is not feeling well.

If you give her to a new home, be sure to let them know that they need to switch the food over slowly to do a kibble change--and invite them to join here at HHC.

Hope you manage to figure out the problem soon!