Last night I believe I might have had a hibernation attempt.
My smaller hedgehog is typically pretty grumpy and has a hissy fit every time I do anything around the cage and when I go to feed him he always runs out to eat right away. I was out of the country for the last two weeks and only got home the day before but was still very concerned when he wasn't hissing when I filled both his food and water. I tried nudging him to get him hissing and when he didn't even after I pulled him out of his cage I knew something must be wrong. He and his blankets weren't very much warmer than anything else in the room and his breathing was significantly slower and lighter than usual.
I immediately wrapped him in a clean blanket and built a nest out of a second larger blanket. I put that on my lap and sat next to the small fireplace in my room (gas powered with a glass cover so no worries of his ending up in it) for about a half hour. He started responding a little but I was still quite concerned so I put him (still wrapped in the first blanket) into a small cage and put his food next to him and took a shower hoping he would be a little more recovered by the time I was done. After getting out he had crawled out a little to get closer to the fireplace and when I offered him water he drank a pretty good amount, and then ate which made me feel a lot better. He was still pretty lethargic and as my other hedgehog ate and went straight back to his dome (which is very unusual for him, he usually runs right after eating) I was still pretty worried for both of them so I moved the cage to my room for the night since it was significantly warmer after having the fire going for over an hour in such a small room.
I'd keep them in here permanently but I really don't have very much room. I'm not unwilling but a different solution would be ideal.
I moved in with my cousins this past August and am not allowed to use a space heater as I am in the basement which is a very large area to keep at 73°F and since my cousin's husband is a firefighter who, from what I've heard, has seen a good number of fires caused by space heaters. It wasn't a huge problem up until now but since it is getting pretty cold outside (20°F give or take at night) it's getting colder inside. I would guess the basement they (and I) are in is getting to 65° give or take so I've been worried about this happening since before winter started. If anyone knows of solutions that do not include a heat lamp or space heater I'd love to hear them. I haven't talked to them yet about what I would be allowed to use but as I'm very jet-lagged and it's about 4 in the morning, I haven't had a chance yet.
Just trying to get some brain storming in since I know they will want to hear whatever different options I know of before deciding anything. Please let me know if you have any ideas!
My smaller hedgehog is typically pretty grumpy and has a hissy fit every time I do anything around the cage and when I go to feed him he always runs out to eat right away. I was out of the country for the last two weeks and only got home the day before but was still very concerned when he wasn't hissing when I filled both his food and water. I tried nudging him to get him hissing and when he didn't even after I pulled him out of his cage I knew something must be wrong. He and his blankets weren't very much warmer than anything else in the room and his breathing was significantly slower and lighter than usual.
I immediately wrapped him in a clean blanket and built a nest out of a second larger blanket. I put that on my lap and sat next to the small fireplace in my room (gas powered with a glass cover so no worries of his ending up in it) for about a half hour. He started responding a little but I was still quite concerned so I put him (still wrapped in the first blanket) into a small cage and put his food next to him and took a shower hoping he would be a little more recovered by the time I was done. After getting out he had crawled out a little to get closer to the fireplace and when I offered him water he drank a pretty good amount, and then ate which made me feel a lot better. He was still pretty lethargic and as my other hedgehog ate and went straight back to his dome (which is very unusual for him, he usually runs right after eating) I was still pretty worried for both of them so I moved the cage to my room for the night since it was significantly warmer after having the fire going for over an hour in such a small room.
I'd keep them in here permanently but I really don't have very much room. I'm not unwilling but a different solution would be ideal.
I moved in with my cousins this past August and am not allowed to use a space heater as I am in the basement which is a very large area to keep at 73°F and since my cousin's husband is a firefighter who, from what I've heard, has seen a good number of fires caused by space heaters. It wasn't a huge problem up until now but since it is getting pretty cold outside (20°F give or take at night) it's getting colder inside. I would guess the basement they (and I) are in is getting to 65° give or take so I've been worried about this happening since before winter started. If anyone knows of solutions that do not include a heat lamp or space heater I'd love to hear them. I haven't talked to them yet about what I would be allowed to use but as I'm very jet-lagged and it's about 4 in the morning, I haven't had a chance yet.
Just trying to get some brain storming in since I know they will want to hear whatever different options I know of before deciding anything. Please let me know if you have any ideas!