Continuous hibernation

[PricklyPetesMom]

My boy Pete, is now a year and 6 months, his first hibernation attempt was in february. He continued to attempt so I took him to the vet and they said that if he continued they would need to check for tumors. He attempted hibernation at 80°, then 83°, and now I keep his cage at 86°. I have one heat lamp, a thermosat, he gets light from 8am until 8pm, his cage is a large plastic tub. I did build him a c&c cage, but I have not put him in it as I'm scared he will hibernate. I would say he attempts at least once or twice every two months. He attempted when I went to clean his cage last week, then tonight, I brought him out of his igloo andy placed him in a playpen I have in my room for him. My room is pretty warm so I figured it would be okay for a few minutes. It wasn't. He didn't even run around, just attempted.
I know one corner of his igloo that he seems to go to is colder so I always make sure he's not there before I go to bed. In the morning he's in that corner under his blankets but he's perfectly fine. He's eating normally, drinking normally, wheeling normally, definitely pooping normally.

I don't know why he keeps doing this, I want to get his temperature back down to a normal range but he attempts so easily, main reason why I'm worried about the new cage.

Has anyone else experienced this? If he does have a tumor would it be visible from the outside? I've never felt or seen anything abnormal on him. Can anything be done for tumors?

[PygmyUpLove]

Hi there,

Ah poor thing, it's not fun for them to be stuck in the hiberbation mindset.
It happened to me last year with my then 1 year old female.

She was freezing the whole time, when I would pick her up it would feel like I she’d been in the fridge.
What helped for me and my sweet girl, was to pick her up EVERY, SINGLE, MOMENT that I was home with her. I would make sure my hands were warm and she’d sleep flat on her tummy on either my hands, or under my sweater. Your body heat could really help him to warm up and bond with you at the same time. It may require some time for him snap out of it and get back to his normal self again, but trust me, it’s sooooo worth it to do that for him. So again; letting him sleep on you, under your sweater, etc. for as long as you can per day really helps. Does he have some favorite snacks? Especially if he likes insects; feed him those. Mine would stop eating too and I was so relieved to see her getting better.
You are already turning the temperature up in his cage, which is a good thing! It may seem quite high but he really needs it.

Best of luck with your sweet little guy and please keep me in the loop. DM me on here if there’s anything else you’d like to know.

[Pixel101]

86 is REALLY high for a hedgehog and he's still hibernating this warrants a vet the op will have more info

[nikki]

What is her light schedule like? Light plays a big part in hibernation attempts as well as heat.

[PricklyPetesMom]

He's currently getting light from 8am to 8pm, natural light as well as from a lamp as it gets darker.
When I take him out in his snuggle pouch he's fine but when I take him out of that he seems to have problems with it.
His heat lamp currently sits in the middle of his cage, and the corner where his igloo is, outside of that tends to be cooler than the rest of his cage, and he seems to prefer that corner but there is always a blanket there just in case.
The other side where his wheel is I'm going to assume isn't as warm as the middle part of his cage but I haven't seen him have any issues with that side. I'm thinking about getting a second heat lamp and having them at each end of the cage.

Do you know if slightly lowering the temperature gradually would help him get back down to a normal range? Like bring it down to 85 for a few days, then 84?
I heard some hedgehogs can be sensitive to temperature and need more heat but it worries me since it's so high and I know that isn't normal.

[nikki]

You can try bringing the heat down slowly and see how he does with that. A second CHE to help keep the temp consistent throughout the cage is a very good idea.

Unfortunately not all tumors are visible from the outside. If it is a tumor in his body then you wouldn't be able to see it just by looking at him.

[PricklyPetesMom]

I'm definitely going to try that, thank you so much!

I really hope my boy doesn't have one, he's my first hedgehog and he's so sweet! Are vets able to treat tumors?

[nikki]

Whether or not a tumor is treatable really depends on size, location and type of tumor so only a vet can answer that once they know what they're dealing with.