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Hibernation attempt?!

4K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  Lilysmommy 
#1 ·
BACKGROUND INFO:
Tobi is almost 9 weeks now, it's his 2nd week home with us and has been adapting really well! Eats, drinks, poops, pees, wheels, plays, and sleeps a lot! He's an explorer so he's always running around when he's in his play pen (around 10pm).

BEHAVIOR:
He's been pretty much the same every day, except last night I noticed he was a bit more tired than usual -- he didn't want to play in his play pen, just wanted to be held in his blanket. Which I did, I held him in his blanket in my arms for 3 hours last night as I worked on my paper (11pm-2am). I didn't think much of it, thought his wild wheel-run the night before tired him out.

HEAT/SETUP:
We have a space heater for him, and the thermometer is always around 73-75.5 degrees. There's also a snuggledisc in his cage just for an extra heat spot if he needs it. He usually just sleeps under his fleece strips, under a fleece bed (cozybeds turned upside-down).

MY PANIC ATTACK!!!
When we got home from work today around 5pm, we greeted him as usual and he didn't move under the bed. Again, thought he was extra tired from the amount of poop and pee I cleaned off the wheel this morning, it looked like he had a busy night.

I took the bed off of him and he was curled in this HUGE (like twice his normal size) PUFFY BALL! He looked like he had been inflated! I've never seen him sleep like this! Is this normal?! I kept saying his name and telling him to wake up, and he was so slow to move and wake up. I turned the space heater up a little bit and within 3-5 minutes he finally uncurled and woke up for me. He did some weird leg thing when he was trying to uncurl, I'm not sure if it was considered "wobbly" or if it was from sleeping for the past 10+ hours.

I couldn't tell if he was cold or not, but his cage temp was 73-ish when we got home. When he finally uncurled, he was slow to move at first, and within a few minutes of waking up, he ate a few pieces, drink a little, pooped, peed, and then tried to go hide again. He's never taken that long to uncurl before! He's always up and looking up at me by the time he hears our voices and I lift the bed up.

I put his pouch in his cage, and he climbed right in. So now he's in his pouch, in my hoodie. Is he going to try to hibernate again in here?!

Was that a hibernation attempt?! I can't tell! Am I overreacting?! We have huge loft windows in our apartment, but if he's under the bed, is he not getting enough sunlight?!

I'm so in love with him, I was in tears when he scared me like that. Is he going to try to do it again? I'm not sure what I did wrong! :cry::cry::cry::cry:
 
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#2 ·
It sounds like it could have been hibernation or close to it. Hibernation attempts can be scary!

It could be either light related or temperature related. It's usually recommended to supplement light, not just depend on daylight. It's often not long enough during the winter, so that can cause hibernation issues. It'd be a good idea to put a light near his cage and have it on a timer so you know for sure he's getting 12-14 hours of light a day.

I would also try bumping the temperature up and making 75* be the minimum. See if that helps as well.

Try not to blame yourself or anything! It's not uncommon for this to happen and sometimes it's just a matter of hedgie needing a slightly higher temperature or sometimes an accidental dipping of the temperature due to equipment malfunctions, etc. He should be just fine! Just keep an eye on him for any sign of URIs (drippy nose, sneezing, crackly breathing, congested nose, etc.) as those can occasionally be caused by hibernation attempts.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your response! I turned on the "happy light", hopefully that helps.

His behavior is definitely different right now and I'm getting so concerned. He's just not as active as he usually is and he's quilling up A LOT. He hasn't done that since the day he came home.

Should we take him to a vet?
 
#4 ·
I would keep an eye on him and see if his behavior continues. You could make a vet visit for in a couple days if you're really worried, and if his behavior remains the same until then, you'll have it. Sometimes with hibernation issues, it can take a few hours for them to go back to being completely normal. Make sure the temperature is up a little as well, in case that's the reason for his activity being lower.

Also, sorry, I just checked your first post again and realized his age. It's very likely that he's starting to go through another quilling, so I would keep that in mind as well regarding his behavior. Quilling tends to make hedgies pretty grumpy and it could also be the reason he's quilling up a lot right now. They go through a quilling around 9 weeks and another around 12 weeks, and for some hedgehogs, the two just kind of run together so it seems like they're grumpy for weeks!
 
#5 ·
He's normally not much of a cuddler, but he's been really calm (or lethargic) since yesterday. He's still eating and drinking a little, so that makes me feel a little better.

The worse of his quilling was last weekend, it hasn't been too bad the past few days.

Hopefully the higher temp and light lamp will help today. I'm still really nervous about not being home with him right now though. Do you think it's necessary to still take him to the vet just in case? Or if he's back to normal, we should be okay?

Thank you again for your responses!
 
#6 ·
If he's back to normal, he should be fine. :) But if you guys haven't had a wellness check with the vet yet, it wouldn't hurt to schedule one now. You could calm any nerves you still have over this incident, and you can see how he does with the vet and get a record going for him.
 
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