Hedgehog foaming constantly- not anointing

[TheFlyingCat]

My hedgehog, Benny, has been foaming at the mouth for the last few days. It isn't self-anointing, since he isn't spreading it on his quills. I don't think he's been eating very much, either- we tried feeding him some meal worms this morning and he started to chew them but then spat all but one out, and the food in his bowl doesn't look like it's being eaten. He seems to be drinking a lot of water... he also seems to be getting less and less aware of what is going on around him.

What should I do?

[Nancy]

He possibly has a mouth issue, either a bad tooth, infection or maybe even a piece of kibble caught in the roof of his mouth. He needs to see a vet asap. Sounds like he is going downhill and needs some intervention quickly. If he is not eating on his own, you will need to start syringe feeding him.

He should be given fresh kibble daily and count the kibble you give him so you know exactly how much or if he is eating.

[MDHedgie]

Hi, I noticed today that my hedgehog is foaming at the mouth too, but not self-anointing.

The day before yesterday, he seemed very unsettled during the day -- which isn't like him. He's usually sleeping throughout the day and doesn't get up until pretty much after we go to bed. He ate some food while he was up then, but we noticed he didn't seem to eat anything overnight (which definitely isn't like him - he likes his food).

Yesterday, he was much calmer and seemed to sleep as usual, but still didn't seem to eat last night.

Today, we changed his bedding and he was fine with eating his mealworms, but had no interest in his food. He didn't even look at it. But he was moving around as usual and was quite alert, and is now back to sleeping.

I'm not sure if he's just needing a change in food (he's been eating this brand/flavor for about 2 years), or if there's something bigger we need to be concerned about. When we first got him, we took him to the vet that "specialized" in exotic pets and say they saw hedgehogs, but it sounded like basically unless he's dying, there wasn't much they could do or look for, so I'm a bit hesitant to visit another one, especially since he's not a fan of car rides.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[MDHedgie]

Also, my husband clipped his nails the day before he was so unsettled, so while I don't think he clipped them too short, it's possible. So the hedgie may be nursing that? My husband is always the one who clips them, so it wasn't his first time, but our hedgie does squirm a lot during it, which is why I wouldn't rule it out.

Would that be a reason for him to be agitated the next day and not be interested in eating food (although still eating mealworms)?

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[nikki]

This post is from 2015, please do not post on old threads. Post your question on a new thread.