Recently dropped hedgehog

[Arwen_the_Hedgehog]

Okay, before I get chewed out about this, I didn't purposefully drop her, and I am not an uncareful owner. If anything, I'm anything BUT an uncareful owner.
I was carrying her down the stairs last night, and there was no light because the switch was in the kitchen.
I got to the kitchen and she kept trying to crawl and crawl, almost frantically, so I was trying to keep up with her, constantly moving my hands and arms out from underneath of her to catch her front end (if that makes any sense at all)

She was getting too fast, and I couldn't think quickly enough and she lunged forward and went toppling to the ground. I took some height off the fall by lightly supporting her and falling to the floor as well.

I'm almost positive I heard her hiss and ball up and her quills hit the floor on her backside, but the more I try to think about it, the more blurred the whole memory and incident is.

I felt so bad and was freaking out. I quickly scooped her up and got her some meal worms to hopefully shake the traumatic experience from her mind quickly. And of course, she seemed happier than ever to find some of the worms in her worm bowl.

I tried observing her move around a bit, but she doesn't run around a lot in general when I have her out. So I decided to let her just sleep it off, considering she was probably very stressed out.

The next night, I woke her up and got her out to find that her feet were perfectly clean, which kind of tells me that she probably didn't do any running on her wheel that night (which really worries me) and I fell asleep to soon to hear her running that night. So that worries me a lot, considering I don't know if her legs are okay enough to run or if she was just stressed and slept through the night and the next day...

So I took her out and let her poop in the sink (which she does every day) and that looked normal. She was a little frantic, but she is a very timid hedgie, so that isn't so unnormal at all. I put her in a little play pen to watch her walk around and she was acting kind of funny. I couldn't really tell if she was hobbling around because her feet hurt or she just woke up, or anything. She seems fine in my hands, but on the floor she walks around quite a bit and doesn't squeak or anything, but once in a while I notice a little hiccup in her pacing. It's barely noticeable, and that's when I start thinking that I'm just being overly cautious or making myself believe that something is wrong, because that is my biggest fear for her, getting hurt. I want her to have the best that a hedgie can possibly have, and I just can't tell what is up with her.

I know one thing for sure you are probably thinking-- take her to the vet.
Well, I definitely would love to do that, I mean I would be rushing there right away right now if I could, but I am not financially capable of doing so right now. I just took her this week and that cost me a bit of money. Also, I'm not aware of any hedgehog friendly vets around here, I had to take her an hour and a half away to a vet that I trusted and knew about to get her a physical.

I'm just a very worried hedgehog mommy and could really use some comfort and advice. Thank you so much

Liv

[shinydistraction]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, most of us have dropped a hedgie at least once. We all feel bad about and try to make it up to our spikey babies. And of course we all do our best to be more careful so it doesn't happen again. Seriously, no one needs that kind of stress!

That being said, it would be best if you could find a way to get her to the vet. Hedgehogs are good at hiding injuries. We had someone whose hedgehog had dislocated his shoulder and hid it for a week. The sooner you can rule out the possibility of an injury, the better. And if your baby is hurt it will cost you less in the long run to get it treated before it can get worse.

In the meantime, watch her closely. Keep an eye out for blood her in stool and watch her walking whenever you get the chance.

Good luck! Hopefully she was only shaken up by the experience and there's nothing wrong.

[MomLady]

From now on, if she's squirmy, don't walk around until she's secure. Hold her against you, if you are moving around.

It all happens sooner or later, either you drop them or they want to walk off something or like my Nara, she ALWAYS wanted to go off the armrest of the couch.

Remember they are spikey toddlers.

Any changed behavior or bleeding should ALWAYS be checked out at the vets. You need to have money set aside for emergency vet visits.

[lifequards]

My hedgehog LOVES to do the leap of faith (not really) off of my computer chairs to the carpet and such. Never found any injuries on him.
The person I adopted him from was like "DoN'T DrOp hIM!!!!". Calm... my lovely.

[Lilysmommy]

While it's great he hasn't been injured yet, lifeguards, I wouldn't treat it too lightly either. It's best to avoid having hedgehogs up on higher places like chairs & other furniture if you know they're likely to move around & jump off. It only takes once for them to land wrong and break a leg or bruise something important. There have been situations where hedgehogs have broken a limb from dropping only a few inches because they landed awkwardly. So it's really not something to encourage or allow.

[lifequards]

Mine is like a stealthy cat tbh.

[PeaceLove&Hedgies]

Daisy is extremely squirmy and I've dropped her. Of course, it was only about a one foot fall onto a memory foam bed covered in soft fuzz, and I stuck my hand out and cushioned her fall (it still kinda hurts from her spines) and she seems fine. I think you definitely softened the blow, and possibly saved her life. Good job! I think she might have just suffered from shock. It might also be a short pain, once I injured my back on a trampoline, and couldn't run or jump for a while, and nothing serious. If you're getting her checked out by a vet who has experience with hedgehogs, you should relax a bit. She's in good hands, both with you and the vet, and she'll get better. I hope I helped, and I wish your hedgie luck with healing, if she's hurt badly ^-^

[writergirlmel]

Fitzgerald took his first fall his first night with us.

Yup. One second, he was snuggled in his sack in the crook of my arm. The next, he'd scurried up my opposite arm, over & across my shoulders, onto the back of the couch, onto the side table....and right off the edge of it. It took all of 3 seconds. Thankfully, he balled up and landed perfectly on his back quills, so I was far more injured than he was from the effort of trying to catch him and the flying leap I took over the couch (hitting my head on his hutch in the process).

Almost all of us have been there at one time or another. (And those who haven't probably will be.) Check her belly for any signs of bruising, watch her walk (even if if you have to nudge her a little to make her move), monitor her eliminations to make sure there's no sign of anything amiss there, and look for even small signs of wheel use or other activity. (Some days, I'll wake up and panic because I don't see a lot of mess on the wheel when I glance over it, but then I'll get closer and see a smaller spot or some mess in the litter box or lots of evidence of my little guy using his dig box.) Make sure she's eating and drinking normally. If all those things check out, she's probably okay. But if anything looks abnormal, you really don't have a lot options; she'll have to see a vet, so you'll need to talk to the office to see what you can do to provide that care. (Note: It might not hurt to call the vet anyway, explain what happened and what you've observed along with your current and temporary financial situation, and see what they recommend.)