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Hedgie not getting up

891 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Lilysmommy 
#1 ·
My hedgehog hasn't been very active in the past few days. I've seen no new poops in the morning, when normally there would be a few. It looks like he may be eating and drinking a tiny bit, but not as much as normal. It appears that he has been sleeping through the night.
It's really hot, his cage was at 85 degrees, so I turned off his heater, now it's at 75ish.
The inactivity started after I gave him a bath, but I didn't do anything different than usual.
He is about 7 months old. Other than what I've said, nothing in his care has been changed recently.
 
#2 ·
Take him out. Does he feel cold at all? Or does he feel a little cool & damp? Or nice and warm? Does he seem lethargic at all, or wobbly?

I have two guesses, both similar. The first is estivation, which is the too-hot equivalent of hibernation. It has similar symptoms to hibernation, except your hedgie doesn't get as cold, and may feel clammy or damp as well, from sweat. The other guess is hibernation, caused by the temperature dropping so much and so quickly. If your hedgie had been used to the 85* temperature, dropping suddenly to 75* could have triggered a hibernation attempt.

For estivation, hopefully that'll be solved by his cage temp being cooler. Make sure he gets plenty of water and encourage him to eat. I'm honestly not sure what else you could do if it's that. Supportive care would probably be a start, at least. You may need to syringe-feed him if he won't eat enough on his own.

For a hibernation attempt, you'll want to warm him up slowly, either on a heating pad on low, or against you. Once he's warm, bump his cage temperature back up to 78-80* and see how he does. If he's used to the warmer temps now, he may need his cage to stay around those temperatures to stay comfortable and avoid hibernation.
 
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