Sleepy or Hibernation?

[Aggie]

Hello,

I went to go check on Hailie (my hedgie) after getting home tonight. She was in her pvc pipe, which is unusual bit not completely different. So I started talking to her and didn't get the normal hissing greeting. So I pick the tube up.

She didn't hiss or seem to reacte to my touch, which is unusual. So panicking I dumped her out. She curled up a little bit and slowly started to hiss. I assumed she was hibernating so I warmed her up. But when I touched her stomach it was giving off a little bit of heat. I don't know how much heat she is supposed to give off as she doesn't let me touch her stomach usually. (I got pricked a lot doing it tonight.)

She has been out twice today. Once for about an hour, and again for about 30 minutes. The second time she was around a lot of people as they wanted to see her. (Which won't be happening again, not that amount of people anyways.)

Her thermometer read a low of 71.6. But that would have been right at the point her heater would have turned on. She is usually kept at a minimum of 73. However, when I checked on her the temp was 75.6.

Her cage had also been moved to the other side of the room today, close to the in room heater.

She is about 5 months old.

So, my question is, does this sound like hibernation or a sleepy hedgehog? Could it have been stress from a VERY busy day and having her cage cleaned and moved?

 

[Kalandra]

Sounds more like she got chilled to me. Not quite to the point of attempting hibernation, but enough to cause her to "slow" down. You say you moved her cage closer to the heater. Is there by chance any draft in that area? Putting the cage in a draft can cause her cage to warm up a lot then cool back down... causing a chill.

 

[Aggie]

Sounds more like she got chilled to me. Not quite to the point of attempting hibernation, but enough to cause her to "slow" down. You say you moved her cage closer to the heater. Is there by chance any draft in that area? Putting the cage in a draft can cause her cage to warm up a lot then cool back down... causing a chill.

It's possible there was a draft. She was right under a window. I have moved her back to where she was before and turned the heat up a little more. So hopefully this will do the trick.

When I took her out and warmed her up, she was back to her normal, huffy self in about 5-10 minutes.

 

[Kalandra]

We will keep our quills cross here that you don't have anymore sluggish hedgehog episodes.

That was a pretty quick return to normal. Just keep an eye on her for a while. If she doesn't react normally, give her a little extra cuddle time to help warm her back up.

 

[Nancy]

Floor level and under a window are the coldest areas of a room. Even brand new insulated windows do still radiate in some cold.

Being dresser level on an inside wall is the warmest area providing there are no stairs or furnace outlets nearby that could create a draft.

Glad she warmed up so quickly.

 

[Aggie]

She seems to be back to normal today.

Hopefully it stays that way.

I'm going to start trying to figure something out to get her off the floor, even a little bit and in the meantime keep her heat up a little higher than normal.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Kalandra]

Before switching to ferret nation cages, my cages used to sit on top of folding tables. The tables were cheap, easy to clean and the cages fit on them pretty nicely. Something to consider.

 

[Aggie]

Before switching to ferret nation cages, my cages used to sit on top of folding tables. The tables were cheap, easy to clean and the cages fit on them pretty nicely. Something to consider.

Definatly sounds like a good idea. Where did you get the tables? About how big were they?

 

[Kalandra]

Mine are cosco tables, they are about 24x48 I think. They make a wide range of sizes, 5 ft, 6ft, etc.

Look at wal-mart, k-mart, or similar type of stores. I know I got one at Costco, the other from a store similar to wal-mart.

 

[Aggie]

Mine are cosco tables, they are about 24x48 I think. They make a wide range of sizes, 5 ft, 6ft, etc.

Look at wal-mart, k-mart, or similar type of stores. I know I got one at Costco, the other from a store similar to wal-mart.

Okay, thank you.

We have a costco here, so i'll check there first.

 

[Nancy]

You can also look at your local thrift stores for a table, coffee table, or a dresser or cabinet that the cage would fit on.