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susiandfilbert

New Mommy
Joined
Feb 18, 2012
Messages
74
Location
Madrid
Hi all hedgehog lovers & friends.
Im worried about Filbert :(
Background:
I've had my little guy for a month and a half (he is 3 months old). I initially had a plastic base wire top cage which after only a week realised was too small for him.
He slept all day and pretty much all night (deduced from the fact that when i went to bed he was asleep, when i woke up he was asleep, if i went out of an evening and came home at 3/4/5/6/7am he would always be asleep. At some point he would wake up as there would be food from his bowl gone etc. I bought him the flying saucer wheel but it didnt fit in the cage so I had to wait to use it.
I figured that perhaps the lack of energy was due to the lack of space.
I wanted to build a C&C cage but here in Madrid it is imposible to find the stuff to build it with. A couple of weeks ago my mum came over visiting from the UK and I asked her to please order and bring these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/INTERLOCKIN...R1A6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1334157213&sr=8-5 over for me to create my own version. She did so and I built him a wonderfuly big cage and got big fleece blankets for the lining. I transfered his microfleece blankets which he used to sleep under, to the new cage hoping that it would ease the transition but nothing. He doesn't seem to do anything at all. I tried to introduce him to the wheel, sticking him on it and slightly moving it to try and help him understand but he just stays there stock still until i move away and he gets down. He doesn't use it at all. He's been in the new cage about a week and a half now and although i know it takes time to get used to change he was the same in the old cage. I don't think it is a case of hibernation as he has a heat mat in one corner and an infrared heat lamp a bit further down but on the same side. He doesn't seem to like the heat mat (though he did in the old cage) and find him sporadically sleeping under the lamp or in another part of the cage where there is no heat and it is quite cool. I'm constantly checking his belly and it's always warm.
I know that quilling is normal but i'm finding a **** of a lot of quills and just wondering what amount is normal to lose at the height of quilling. He is eating normaly and has a habit of burrowing between the towel on the floor underneath the fleece liner and the fleece liner. In fact that is where i almost always find him.
Any input would be very much appreciated.
 
Do you have a thermometer in his cage? If so, what is the temperature?

Is his skin flaky and/or itchy? They can lose a lot of quills during quilling, and some do so for quite a while. But if his skin is very itchy and flaky, you may want to have him checked for mites.

Also, do you have him on a lighting schedule?
 
I dont, i've been trying to find one that sticks on the side of the cage but cannot seem to find any. Im just wary of getting a normal one and leaving it in there...

I check his skin where the quills part on his forhead and it doesnt seem to be flakey.

No lighting schedule, his infrared is on 24/7. Should I get one of those ceramic heat lamps which do not emit light? I bought the infrared because i read that quite a few people use them with success.

I got a rare peep at him last night as I was lying in bed falling asleep. He ventured out to eat and scratched a few times with his back leg. It's not something i've seen him do before. Is it normal for a hedgehog to scratch a bit? Is it only scratching in excess that leads to suspicion of mites or is it any scratching in general?
He didn't seem bothered by the infrared (perhaps he's used to it?) but as soon as he heard a noise (people beeping thier horns [bloody football]) he scrambled under the fleece liner.
I had a thought that maybe he's unsure about a cage that's so open?
 
Some hedgehogs do ok with red light, but others will not come out as much if there is any light at all in the room.

Hedgehogs need between 12-14 hrs of light a day. If you don't have a light on in the room, try that. Sometimes with the wrong lighting schedule, they will not be as active and eventually they can attempt hibernation even though it is plenty warm.

A little scratching is fine. I have had plenty who would wake up, stretch then scratch for a bit. I think they were grooming their quills. So long as it is a relaxed scratching and not a constant or frantic scratching, it should be fine.
 
He has natural light all day in the room and then the lights are on in the evening. He definately gets his 12-14 hours of light UNLESS he is under the fleece and then obviously...

Should I be worried then or just come to the conclusion that I have a lazy boy?
 
my girl will not come out AT ALL if there is light, she waits about 20min after the lights are out to get on her wheel... if she hears a noise, wheel stops...no noise, keeps wheeling...more noise, stops...to much noise, runs and hides in the pvc tube or back under her liner... lights on, back under liner... mom offers her hand, time to lick and self anoint.
only time i see her EVER unless i take her out myself for bath time, nail clipping time or attempted bonding time lol
 
Mace is the SAME way. He eats fine, always has a nice warm belly, will cuddle with me etc., but doesn't wheel and the second I put him back in his cage, he's running back into his hidey hole. I don't get it.
 
Im glad its not just my baby then. You have no idea how releived i am!! I was so worried he was unhappy!
Hes currently snuggling on my lap and enjoying a one fingered forehead rub!!
 
Awe, mine HATE their foreheads rubbed! Mace will let me pet him but Khaki is only ok with laying with me and exploring. Little booger.
 
I think that you should switch to a ceramic heat emitter. The red light could very much be causing him to not be active and I wouldn't want to just assume he's lazy when really he's always hiding from the light.
 
Hi guys!

So I took Filbert to the vet yesterday for a general check up and they say he's absolutely fine.
I bought a ceramic heat emitter and switched it over yesterday. Lo and behold I got home last night at 4.30 am and found him on a poopy wheel!!!! I was so insanely happy and went to sleep with a BIG smile on my face. Hopefully tonight he will run again!

:D
 
Filbert was odd. The first week I had him he pooped perfectly in his litter box. After that though he stopped pooping in his litter box and starting nudging the it out of the way so that he could burrow under the blankets poop under the blankets and the nudge the litter box back ontop of the blanket... Strange little boy. Now though he just poops on his wheel...
 
Odd? No... not at all. That sounds like a very hedgie kind of thing to do.

I think it goes a bit like this:
1. Show humans that I have mastered use of a litter box
2. Allow humans to believe they know what I am going to do
3. Demonstrate that, while I *can* do it, I can also choose not to; make humans hunt to find my poopies
4. Poop on wheel
5. Establish trend; lull humans into believing they can predict what I will do
...
 
Haha, Mace does this too! He was so good at using his box, but now that he's a runnin fool, he will ONLY use his wheel and his box is empty! If I didn't clean off lots of poopie from the wheel I'd be worried he wasn't going anymore. Khaki is good about playing I. Her litter and spreading it all over her cage. She will go pee in the box but poos on the wheel. She can't be left out of the wheel cleaning party!!
 
Hahahaha, I didn't realise that this was a 'thing'. I would be worried she wasn't peeing if she didnt smell of it all the time. She should learn that if she hates baths she shouldn't pee so carelessly!
 
Some hedgehogs do ok with red light, but others will not come out as much if there is any light at all in the room.

Hedgehogs need between 12-14 hrs of light a day. If you don't have a light on in the room, try that. Sometimes with the wrong lighting schedule, they will not be as active and eventually they can attempt hibernation even though it is plenty warm.

A little scratching is fine. I have had plenty who would wake up, stretch then scratch for a bit. I think they were grooming their quills. So long as it is a relaxed scratching and not a constant or frantic scratching, it should be fine.

Mine is the same way with the lighting. She does not like to come out at all if there is any sort of light on at all. even if i am on my phone, she sees it. But most energetic when she does get her quiet time.
 
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