I recently purchased two new hedgehogs to add to my herd, one male and one female. Since I purchased them, they have been caged by themselves and away from the other animals...just in case they had mites or any other issues. I have had the male for two days and he is active, eating, and friendly. Today I woke him up to take him out of his cage and I noticed that his eyes were crusted shut. It took him a few seconds to open his eyes. Once he was up he was active and not showing any signs of respiratory issues such as sneezing or a crusty nose. I am a bit concerned and am not sure what to do. I don't want to over react and take him to the vet but I don't want to wait if it is something serious...does anyone have any idea what this could be or what I should do?
Crusty Eyes
- Thread starter Stormy
- Start date
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smhufflepuff
super-duper hedgiepig
Good job on the quarantine.
I'd go ahead and take him to the vet. My thought is there are two good reasons:
1. He's new to you (and I like to bring new-to-me hedgies into the vet... get a chart started, let the vet double-check that everything looks okay/find out there's something I missed).
2. He's showing a health concern... it may be something... may be nothing. But if you have 6 other hedgies at home, it makes getting one hedgie's possible health concerns addressed quickly all the more important.
I figure, at worst, it's a chance for new hedgie to have a chart established at the vet and to get a quality double-check on everything. At best, you've helped this little fella out with his health condition AND saved 6 other hedgies from getting it too.
Oh, and there's the other possibility that maybe the new female has the same condition, but is a little better at fighting it off than the male... I'd might bring her in too (separate carrier, of course!) in case it turns out to be something that the vet needs to treat for both of them.
I'd go ahead and take him to the vet. My thought is there are two good reasons:
1. He's new to you (and I like to bring new-to-me hedgies into the vet... get a chart started, let the vet double-check that everything looks okay/find out there's something I missed).
2. He's showing a health concern... it may be something... may be nothing. But if you have 6 other hedgies at home, it makes getting one hedgie's possible health concerns addressed quickly all the more important.
I figure, at worst, it's a chance for new hedgie to have a chart established at the vet and to get a quality double-check on everything. At best, you've helped this little fella out with his health condition AND saved 6 other hedgies from getting it too.
Oh, and there's the other possibility that maybe the new female has the same condition, but is a little better at fighting it off than the male... I'd might bring her in too (separate carrier, of course!) in case it turns out to be something that the vet needs to treat for both of them.
