Hedgehog Sleeping 23 hours a day

GreaseLightning · May 29, 2012

I've had my hedgehog, Rizzo, for about 2.5 years now and I believe her to be at least 3 years old total (she was a craigslist rescue, so it's anyone's guess, really).

Lately, in the past 2-3 months, I have noticed that she has been sleeping/inactive more and more. She sleeps all day (obviously), but I'm fairly certain she sleeps almost entirely through the night as well. She'll get up and poop in her litter box, eat some food, run on her wheel for 20 minutes or so, and then go right back to sleep. I'm sure she's only active for about an hour a night. I've marked her wheel, and after her initial 20 minutes it doesn't move the rest of the night. She's never up when I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. There's never any additional food eaten, or any additional poop after that 1 hour or so of activity.

At first I thought maybe she was attempting to hibernate, but after keeping a close eye on her temperature and even bumping it up a few degrees, it has no effect (and now that it's full-fledged summer, I'm ruling out hibernation as a deciding factor). She has a light cycle, 12 hours on 12 hours off.

When I first got her, the vet discovered upon her exam that she did have some arthritis in her legs, but otherwise seemed healthy. So my new theory is that her arthritis is getting worse...but she is still able to run on her wheel for a little bit. Recently, I've been taking her out in the back yard, thinking that the wheel is just too much for her little joints to handle. But even exercising that way, she seems uninterested in her surroundings, moves stiffly, and is much more interested in finding a place to sleep than exploring.

I've made an appointment with the vet for later this week, thinking that maybe she needs a daily pain medication for the arthritis. I'm hoping that if she is more comfortable, she'll move around a lot more at night. But part of me is just wondering if maybe she is a lot older than originally though and that she is just slowing down a LOT....and that maybe her time to cross the rainbow bridge is coming sooner rather than later. She is still mostly herself, although maybe a little grumpier than usual.

She is still eating, drinking, pooping, using her wheel a little, and I see no obvious tumors or anything. I would like to do anything I can to make her more active and able to enjoy life more. Suggestions? Thoughts?

susiandfilbert · May 30, 2012

I really dont know, you said shes on a light cycle? could it be the light that's bothering her? I had the same concerns with my baby hedgie but as soon as i switched to a ceramic heat lamp instead of infrared which gives off a red light he became a party animal. I know yours is no longer a baby but from reading this forum it seems like hedgies like to turn around and suprise/confuse you every now and again...

GreaseLightning · May 30, 2012

I doubt that it's the light that bothers her. I have my main light for my room on a timer, so there's nothing directly over her cage that could bother her. Where I live, anything over her cage would probably overheat her right now. She's never really acted strange when I use lamps for light/heat in the past, they just don't seem to really bother her any.

Just from the way I watch her move, I think that she's just not aging gracefully. She reminds me of older dogs that I see, that wake up and bark at the doorbell but mostly just like to sleep on their comfy beds 24/7.

charlie · May 31, 2012

It is likely just age, but there are some good ways to manage arthritis. Your vet may have some precribed meds to recommend. On the more natural side, glucosomine may help as well (just a pinch sprinkled on her food). IS she still eating a normal amount? I find usually they have trouble with their teeth at this point and may also need softer food (more food = more energy).

GreaseLightning · Jun 3, 2012

Went to the vet, who did an exam under sedation. Absolutely clean bill of health, except the leg that has arthritis apparently has worse arthritis and decreased range of motion. The conclusion was that it's possible she's so uncomfortable moving around that it's easier to just sleep all night.

The vet prescribed Metacam to try and make her more comfortable. I am out of town this week and decided not to burden the petsitter with the medication, so I will have to post how it works when I come back and have a chance to try it.

The vet checked her teeth and they look great. She has no trouble eating, although she does eat less because of her decreased activity. She hasn't lost any weight, though. She's always been great at self-regulating her food.

I just feel badly for her. I mean, 3 isn't *that* old in hedgehog years, is it? I have read 2-5 so I always assumed I would have her for at least another year, maybe two. But she must be really uncomfortable if she can only manage an hour of activity a night.

Thank you for the tip on glucosomine,I will try that if the Metacam proves to be ineffective.

GreaseLightning · Jun 14, 2012

So, for those of you who are curious, the Metacam did make an improvement. She still continues to get up, eat, drink, poop, and sometimes use her wheel, but then she goes back to sleep. She gets her Metacam on a few mealies.

At some point during the night, she must get up again, because I have marked her wheel with a sharpie and it's always moved, and it usually has a fair amount of poop on it as well. However, she is never awake when I get up in the middle of the night, and is never awake in the early mornings, which are both times I would see her scurrying about in the past.

So, conclusion is that the Metacam IS working, and is improving her overall quality of life, but it's not quite the same improvement I was hoping for. But it's a start, and maybe with longer-term use she'll feel better and better and move around more.

@ Charlie, if I were to try a softer food, what would you recommend?