Hi all,
I had written in this forum a few months ago regarding my hedgie Bender (4 1/2 years old) and the fact he had stopped eating, but this was fixed just by me getting new food for him. Since then, there's been a couple times where he would stop eating much for a couple days, but he always went right back to normal fairly quickly.
Recently, there was a heat wave. I kept Bender in a room without an air conditioning unit. The room was kept cool by the air conditioning in the house, but there was no actual unit (and thus no draft) in my bedroom. I found the temperature in my bedroom warm but not hot. Because it was so hot out, I kept the blinds closed in our room to keep him from overheating. However, a lot of light filters into the bedroom from the adjacent room, so the room seemed well lit, if not directly lit. His cage was freshly cleaned.
A few days ago he stopped eating. As he has done this before and always went back to normal, I didn't worry. But then he became very lethargic, in a way I've never seen him. He would spend a long time lying on his side, awake but not moving. I would take him out, he'd crawl around for a couple minutes, then flop over. I tried bringing him outside but he just crawled under a bush and flopped. He was also very wobbly when he tried to walk. I was worried, but by that night he was eating again and seemed to be improving. The next day he went downhill fast. He was extremely lethargic, was incredibly wobbly whenever he would try and move, refused to eat or drink anything, had labored breathing, but most alarmingly, was cold to the touch. I only just moved into my new house, so I didn't have a vet yet and was in the process of trying to find one, but within a few hours, my poor little guy died right in my lap. A mere week ago he was running around, full of energy and life.
When I looked online, everything I found regarding his symptoms pointed to him going into hibernation and dying as a result. But he was in a temperature controlled warm room for most of the time, and never somewhere drafty or cold. I also read that low lighting can make them go into hibernation, and I'm worried that my closing the blinds in his room is what killed him. Can reduced lighting make them go into hibernation? I wouldn't say this was low lighting, as there was plenty of light getting in through the open door to the bedroom, but it was less light than he is used to.
Also of possible significance, my husband, unaware that grapes are toxic to hedgehods, fed him grapes awhile ago. I caught him quickly and stopped him right away, so Bender only ate 1 or 2 grapes, and this was almost a month before his symptoms started. Also, his symptoms just seem to exactly fit a hedgie going into hibernation, or who is at least too cold. But I'm wondering if maybe he had some other health condition that caused him to become cold despite being in a warm environment.
Obviously my poor Bender is gone now, but I'm looking to try and find out if there was something I did wrong that I can prevent with future hedgies. If anyone could provide any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
I had written in this forum a few months ago regarding my hedgie Bender (4 1/2 years old) and the fact he had stopped eating, but this was fixed just by me getting new food for him. Since then, there's been a couple times where he would stop eating much for a couple days, but he always went right back to normal fairly quickly.
Recently, there was a heat wave. I kept Bender in a room without an air conditioning unit. The room was kept cool by the air conditioning in the house, but there was no actual unit (and thus no draft) in my bedroom. I found the temperature in my bedroom warm but not hot. Because it was so hot out, I kept the blinds closed in our room to keep him from overheating. However, a lot of light filters into the bedroom from the adjacent room, so the room seemed well lit, if not directly lit. His cage was freshly cleaned.
A few days ago he stopped eating. As he has done this before and always went back to normal, I didn't worry. But then he became very lethargic, in a way I've never seen him. He would spend a long time lying on his side, awake but not moving. I would take him out, he'd crawl around for a couple minutes, then flop over. I tried bringing him outside but he just crawled under a bush and flopped. He was also very wobbly when he tried to walk. I was worried, but by that night he was eating again and seemed to be improving. The next day he went downhill fast. He was extremely lethargic, was incredibly wobbly whenever he would try and move, refused to eat or drink anything, had labored breathing, but most alarmingly, was cold to the touch. I only just moved into my new house, so I didn't have a vet yet and was in the process of trying to find one, but within a few hours, my poor little guy died right in my lap. A mere week ago he was running around, full of energy and life.
When I looked online, everything I found regarding his symptoms pointed to him going into hibernation and dying as a result. But he was in a temperature controlled warm room for most of the time, and never somewhere drafty or cold. I also read that low lighting can make them go into hibernation, and I'm worried that my closing the blinds in his room is what killed him. Can reduced lighting make them go into hibernation? I wouldn't say this was low lighting, as there was plenty of light getting in through the open door to the bedroom, but it was less light than he is used to.
Also of possible significance, my husband, unaware that grapes are toxic to hedgehods, fed him grapes awhile ago. I caught him quickly and stopped him right away, so Bender only ate 1 or 2 grapes, and this was almost a month before his symptoms started. Also, his symptoms just seem to exactly fit a hedgie going into hibernation, or who is at least too cold. But I'm wondering if maybe he had some other health condition that caused him to become cold despite being in a warm environment.
Obviously my poor Bender is gone now, but I'm looking to try and find out if there was something I did wrong that I can prevent with future hedgies. If anyone could provide any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
.
