Hedgehog freak out
Wherein my hedgehog completely loses his mind and acts as if he's been dosed with something...
Elric is normally a bit huffy and was never particularly friendly, but has never bitten anyone and is usually quite content to chill out on my lap for hours at a time.
I was holding him on my lap late last night and all of a sudden he FREAKED OUT. He went from totally asleep curled up in a ball in my hand to popping, huffing, heart racing, and squirming like crazy. I thought maybe I spooked him and lifted the blanked off of him so he could sniff my hand (which usually calms him) and he bit me!
I held him for a while in a blanket and he popped continuously huffing and growling and squirming all over (and biting the blanket). At first I didn't want to put him down because I didn't want him to think he could scare me off, but he's acting so weird I finally put him back in his pen to see if I could figure out what's wrong.
He went to his food and devoured a bunch, then went to his water and drank a whole lot, and has been running around frantically, jumping at nothing, shaking his head (possibly indicative of ear problems) and occasionally even carpet sharking (sliding along on his tummy like a ferret). I checked him over as best I could and didn't see any injuries. He pood on me a little while I was holding him (also unusual) so he's not constipated, but he's acting like someone put cocaine in his food or something, all twitchy and paranoid.
As of this morning just the sound of my boyfriend draxius and I talking while he was getting ready for work was enough to set Elric off in a huff fest. He was also flinching away from my hand for a while but seems to have gotten slightly better with that.
I've got a vet's appointment tomorrow for him and my new hedgehog Bilbo (a rescue who is currently quarantined). His skin looks beautiful though, and it was so sudden I'm really hoping it was some sort of bug bite. I gave him a bath in the hopes it would soothe him a bit, and it did for a while but once he started drying off he seemed to be going back to the huffing. I've got him in a quiet corner in a steralite bin with a vellux lining (normally he's in a larger pen) and he's sleeping now. I feel so terrible as he just seems inconsolable.
Bilbo is not particularly grumpy and hasn't lost any quills or anything, but he has not been particularly good with petting. That's not uncommon in a new home as it supposedly takes them a while to feel comfortable so I wasn't pushing that, but with Elric's freak out I decided to check his skin and it is awfully dry and flaky so I ended up setting up an appointment for both of them for tomorrow morning.
Edit: At this point it's looking like it is probably mites, though there is a possibility that it may be a bug bite or an ear infection. Sorry this wasn't clearer from the post, I pretty much C&Pd this from two posts on the Chins & Quills hedgehog discussion board and there were a couple of response posts in the middle which made things clearer in the original discussion.
Elric is normally a bit huffy and was never particularly friendly, but has never bitten anyone and is usually quite content to chill out on my lap for hours at a time.
I was holding him on my lap late last night and all of a sudden he FREAKED OUT. He went from totally asleep curled up in a ball in my hand to popping, huffing, heart racing, and squirming like crazy. I thought maybe I spooked him and lifted the blanked off of him so he could sniff my hand (which usually calms him) and he bit me!
I held him for a while in a blanket and he popped continuously huffing and growling and squirming all over (and biting the blanket). At first I didn't want to put him down because I didn't want him to think he could scare me off, but he's acting so weird I finally put him back in his pen to see if I could figure out what's wrong.
He went to his food and devoured a bunch, then went to his water and drank a whole lot, and has been running around frantically, jumping at nothing, shaking his head (possibly indicative of ear problems) and occasionally even carpet sharking (sliding along on his tummy like a ferret). I checked him over as best I could and didn't see any injuries. He pood on me a little while I was holding him (also unusual) so he's not constipated, but he's acting like someone put cocaine in his food or something, all twitchy and paranoid.
As of this morning just the sound of my boyfriend draxius and I talking while he was getting ready for work was enough to set Elric off in a huff fest. He was also flinching away from my hand for a while but seems to have gotten slightly better with that.
I've got a vet's appointment tomorrow for him and my new hedgehog Bilbo (a rescue who is currently quarantined). His skin looks beautiful though, and it was so sudden I'm really hoping it was some sort of bug bite. I gave him a bath in the hopes it would soothe him a bit, and it did for a while but once he started drying off he seemed to be going back to the huffing. I've got him in a quiet corner in a steralite bin with a vellux lining (normally he's in a larger pen) and he's sleeping now. I feel so terrible as he just seems inconsolable.
Bilbo is not particularly grumpy and hasn't lost any quills or anything, but he has not been particularly good with petting. That's not uncommon in a new home as it supposedly takes them a while to feel comfortable so I wasn't pushing that, but with Elric's freak out I decided to check his skin and it is awfully dry and flaky so I ended up setting up an appointment for both of them for tomorrow morning.
Edit: At this point it's looking like it is probably mites, though there is a possibility that it may be a bug bite or an ear infection. Sorry this wasn't clearer from the post, I pretty much C&Pd this from two posts on the Chins & Quills hedgehog discussion board and there were a couple of response posts in the middle which made things clearer in the original discussion.