Welcome to I Love Hedgehogs!

Dear readers,

Welcome to my hedgehog blog. I've always thought of starting a blog dedicated to my hedgehogs, Cactus and Quills, and perhaps spreading the love to other people.

Hopefully this blog will go on for years to come, and have everything needed for someone who wish to own a hedgehog.


Regards,
livingmonolith

Friday, January 16, 2009

Illnesses & Ailments

Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome
This illness is one of the most common you’ll find in hedgehogs. The hedgehog will lack mobility, and usually the legs will look ‘wobbly’ when moving, if it moves at all. This is due to the degradation of muscle control and up until now, there is no known cure to this illness. During later stages of the illness, the hedgehog will be unable to move, and will require regular observations and hand-feeding. According to reports, high diet of Vitamin E can hide the effects of this syndrome, but in actual it will do no better to heal. There have been mentions that the illness may be genetically inherited, but there is no evidence to prove this statement.

Cancer or Tumors
One of the fastest-spreading disease in hedgehogs, and very commonly found. The only solution is to bring your hedgehog to the vet regularly for check-ups and seek medical advices to cure this illness.

Obesity
Although not really an ‘illness’, it may lead to liver diseases if the hedgehog is having too much fat in the body. Poor diet and lack of exercise often points to obese hedgehogs, and it’s best to monitor your hedgehog’s food intake and prepare a proper diet. Wheels are also a good gadget to make sure your hedgehog have decent exercise to burn all the extra calories and fat in the body.

Green Poops
Some hedgehog owners may find their pet producing green and watery-texture stools instead of normal poops. Have your hedgehog traveled a lot recently? Did it fall from a high place? Had it been transferred to another home with drastic changes in environment? The usual cause of green poops is stress. When the hedgehog is having more than it can take, they’ll temporarily suffer from digestive disorders, although they will recover in days. Cheap cat-food and dairy products may also result in soft stools. Despite in countries like New Zealand where people are encouraged to place a tray of milk to attract wild hedgehogs to come to their garden and consume pests (insects), dairy is actually doing harm to a hedgehog’s body.

Mites
Constant scratching, flaky dry skin and loss of quills in concentrated areas are few symptoms that your hedgehog is having mites underneath its quills. Regular bathing (at least once or twice a month) will lower the chances of infection. Also, clean and disinfect the cage and supplies regularly will help. Change beddings. Locally, you’ll be able to find Frontline spray which can be used if your hedgehog is already infected with mites.


Although I haven’t come across anything from the list above (fortunately), I thought it would be useful to write something about hedgehogs’ common illnesses just in case anyone notices these symptoms in their pet hedgehogs. These will be useful information for all hedgehog owners, or those who intend to have one as pet.

9 comments:

  1. hi i would jus like to say i care for wild hedgies all through the year and have several residents in my gdn and on any mild eve can see as many as 12 individuals over a 2hr period feeding on bird scraps and cat meat(beef/lamb)and cat biscuits, there has been a steady decline in the last 3-4yrs mainly due to the lungworm but in the last year inc the last 3days have had 3 youngsters suffering this wobbly leg syndrome its a worrying escalation to an already at risk native animal and this year have hardly seen any babies,so now very troubled indeed about their immediate futures, thankyou for the chance to comment about something i hold very dear to my heart. Andy, from Wilts

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just got my first hedgehog today, he was flown in from texas and i have a questio, my hedgie has been kind of sneezzing and weezing, he has a little bit of a runny nose and dried mucus around his nose. Should i be worried?? and if so what should i do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Take him to the vet immediately! It could have a very serious infection that could kill it in a very short length of time if not treated.

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  3. please help

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  4. is there a good hedgehog breeder in toronto canada?

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  5. Hello, My poor little hedgehog is turning blue and I don't know why!His legs, ears and tummy are blue. He is very weak. Also, I was wondering if the 'green lump' on his back (growing under the quills) are mites? I was bathing him not too much ago and it fell off completely, now it has grown back and has bled. I'd really appreciate your help, thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Take him to the vet! He could have a tumor causing bad circulation of blood in the body. Get him treated or he will likely die.

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  7. Our female headgehog suddenly has a protrusion coming out of her bottom. It appears to be an internal body part. It's a red oval lump w/ common looking thin skin for an internal body part. She does not show any signs of pain and is acting completely normal.

    She is 2 yrs old & has been very healthy. She is of normal weight.
    She did have 1 pregnancy in the Spring a few months ago.
    The 1 baby died. I do not know if it was alive at birth but it died.
    What do we need to do?
    ssgr8@gmx.com

    ReplyDelete