Health advice for Hedgehogs, please.

[Hedgehoggy]

Originally Posted by Malx

Cheers for your input, Hedgehoggy. Regarding the description of this voodoo magic, you, VF and PaulineMiller use, you mentioned Just to clarify, do you mean to stroke downwards from the highest point above the earth - i.e. at the top of the back, or "downwards" as in from the head towards the hedgehog's tail?
Be nice to know for sure, thanks.

Sorry, I could have worded it better! Yes, downwards direction, as in starting at the head and working down to rear end!

[Malx]

Cheers for that. Still sounds like voodoo, but I suppose that's pretty normal for you Yorkshire folk ! I'll try it some time when I need to, and if I can pluck up courage!

On a separate note, should you find time to read this, I've had a little visitor since March 27th. He was quickly christened "Thirsty" on Day One for seemingly obvious reasons.
I thought it a male, as it's large, active, indelicate and slightly clumsy. I assumed he might have a kidney condition, or worms, or intestinal problems, or maybe even diabetes.

He seems to leave my hedgehog house barely 15 feet from the feeding station quite early (about 8.30 in the evening), eats heartily for 12-14 minutes - about half meat, half other things - then goes to the water bowl and slurps for anything up to 5 minutes! He then seems to go back to the hedgehog house....
Why, at 9pm at night?

The last 2 days the same hedgie has followed the same pattern but seems slightly more doddery. He appears a tad disorientated, and doesn't seem to find the water or the house quite as easily.

[N.B. My 'wonderful', cheap CCTV camera was brill for the first week, and I was learning absolutely loads, but the Infra Red packed up and I only have audio just now. Therefore my info is now out of date and very limited. I hadn't marked them yet, so they're all still just distant acquaintances!]




Okay.




I woke at 4am today and couldn't get back to sleep, so here are 4 of the theories that went through my tiny mind:

1) 'Thirsty' is unwell. I haven't seen him tonight (for the first time in ages) so I'm getting worried...
2) I'm imagining it all.
3) It's a different hedgehog altogether. My new CCTV camera packed up a while ago, [only about a week after hibernation ended] and my close observation has been utterly distorted before it really started to make sense. I do seem to have somewhere between 2 and 7 (?!?) hogs... so I'm just not sure. 'Thirsty' is in my diary as a hog who wheezes. But he hasn't done that for a week or so, so it could have been someone else; or maybe it was just a temporary condition like a cold. He also used to 'cluck' like a geiger counter, but doesn't do that any more either - could the clucking have been a sign of insecurity which is no more; or is it a different hedgie?
4) "Thirsty" is a pregnant female. (?)

Any thoughts at all would be gratefully received.

P.S. For the record, Hedgehoggy, I'm certainly more Poirot than Marple, given the fact I'm short, fat, male and arrogant!

[Marcia]

Originally Posted by Malx

P.S. For the record, Hedgehoggy, I'm certainly more Poirot than Marple, given the fact I'm short, fat, male and arrogant!

You're Watson then, elementary.

5 minutes doesn't seem too long. My hogs also lap on the water bowl forever. Their mouth are funny and the design is bad (water get in the nose first). A big hog (around 1kg) normally drinks all the cat bowl full of water per night around here.

Hedgehoggy is away so my suggestion is to hognap Thirsty while she's not looking! I won't tell. Use the Chanel 30-seconds-dry nail polish you've bough and mark her to keep an eye, specially if she's got buns in the oven...

About the camera, buy cheap, buy twice. Can't you get a replacement from the warranty? Or was it that cheap?

The software to record my IF cam is pretty annoying and a bit useless... I wish I've bought a better one...

[Malx]

Originally Posted by Marcia

You're Watson then, elementary.

5 minutes doesn't seem too long. My hogs also lap on the water bowl forever. Their mouth are funny and the design is bad (water get in the nose first). A big hog (around 1kg) normally drinks all the cat bowl full of water per night around here.

Hedgehoggy is away so my suggestion is to hognap Thirsty while she's not looking! I won't tell. Use the Chanel 30-seconds-dry nail polish you've bough and mark her to keep an eye, specially if she's got buns in the oven...

About the camera, buy cheap, buy twice. Can't you get a replacement from the warranty? Or was it that cheap?

The software to record my IF cam is pretty annoying and a bit useless... I wish I've bought a better one...

Cheers, Marcia. It's just instinct tells me it's a she - on the face of it you'd say it's a he - and the drinking is more than all the others I've seen yet.
I hope it's a pregnant female, if I'm honest.

You're right about the marking - every night in my hh diary I promise to try to mark them, but it's against my wildlife religion to interfere. I will do in time.
I'm away for a week, and will buy a decent camera when I get back, and will mark them then. Not convinced about nail polish though, girl, though I confess my experience with it is very limited!
Wouldn't something white like Tipp-Ex be better?

Will be in touch soon, and thanks!

P.S. I did find the receipt from my super-cheap camera, and it was half price in Lidl, so I doubt they'll have any more of them ("once it's gone it's gone"), and I reckon I got my money's worth if only in seeing what's possible. The Manufacturer 'Dexplan' has wisely ignored my schoolboy German with the begging Email I sent them!


P.P.S. Gave up pipe-smoking when I was a student! But you're right about the cameras. When you know you're serious, there's no point mucking about and pinching pennies in getting a decent system.

[HedgehogRescue]

Be very careful feeding cheese, it should only be given in small amounts as a treat. Ideally you should stay away from feeding any products containing lactose no matter how low the content. The problem is, if you have a compromised animal suffering with bowel problems such as enteritis, adding lactose to the mix at any level could be fatal.

Blood in stools can often be down to a problem and if it's more than just a spot then I'd get the animal looked at.

You can get a cream cheese from most places now called Lacto-Free and, as it says on the tin, it has no lactose. I've yet to find a hog that won't eat it and I often use it in the hospital for reluctant feeders but again, small amounts mixed in with other solid food to give them the roughage they need.

[HedgehogRescue]

Originally Posted by Malx

Cheers, Marcia. It's just instinct tells me it's a she - on the face of it you'd say it's a he - and the drinking is more than all the others I've seen yet.

A hog that's come out of hibernation will drink bucketloads to rehydrate itself.

[Malx]

Originally Posted by HedgehogRescue

Be very careful feeding cheese, it should only be given in small amounts as a treat. Ideally you should stay away from feeding any products containing lactose no matter how low the content. The problem is, if you have a compromised animal suffering with bowel problems such as enteritis, adding lactose to the mix at any level could be fatal.

Blood in stools can often be down to a problem and if it's more than just a spot then I'd get the animal looked at.

You can get a cream cheese from most places now called Lacto-Free and, as it says on the tin, it has no lactose. I've yet to find a hog that won't eat it and I often use it in the hospital for reluctant feeders but again, small amounts mixed in with other solid food to give them the roughage they need.

Sorry not to reply earlier, HR. Just catching up on what I've missed as I've been away for a couple of weeks, and I missed your wise post above.

Will curb the curds in future!

P.S. This Lacto-free cheese "from most places". Have tried googling and yes, it's stocked in a nearby supermarket, so I'll buy it when I'm passing next.
Suspect their 200g pack's a total rip-off, but probably no greater a sum than I'm paying each week to my Pecan Nut wholesaler!

[HedgehogRescue]

Erm yes it's not cheap but it's cheaper than mealworms and most other stuff hogs seem to like. They cost us a fortune!

LOL, I just noticed I'm turning into a broken record. I just posted very similar info on the other thread re cheese.

Ummmm now about those nuts........