The last 48 hours have been harrowing to say the least.
On Saturday I decided to check on Sonny as I was pretty certain she was attempting to hibernate and I needed to check she was heavy enough to hibernate safely. You see, to hibernate safely a hog needs to be well over 600gms - preferably around 800gms to be on the safe side. Let's wind the clock back 7 weeks ...
Sonny's first month after being released was successful and wonderful to witness. She was busy and seemed happy pottering around her garden during the night. Her weight at release was 981gms; down a bit on her heaviest which was 1075gms, but she had been on a hunger strike prior to her release so I wasn't too concerned. Hogs will go on hunger strikes when they are depressed and I was worried this was the case with Sonny This is why I was so desperate to get her moved into her garden.
Over the next month, her weight dropped little by little until by April the 25th she'd dropped to 883gms but I wasn't too concerned as her level of activity had increased enormously and she was obviously burning more calories.
She was however, still totally refusing to eat any food I provided for her - I guess wild food is just so much more exciting!
Before releasing her we used to get Sonny out during the day for a little R'n'R in the garden and although it's pretty hard to tell what a hog is thinking, Sonny seemed to enjoy it, busily exploring the lawn and the fernery. She took quite a shine to Miss Effie as well.
But towards the end of her time in the pen Sonny became quite grumpy and didn't seem to want any interaction so I backed off and decided to see if her demeanor changed once she was in her garden. I was still very aware that her level of stimulation had gone through the roof and I didn't want to overload her so I kept it pretty hands off.
We had decided that we'd let Sonny 'go wild' and after a few weeks in her garden she seemed to really be getting her wild hog on even deciding to move herself out of her hutch and set up house underneath a bale of pea straw that I had sitting in one of the raised garden beds. For a week I diligently got her out every morning and popped her back into her hutch so that I could be assured of her safety during the day because the gates of her garden were often open. I hadn't counted on Sonny being so stubborn though and at the end of that week I gave up and let her stay in her nest after covering the bale with some plywood to keep the rain out and shutting the gates when we were out.
So, back to that day in April. I decided to get Sonny out from her bale nest to make sure she was ok as we'd had extremely heavy rain. She agreed to uncurl for me and seemed much more her old, nosey self. While she went for a little walk on the lawn I crawled around after her - yes in the mud, to assess her claws which I was very concerned were getting way too long. A hog usually walks a good 2-3kms a night, often on roads and footpaths and this keeps their claws - especially their back ones, nicely trimmed. Sonny had been in captivity all her life and had had her claws trimmed once under anaesthetic but they had had no attention since she came to me. It turned out her front claws were fine as she'd been doing plenty of digging but her back ones were far too long to be left as they were.
Picture this - small hedgehog is tottering around the lawn. Human is crawling after said hedgehog on hands and knees wielding a pair of nail clippers. As hedgehog extends back leg, human gently scoops back leg aside, stopping hedgehog from retracting leg as hedgehog curls up. Human speedily applies clippers to claw before letting foot go and waiting - again, for hedgehog to uncurl and walk again. This process went on for 45 minutes and resulted in 5 claws being trimmed. A sterling effort all round I thought!
I was really encouraged by Sonny's attitude and weight that day and felt she would be ok to be left for another month before I attempted to trim her claws again and the weigh her so I popped her back into her bale nest - after modifying it a bit by lining it with soft hay and removing the baling twine which was precariously close to her nest. The twine is dangerous as she could have gotten tangled in it or gotten a thread wound around one of her toes, leading to involuntary amputation.
I closed Sonny's gates and then came inside but decided to check on her a few minutes later. I'm so glad I did as she had come out of her nest and was bumbling around, very confused and disorientated. I could almost hear her muttering under her breath about the idiot who had messed up her perfectly good nest. She totally refused to go back into her nest so I scooped her up and popped her into her hutch, locking her in. She threw a pretty good tantrum for a few minutes before settling down and going back to sleep. That night she moved herself back under the bale digging a new nest, as the old one was obviously not acceptable any more. Two nights passed and after that really heavy rain I went out to check on Sonny. I had made it a habit to check her hutch every day and was surprised and relieved to discover that Sonny had moved back 'home' - especially as the weather had started to turn really cold.
The next few weeks brought increasing disquiet and worry for me as I wasn't seeing Sonny out and about when I went out to check her at night. She also felt really cold when I checked her in her bedroom. Normally when you go looking for a hoggie in their bed the closer you get to the hog the warmer the bedding gets. Sonny felt ice cold and I suspected she was going into hibernation. I wasn't too sure how I felt about that because although it is a natural phenomenon it was very early in the season and I wasn't sure she was heavy enough to pull it off.
By May the 17th I decided I just had to disturb her and make sure she was ok so I put the scales in her hutch, got her up and weighed her. Absolute panic ensued as the scale read 560gms. This was really, really bad because at that weight Sonny would die if she hibernated. She was also very cold, and totally unresponsive but her breathing was still visible which meant she wasn't in full hibernation. Partial hibernation is also dangerous because whilst the hog is sleeping and not eating their body hasn't shut down enough and they continue to consume valuable body weight.
After a few calls to Narelle, we decided to bring Sonny inside into one of my hospital boxes, on an electric heat pad to warm her up. It took all day but she finally surfaced and said hello. This was good, but that night she again ate very little and I decided I would take her to the vet for a full range of tests to try to determine what was going on. Just before we were due to leave I got Sonny out and weighed her...
OMG...
I couldn't believe my eyes - the scale read 810gms. WHAT???? WHAT?????????
Ok, so the scale had read incorrectly in the hutch; opps, which is good. But the question regarding eating and hibernation remains. For now, I am going to keep her inside on the heatpad to see if I can get her weight up a little - and to get a poo sample to send off to the lab, which is pretty much impossible with her not eating because nothing in = nothing out! So far, Sonny is popping her head out of her bed to say hello to me which is good and she seems to be alright - ish.
In regards to moving her back outside, I have decided to put the electric heatpad into her bedroom (hmm cord out the window... not great but there ya go) to hopefully prevent hibernation. I'll spend the next few days beefing up the insulation in the bedroom part of her hutch which will; I hope, keep the power consumption down to a sane level!
The things we do.....
On Saturday I decided to check on Sonny as I was pretty certain she was attempting to hibernate and I needed to check she was heavy enough to hibernate safely. You see, to hibernate safely a hog needs to be well over 600gms - preferably around 800gms to be on the safe side. Let's wind the clock back 7 weeks ...
 | |
| Prior to release - polishing off a snail in her pen |
Over the next month, her weight dropped little by little until by April the 25th she'd dropped to 883gms but I wasn't too concerned as her level of activity had increased enormously and she was obviously burning more calories.
She was however, still totally refusing to eat any food I provided for her - I guess wild food is just so much more exciting!
 |
| What kind of Hedgehog are you? You've got no prickles! |
But towards the end of her time in the pen Sonny became quite grumpy and didn't seem to want any interaction so I backed off and decided to see if her demeanor changed once she was in her garden. I was still very aware that her level of stimulation had gone through the roof and I didn't want to overload her so I kept it pretty hands off.
 |
| Look closely and you will see Sonny's tunnel |
So, back to that day in April. I decided to get Sonny out from her bale nest to make sure she was ok as we'd had extremely heavy rain. She agreed to uncurl for me and seemed much more her old, nosey self. While she went for a little walk on the lawn I crawled around after her - yes in the mud, to assess her claws which I was very concerned were getting way too long. A hog usually walks a good 2-3kms a night, often on roads and footpaths and this keeps their claws - especially their back ones, nicely trimmed. Sonny had been in captivity all her life and had had her claws trimmed once under anaesthetic but they had had no attention since she came to me. It turned out her front claws were fine as she'd been doing plenty of digging but her back ones were far too long to be left as they were.
Picture this - small hedgehog is tottering around the lawn. Human is crawling after said hedgehog on hands and knees wielding a pair of nail clippers. As hedgehog extends back leg, human gently scoops back leg aside, stopping hedgehog from retracting leg as hedgehog curls up. Human speedily applies clippers to claw before letting foot go and waiting - again, for hedgehog to uncurl and walk again. This process went on for 45 minutes and resulted in 5 claws being trimmed. A sterling effort all round I thought!
 |
| Hmmm, what can I smell in this grass? |
I closed Sonny's gates and then came inside but decided to check on her a few minutes later. I'm so glad I did as she had come out of her nest and was bumbling around, very confused and disorientated. I could almost hear her muttering under her breath about the idiot who had messed up her perfectly good nest. She totally refused to go back into her nest so I scooped her up and popped her into her hutch, locking her in. She threw a pretty good tantrum for a few minutes before settling down and going back to sleep. That night she moved herself back under the bale digging a new nest, as the old one was obviously not acceptable any more. Two nights passed and after that really heavy rain I went out to check on Sonny. I had made it a habit to check her hutch every day and was surprised and relieved to discover that Sonny had moved back 'home' - especially as the weather had started to turn really cold.
The next few weeks brought increasing disquiet and worry for me as I wasn't seeing Sonny out and about when I went out to check her at night. She also felt really cold when I checked her in her bedroom. Normally when you go looking for a hoggie in their bed the closer you get to the hog the warmer the bedding gets. Sonny felt ice cold and I suspected she was going into hibernation. I wasn't too sure how I felt about that because although it is a natural phenomenon it was very early in the season and I wasn't sure she was heavy enough to pull it off.
By May the 17th I decided I just had to disturb her and make sure she was ok so I put the scales in her hutch, got her up and weighed her. Absolute panic ensued as the scale read 560gms. This was really, really bad because at that weight Sonny would die if she hibernated. She was also very cold, and totally unresponsive but her breathing was still visible which meant she wasn't in full hibernation. Partial hibernation is also dangerous because whilst the hog is sleeping and not eating their body hasn't shut down enough and they continue to consume valuable body weight.
After a few calls to Narelle, we decided to bring Sonny inside into one of my hospital boxes, on an electric heat pad to warm her up. It took all day but she finally surfaced and said hello. This was good, but that night she again ate very little and I decided I would take her to the vet for a full range of tests to try to determine what was going on. Just before we were due to leave I got Sonny out and weighed her...
OMG...
I couldn't believe my eyes - the scale read 810gms. WHAT???? WHAT?????????
Ok, so the scale had read incorrectly in the hutch; opps, which is good. But the question regarding eating and hibernation remains. For now, I am going to keep her inside on the heatpad to see if I can get her weight up a little - and to get a poo sample to send off to the lab, which is pretty much impossible with her not eating because nothing in = nothing out! So far, Sonny is popping her head out of her bed to say hello to me which is good and she seems to be alright - ish.
In regards to moving her back outside, I have decided to put the electric heatpad into her bedroom (hmm cord out the window... not great but there ya go) to hopefully prevent hibernation. I'll spend the next few days beefing up the insulation in the bedroom part of her hutch which will; I hope, keep the power consumption down to a sane level!
The things we do.....
OMG! Jen I can visualize you crawling around after Sonny!
ReplyDeleteWhat a little Imp, to put you through all that worry...
I hope she continues to do well!
Hugs and Prayers!
Sharon
Yes, she's a toe rag and is still sulking ... She did trash her 'room' last night though, which is a good thing.
DeleteYou're a wizard Jen. The care, detail and attention is blowing my mind. I hope Sonny is doing well.
ReplyDeleteShe's still a worry. After two nights back in her hutch (after my Here be Dragons post) she moved herself out and is now residing under a comfrey bush which I've put a cover over and stuffed with hay. I have no idea how she is getting on because if disturb her to check on her she gets very confused and upset so I'm not sure what to do.
Delete