Our landlady turned off the heat at night, and we didn't have a heat lamp for him. I was asleep when Don came home and found him hibernating -- a deadly coma-like stage for African hedgehogs like Sax. He tried to warm him up for an hour and a half, and he looked like he was improving a little bit. But when we woke up the next morning, his body was stiff. Our little hedgehog is dead.
Nowhere in our hedgehog research, nor in the care package provided to us by our breeder, did anyone mention hibernation. Temperature was casually mentioned ("your home's room temperature is typically fine") but no recommendations were made for heat lamps or extra insurance against the cold (i.e., anything under 65° F). No one mentioned that if your hedgehog begins hibernation will he die within hours. We were clueless new hedgehog owners and now our little guy is dead.
We buried him under a tree in his coconut shell home in the backyard. We cried. The Wizard is confused.
RIP little man -- you were a great pet.
1 comment:
We were avid followers of Sax. Sorry to see him go. Perhaps he knew more about the impending Frankenstorm than the media is telling us.
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