Hedgehog boarding and sitter preparation: temperature first

Quick answer

Where possible, the hedgehog stays in its own enclosure and a sitter comes to it. Moving the environment is the risk.

The single thing that goes wrong when a pet hedgehog is boarded is temperature. African pygmy hedgehogs are tropical animals, and when they get cold they attempt to hibernate. They are not equipped to do it, and a hibernation attempt is frequently fatal.

Most boarding facilities are set up for dogs, cats and small rodents, and a room temperature that is comfortable for all of those is dangerous for a hedgehog. Assume the person caring for yours does not know this unless they tell you first.

• Ask what the temperature will be, how it is maintained, and what happens in a power cut.
• Send the enclosure, the heat source, the thermostat and a thermometer with the animal, or use a house sitter instead.
• A hedgehog off food for a day is a medical situation, not fussiness.
• Send the exact food. Diet changes on top of a house move cause food strikes.
• Write down that self-anointing looks alarming and is normal, or your sitter will panic.

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A cold hedgehog attempting hibernation is an emergency.

The signs are a cool belly, a wobbly or unsteady walk, a hedgehog that stays tightly curled and will not uncurl, or one that is cold, slow and unresponsive. Warm it gradually with body heat against your chest or in a warm room, contact a vet immediately, and do not apply direct heat from a hot water bottle, a heat pad without a cover, or a hair dryer. Rapid heating is dangerous, and a hedgehog that has been cold needs assessment even after it warms up.
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Decide in 60 seconds

Why temperature comes before everything else

Pet hedgehogs are descended from animals of warm, dry regions. They do not have the physiology of the wild European hedgehogs people picture hibernating in a garden.

When the environment cools, a pet hedgehog's body still attempts the response it has inherited. Activity falls, it becomes slow and unsteady, and the belly goes cold. Because it has not prepared with a seasonal fat reserve and because its metabolism is not equipped for the process, it declines rather than sleeping safely.

A hedgehog found in this state needs slow, gentle warming and veterinary attention. Even one that recovers with warmth should be examined, because attempts often reveal an underlying reason the animal was struggling to hold its temperature: illness, weight loss, or a heat source that had already failed.

Overheating is the opposite failure and it also happens in boarding.

A hedgehog that is too hot lies flat and splayed out rather than curled, pants, drools, and may lick at itself repeatedly. Rooms that are heated for other species, conservatories and rooms with afternoon sun all cause this.

This is why the temperature question is the first one you ask.

Ask what the room will be held at, what equipment maintains it, whether the heat source is thermostatted, whether there is a thermometer where the hedgehog is rather than across the room, and what the plan is if the power fails.

A facility that answers those clearly is a facility that has hedgehog experience. One that says the room is nice and warm has not thought about it.

Choosing the arrangement

A sitter in your home is usually best.

Nothing changes: same enclosure, same heat source, same smells, same wheel, same food. The hedgehog's routine is disturbed only by the person visiting, and hedgehogs are asleep for most of the day anyway.

The trade-off is that nobody is present overnight, so equipment failure is found in the morning rather than immediately. Mitigate that with a backup heat source and, if you can, a remote thermometer that alerts you.

Boarding at an exotics-experienced facility or a vet practice.

Better for a hedgehog with a medical condition, on medication, or elderly. Ask specifically whether they have kept hedgehogs before, not whether they take small animals.

A friend's house.

Workable, and often the practical answer, but only if the whole setup moves and the temperature question is answered. Someone who keeps hamsters is not therefore equipped for a hedgehog, because hamsters tolerate a temperature range that is dangerous here.

Taking the hedgehog with you.

Sometimes the right answer for a short trip in a car, and sometimes not permitted at all. Hedgehog keeping is restricted or banned in some countries, states and cities, and crossing a border with one can be an offence. Check the rules at the destination before assuming.

What to send, and why

Send the whole setup, including unwashed bedding. Familiar scent reduces the stress that stops a hedgehog eating.

Send the enclosure itself if it can be moved, rather than transferring the animal into an unfamiliar one.

Send bedding that has not been washed. Scent continuity does real work in getting a stressed hedgehog to settle and eat.

Send the exact food, in more quantity than you think is needed. Hedgehogs frequently refuse an unfamiliar food outright, and a food strike in a small animal escalates quickly.

Send the wheel. A hedgehog without a wheel does not simply exercise less. It becomes frustrated, gains weight, and shows stress behaviours. Send the same wheel, because the surface and the noise are both familiar.

Send the heat source, the thermostat and a thermometer, plus a spare heat source if you own one. Equipment that is set up and working at home is more reliable than equipment improvised on arrival.

Send the litter or substrate you use, and the same litter tray if you use one, so droppings look the way the sitter has been told to expect.

The written brief

The thermometer belongs at the level the hedgehog lives at, not on a wall across the room.

Verbal instructions do not survive a week. Write it down, keep it short, and put it on top of the food.

Temperature. The range to maintain, where to read it, and what to do if it drifts.

Food. Exact food, exact quantity, when it goes in, and what treats are allowed. Include the limit on mealworms and why: they are high in fat and low in usable calcium, and free-feeding them is a route to obesity and poor bone health.

Water. Bowl or bottle, and how you know it is being drunk. If the hedgehog uses a bowl, note that it will get bedding in it and needs changing daily.

Weight. Ask for a daily weight on the kitchen scale and a written number. This is the earliest warning of a problem and takes seconds.

Droppings. Normal is dark brown and formed. Green, slimy, or very loose droppings mean the hedgehog is not eating properly or is ill. Blood is urgent.

Wheel hygiene. Hedgehogs run and defecate at the same time. The wheel needs cleaning daily or the hedgehog stops using it and gets soiled feet.

Handling and normal behaviour. Huffing, clicking and balling up are normal defensive behaviour and not a sign of illness. Explain self-anointing in advance: the hedgehog contorts, foams at the mouth and spreads saliva over its quills after tasting something new. It looks exactly like a seizure to somebody who has not seen it before, and it is normal.

Quilling. If your hedgehog is young enough to be losing quills, say so, and note that finding quills in the bedding is expected.

Medical. Existing conditions, medications with doses and timings, the vet's name, address and out-of-hours number, insurance details, a signed authorisation for treatment, and a spending limit you are comfortable with. Without written authorisation a practice may be unable to treat promptly.

The red flag list to leave with the sitter

The timeline

Four weeks before. Book. Confirm temperature arrangements in writing. Check your hedgehog's weight and condition, and take it for a health check if anything is uncertain, because problems are easier to manage before you leave than remotely.

Two weeks before. Buy extra food so there is a surplus. Confirm the vet will accept the sitter and has your authorisation on file.

One week before. Write the brief. Do the trial night if you can. Weigh the hedgehog daily so you have a baseline range rather than a single number.

The day before. Pack the enclosure, unwashed bedding, food, wheel, heat source, thermostat, thermometer, litter, medications and the written brief. Photograph the setup as you normally run it, so it can be rebuilt exactly.

On the day. Transport in a secure carrier with familiar bedding, kept warm. Never leave a hedgehog in a car that will cool down or heat up.

The marker of a successful stay is a hedgehog using its wheel and holding its weight, not a hedgehog that was quiet and no trouble.

On return. Expect a quiet couple of days. Weigh straight away and compare with your baseline. Check feet for soiling and for any thread wrapped around a toe, check the wheel is being used, and watch droppings for two or three days.

What never to do

Do not board a hedgehog somewhere that cannot state and control the temperature.

Do not change the food at the same time as the environment.

Do not send a hedgehog without a wheel.

Do not use a hot water bottle, an uncovered heat pad or a hair dryer to warm a cold hedgehog.

Do not assume a hedgehog that is quiet and curled up is simply sleeping if it is also cool to the touch.

Do not leave a hedgehog with someone who has not been shown how to weigh it and what number to expect.

Do not skip the written veterinary authorisation. A sitter without it may be unable to get treatment started.

When to get help

Get veterinary help immediately for a hedgehog that is cool to the touch, wobbly, unwilling to uncurl, or unresponsive, and warm it gradually on the way.

Get help the same day for a hedgehog that has eaten nothing for 24 hours, that has green or bloody droppings, that is straining, or that is breathing with visible effort.

Get help promptly for a hedgehog that returns from boarding lighter, quieter and still not eating properly after two or three days at home.

Bring the record. The vet will want the daily weights, what was eaten and when it stopped, the temperatures the animal was kept at, what the droppings looked like, and any change in food or environment during the stay.