So sorry!
A special Kitty hug.
Losing such a faithful and loving old friend is never easy.
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Ugh. Pet hedgehogs need a bit of special care regarding heat, since if they get too cold they’ll go into hibernation. If they hibernate they’ll never wake up since they don’t have the fat stores.
We’ve got extra heating for Her Highness’s daytime estate (a large rubbermaid tub) and evening estate (a medium rubbermaid tub) and have thermometers and insulation to be extra sure she’s safe.
Last night when I went to get her from her daytime estate to hang out a bit with her then get ready for bed she quilled into a full ball which she doesn’t normally do. Eventually she opened up a little and I managed to persuade her to unfurl, and she was so cold. Her head, her paws, her belly, all way too cold and she was really sluggish and lethargic with her eyes usually half open. She was barely responding to anything, even things that would annoy her normally. Totally terrifying. I held her in front of a space heater for hours aiming the heat at different areas to warm her up more consistently and eventually she warmed up both physically and personality-wise, and she was fine by 3 AM. We put her evening estate next to the bed so we could monitor, and we were occasionally woken by her crunching away at cat food or running on her wheel.
She’s in a good mood now and is warm, we need to check for drafts or other things that could have let her home get that cold.
Since this is a picture thread, here are a few holiday ones:
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whoa whoa whoa, you’re telling me that wild hedgehogs have a lifespan of <1 year in any climate that has winter? or is it that pet hedgehogs indoors lack the weather cue to start bulking up to hibernate?
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Yeah, it’s this one, wild hedgehogs have a lot of environmental cues to start building up their fat stores come Autumn, but pet ones don’t.
LOL
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So I went to the zoo and saw monkeys and kitties and dogs and horsies and heffalumps and…
Meerkat pig pile.
Kitty!
John Waters bird!
Giraffes and a giraffelette.
Kitty with canine companion!
Gorilla ain’t got time for nonsense.
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Great photos. Aren’t Meerkats cool, yet troubling? They’re such cute animal Mafiosos.
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The hedgehog remains in a better state, and we’re happy to report that she’s annoyed, since that means she’s healthy.
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Meow, what zoo is that?
LA. I recognize the giraffe pen.
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Nope, that would be the World Famous San Diego Zoo!
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Well damn! That giraffe pen sure looks like the one in LA… oops!
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Brah, do you even zoo?
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And @TobinL I love zoo too. I mean The zoo.
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Oh man, you skipped the capybaras?
Woops. That was supposed to be a response to @monkeyoh.
Ha! I thought of @japhroaig when I saw the capybaras. They were (oh so cutely) napping in the dirt and were too far away for me to get a good photo.
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Do they have gibbons or siamangs at the San Diego zoo? They are absolutely amazing to see swinging and jumping from branches (though also, horribly, endangered because humans suck.)
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Siamangs are among my all-time favorites. They were just chillin’ yesterday, but I’ve been there to see them brachiate through the trees (or their jungle gym, in the newer enclosure), and listen to them vocalize with their hoot hoot hoot…
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