# Allergies???



## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

warning very long post . .I've posted this on a couple of hedgehog forums I'm part of too but I just want people's opinions on it :S

(it's about my african pygmy hedgehog by the way)

I've had a headache practically all afternoon ever since I decided to clean out my hedgie's cage and I finally managed to fall to sleep and I woke up (probably about half an hour after) with an extremely blocked nose, itchy mouth, itching inside my ears, wheezing, coughing, swollen and red eyes, etc. and I got up to turn the light on and my hedgie was asleep in the middle of his cage just lying down almost on his side. . .I've seen him do it before but it's not something he normally does. . .he normally goes into his house to sleep or is on his wheel at night. . .but like I said I've seen him do it before but he didn't even move when I opened the door to the cage so then I panicked but I could see him breathing . . I didn't want to poke him and startle him but I didn't want to just leave him so I put a dried mealie in front of him which normally makes him spring up and look for it because he smells it right away! He didn't and then I resorted to touching him and he got up really sleepily like he normally would if it was the middle of the day and he is tired. . .

but anyway he ate the mealie and I got him out to have a quick check of him because it seemed really odd and his eyes were a little bit pink around the edges like my own are and his skin behind his ears looked a bit pinker than normal. . . So I've taken his bedding and cage liner out and moved it out of the room and put a different one in that was washed separately to the one he had in.

He's in there eating and drinking now so I'm sure he's not unwell or anything.

And my symptoms are slowly subsiding too now that it is out of the room. . . The chances are he was lethargic and pink eyed because I cleaned his cage in the afternoon and he's been awake almost all of the time since then, he started wheeling much earlier than he normally would so perhaps he thinks it's more like 5am rather than half 1?

It just seemed odd that I was experiencing these symptoms and my nose is so blocked and I can't stop sneezing and he was unable to smell the mealie right in front of him so maybe his is blocked too? I feel really terrible if he has had some sort of reaction to it especially since I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't feeling so unwell as well.

I just hope that it's just coincidence that he decided to sleep in the middle of the cage again and that he's been up longer so wheeled earlier and has now finished and I hope I'm over analysing it because if he feels anything like I do then I feel so guilty!!!

I'm not normally a person who gets hay fever so I very much doubt it's sudden extreme hay fever symptoms in the night haha

he seems perfectly fine now though, he's just had some more to eat, had another drink and gone inside of his house.

I'm going to be up every 2 minutes now checking on him because I was so petrified when he didn't move when I opened the cage! I don't even know what made me lo0k in on him either I just did.

does anyone else think we might have been experiencing the same reaction to something?
I really hope it was just coincidence like I said. . . 
I hope he was sleeping in the middle of his cage because the temperature is a bit high in my room at the moment . . . he's also been moulting a bit recently but on another post someone said this was relatively normal for this time of year with the warmth as long as it's only his underside hair, not quills and he doesn't have any actual bald patches. . . which he doesn't

now he is digging around inside of his bed because he has an electric heat mat under his cage . . . he does this quite often though when I've had him out on my bed and then I put him back in he moves his bedding material around and tries to make a little warm nest 

Sorry for the amazingly long post I feel really silly posting this but like I said I'm just a bit worried and it just seems really strange that my breathing has returned to normal and the itching has stopped (still got a completely blocked nose and slightly puffy eyes) and he looks fine again and is acting normally ever since I moved the cage liner out of the room :/


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

How long have you had huim hun? I would have thought it uinlikely that you develop such a severe reaction to him so suddenly if you have had no problem before! But obviously this does sometimes happen!

I find that all of my lot (but i have no hedgehog!) take a while to settle into the cage on cleaning day...new smells etc make it harder i guess.

Have you used a new cleaning fluid? 

The lethargic hedgie...could he be too hot?


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

I don't think I'm allergic to my hedgie  well at least I hope not! I think it's more likely that we're both allergic to the washing powder because we were both fine when I'd taken his cage liner out of the room and put different stuff in :/ I'm still feeling the effects a bit because my eyes are still a bit puffy but he's fine he seems happy now he's not got red eyes and he's fine 

I do think he was a bit too warm too because it really was hot in here. . .I didn't want to open a window though because then he could have gotten too cold and then tried to hibernate so I just opened my bedroom door to let a bit of air flow in 

he seems alright now I just feel terrible if he was feeling anything like I was! haha

I wash his cage with baby shampoo because his liner stops his cage floor getting any po0p on it so I don't disinfect I just roll the liners up, shake them off in the bin and then shove them in the washer  I use baby shampoo just because it's mild and it's the same stuff as I used to clean his feet so I know he's fine with it 

I think it's just the washing powder, I asked my mum today and she agrees it is most likely that she said I've always been sensitive when she used to change it when I was younger even if she'd used it before.. . . i just hope it's a one off otherwise I'm going to have to wash all of my clothes again too!!! hahahaha

thanks for replying


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Ohhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Sorry misunderstood there!

Awww bless you both have such a special connection that you are developping synchronised allergic reactions 

Oh well I hope it doesn't flare up again...for either of you!


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

hahaha it kind of makes sense for us to be sensitive to similar things though because we live in the same environment, he is literally next to my bed and I spend so long in here all of the time because I've got a lot of uni work to do.

I've known people on forums to buy hedgies and then find they are allergic to them, that would be awful, they've had to give them up. . .He's so cute though I'm quite sure I would dose myself up on tablets and keep him hahahaha


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Nico0laGouldsmith said:


> hahaha it kind of makes sense for us to be sensitive to similar things though because we live in the same environment, he is literally next to my bed and I spend so long in here all of the time because I've got a lot of uni work to do.
> 
> I've known people on forums to buy hedgies and then find they are allergic to them, that would be awful, they've had to give them up. . .He's so cute though I'm quite sure I would dose myself up on tablets and keep him hahahaha


Awww I know it would be awful!! Maybe he had a sympathy reaction...sympathetic to his Mummy


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

hahaha awwwww  he's a cutie so probably  haha


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