Every single hedgie parent should know, “what do I do if my hedgehog is choking?” If it ever happens to your hedgehog, know these steps can mean the difference between life and death for your quill baby. In the moment, time is of the essence, so watch and learn the steps you need to take if your hedgehog is choking. We pray that it never happens to you, but it's always better to be prepared.
Here is the transcript for “What do I do if my hedgehog is choking?”:
Hey hedgie fans!
My human recently saw a question in one of the hedgehog communities. “What do I do my hedgehog is choking?”
Since it’s pretty important to know BEFORE it happens, she asked me to do a special video.
Whatever you do, don’t panic! You need to remain calm so that you can properly deal with the situation.
First of all, how do you know your hedgehog is choking?
Well sometimes it may look like they are gagging or trying to vomit and there are obvious signs of distress. Vomiting isn’t the same as anointing. If you don’t know what anointing is, look back at a previous video I did or read the article about it on the website.
A possible sign of choking – rather than gagging – are if you see their reverse mohawk drawn forward into a V multiple times in a row. It’s not the same look as when they ball up in defense mode.
Now let’s cover what to do if your hedgehog is truly choking
It bears repeating…don’t panic! It won’t help your hedgie or you! Often a choking hedgehog has gotten something caught in the roof of their mouth (which is also called their palate).
If they are able to get air then watch and wait to see if they are able to loosen it on their own. If they still are choking and beginning to show signs of distress, you’re going to have to help them dislodge it.
Get a cotton swab and remove the cotton off the end. Or you can use something else that had a blunt tip. My human keeps a chopstick at the ready, thought she’s never had to use it with me yet. If you have a medicine syringe around, you can probably use that too.
This isn’t going to be easy, but you’ll need to pry your hedgehog’s mouth open at the sides of their mouth.
If you see something stuck to the roof of their mouth, take your blunt stick and sweep outward AWAY from their throat. This is very important! You don’t want to send it back into their throat!
If you see something at the back of their throat PLEASE DON’T try to dislodge it. It’s too far back and it’s more likely to go further down and into their lungs. You don’t want your hedgie to aspirate on a foreign object!
If you don’t find anything stuck to their palate, or if you see something in their throat, it’s time for extreme measures. You’ll have to do what’s been called the Hedgie Heimlich, but it’s not ANYTHING like the Heimlich maneuver for a human adult or infant.
In fact, if you try the human Heimlich maneuver on a hedgehog, you may hurt their back! Watch my friend Amber demonstrate the Hedgehog Heimlich in the background video. She’s performing it with one of her hedgehogs that is completely fine to demonstrate with and they aren’t being harmed in any way!
You want to make sure that you support your hedgehog’s stomach and back firmly. You’re going to be using inertia to bring the object forward, so you don’t want your hedgehog to go flying.
Support your hedgie firmly and faced away from your body. You want to extend your arms out in front of you. Swing your arms suddenly and in one fluid motion downward in an arc toward your feet.
DON’T swing your hedgie back up but lift them normally and check them.
If the centrifugal force hasn’t dislodged the choke object, repeat the steps of swinging them swiftly downward in a continuous arc as previously described. After a few repetitions of this motion, the object should come flying out. That's pretty much all there is to it.
If you any questions about hedgehogs, let me know in the comments below or on my website!
If you’d like to learn more about us hedgies, please comment, like, and subscribe to my channel so you’ll know when there’s a new Ask Quilly video!
Until next time, Bye for now!
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