# hes not pooping or peeing



## crave4spikes (Oct 3, 2014)

hi my little guy has not pooped in a week im not sure why he has had superworms for the last 3 days or so because i heard it might help i have been giving him 2 a day i just rubbed one in olive oil just to make a thin coating but i dont know what else to do he wont eat pumkin and hes barley peeing just little bits i cant tell for sure if he is drinking but i cant tell if he is dehydrated or not i dont know how to check on them with hamsters or guinea pigs you pick up their skin on the back and watch the reaction time but with the spikes i cant do that


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Has he been eating his kibble? No more superworms for now. They're more likely to contribute to constipation due to the shell and protein content. You can do a pinch test on hedgehogs too, you pinch the skin between their shoulders where it's looser. If he's not been drinking, he could very well be dehydrated, and that could be causing the constipation as well. I would try to syringe him some water, and also offer some water heavy treats such as watermelon (which is usually popular with hedgies as well). Are you sure it's been an entire week with no poop at all? Are you sure he hasn't been eating it and that there's absolutely none in the cage? Because honestly, if it's been that long, I'd be heading to the vet right now. Impactions are very serious and can lead to death.


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## crave4spikes (Oct 3, 2014)

i cant tell if he has, no more worms for him i cant get him to stay out long enough to do the pinch test honestly im the second owner and have had him for 3 months and hes just starting to kind of get used to me ive had him out a lot also putting him on the floor and in his floor coral but anything little a sound or a movement he balls up and starts huffing he will come out in my hands i cant even touch under his quills without him balling up which is why i cant do the pinch test or force feed water which he needs will try watermelon need a recomendation of dry food, wet food, and pouch food if you can its at least been 4 days and i have him on towels now and he has little specs of poop all over but no logs like he did when i got him and i have only seen a little pee and some little poops on his wheel after i clean his wheel within a day the it looks like it has gone through a poop storm so i cleaned it and for 3 days barley anything how would i tell if he is impacted?


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## crave4spikes (Oct 3, 2014)

i just fed him some wellness pouch food like you recommended in another post and he finally ate so hopefully he will start to get better also on amazon one of the product reviews for Merrick purrfect bistro cat people hate the new formula which is wat i have been feeding him one also says it made their cat constipated and strangely enough they gave their constipated cat wellness food and it started doing great so i will keep an eye on him and keep you updated thanks also how many superworms should they have on a daily or weekly basis?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sorry for not responding, I had to sleep early & worked early this morning so this is the first chance I've had to check! I'm glad he ate something. Those Wellness pouches are great!  In the future, if you're not sure if he's eating or not, it'd be a good idea to count, measure, or weigh his kibble when you give him new food at night, and then count/measure/weigh it again in the morning. Personally I prefer to do that every night, regardless of illness, just to keep an eye on it. Often a decrease in eating is one of the first signs of illness with hedgehogs, and it's good to get all the warning we can since they're so good at hiding it!

Sounds like it wouldn't hurt to maybe try changing his kibble to see if it helps prevent more issues. Merrick is generally a pretty good food, but no one food works for all animals! If you do end up switching to Wellness, I just want to mention that some people have also had issues with Wellness causing loose, smelly poops with their hedgehogs, possibly due to being too rich. It may work for him if you want to try it, but just in case.

Just to double check, are the superworms live or freeze-dried? Freeze-dried is a bad idea since that can increase the risk of constipation or impaction due to no moisture. Superworms are bigger than mealworms, so I would go with maybe 2-4 a day & see how he does. It can be kind of experimental - some hedgies gain weight easily with high fat treats like mealworms (not sure if superworms are as high in fat, I know they have a better protein to exoskeleton ratio), and some are more easily constipated by a large number of insects due to the exoskeletons. Another thing I wanted to mention is that some people avoid superworms due to fear that they may bite the hedgehog & cause injuries (there have been cases with that happening to reptiles). There are some people that feed superworms with no issues, because hedgehogs chew them up so quickly & thoroughly. Just something to consider - if you continue feeding them, I would at least make sure you're feeding head-first.

Hopefully the extra moisture in the Wellness pouch food will help with his constipation issues. You could also add a little olive oil or flaxseed oil to the food to help out. If you don't seeing normal poop in the next day or so, I'd make a vet appointment and get him in, just in case.

Good luck & let us know how he does.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

A warm soak may very well help, too. It relaxes their muscles and usually has them release their bowels to get things moving. That trick was recommended by an exotics vet whom I trust entirely for a different animal, but it can't hurt. My Pepper poos every time I give her a bath so it may be worth a try! 
I mix chicken broth and pumpkin when my mom's cat is constipated to get him to eat it- works every time! wet cat food works too.


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## crave4spikes (Oct 3, 2014)

hi thanks for the responses i have fed him and watched him eat 1 wet meal a day i mixed olive oil pumpkin and pouched cat food he still hasn't pooped im at a loss at this point hes running on his wheel and his stomach does not seem bloated or hard he doesn't look like a sick animal to me anyway thanks for the help


scott


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Try the warm bath. I've not met a hedgie yet who doesn't like to poo their bath water. Have one set up for just after you wake him up for bonding time so you know he hasn't been hiding or eating his poo any time lately (because sleeping) and then set him in. Make sure it goes all the way up to his belly so the warm water gets on his tummy and bum.


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## crave4spikes (Oct 3, 2014)

i put him in a bath earlier today and sure enough he pooped i tried this before but he didnt i think the problem was he stopped eating and just didn't have anything to poop out he never looked sick to me he still doesent ive seen a lot of sick rodents in the 20 years of my life and he does not resemble one i still have to figure out the water situation i am pretty sure he is drinking he was weighing 365 g and now 375 g so he gained a little weight which is good he seems very happy i will keep you updated and thanks for the help


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

Yay for bowel movements! Was it a good consistency and color? If it was slimy and green, he might be stressed over something else, or the new food not feeling good in his tummy. Transferring from one food to another might just have made his stomache upset while he was getting used to it.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Glad to hear good news.  Hopefully he keeps eating from now on & doesn't worry you further!


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