# Senior citizen?



## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Hard to believe, but my little boy Beck will be three in just a few weeks. He's in relatively good health, but at what age are hedgies considered "getting up there in years?" I have a few general questions:

1. He's slowing down with his wheeling and sleeping more than he used to. This is probably pretty normal right?

2. He had a really bad bout of something last winter (probably mites. He lost a LOT of quills, and was awfully grumpy. I've been treating it ongoing with Revolution and clean cage and regular baths) . He doesn't seem itchy, and his quill cover is good, but he STILL loses an appreciable amount of quills. Before he got sick, it was rare for him to ever lose a quill. Now he loses about on a regular day. It doesn't seem to bother him, though he is a bit huffier than he was in his youngre days. Ideas?

3. He's always been a skinny hog, and it occurs to me that I should try and keep a bit more weight on him. Not to make him fat, but just so that if ever gets sick, he'll have some reserve. I think he's a pretty good weight now, I'll try to get pics later. 

He eats a mix of wellness, natural balance green pea & duck, and Performatin salmon & olive oil, plus little bits of beans, peanut butter and veggies. Any thing else I could be doing to keep him going strong? He's my constant little stealth companion at university, and I want to make sure his life is long and happy.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Early Happy Birthday to Beck! 

Sounds like you are doing everything right, I don't know of anything necessary to change/add. If you are worried about any arthritic symptoms you can pick up a jar of glucosamine chondroitin tablets from a pharmacy, crush them up, and put a pinch on his food once in a while. Not that you should at only 3 years old but you can keep an eye on his teeth, and soften it if it seems like dry food is getting hard for him to eat.

Three isn't too old though, I wouldn't worry. I would say senior citizen would be around 4 or so.


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## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

Don't know if this will help but here's my experience:

Riley is three and he wants the Snuggle Disk for more heat. I'd consider bumping the heat up slightly over the next year or supplying additional warm area for him to be in if he wants it.

Riley's teeth are terrible, little nubs, keep an eye on your hedgie's teeth and the past few months I've been wetting his food slightly (not mush) thanks to a suggestion on here. He seems to be eating more since I started doing that, first symptom was more and more food being left each morning, now cleans his plate.

All my hedgies have a spare quill in their bed here and there. I think they use it as a knife at night to ward off leprechauns.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

krbshappy71 said:


> All my hedgies have a spare quill in their bed here and there. I think they use it as a knife at night to ward off leprechauns.


 :lol: Well, I heard leprechauns LOVE moist cat food! :lol:


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Pics! Not being very photogenic lol


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Beck is adorable!


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## EryBee (May 23, 2010)

Beck might be taking extra leprechaun precautions by laying a defensive layer of quills around his cage


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Well you tell Beck I said he is very handsome and looks very youthful for his age!


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Thanks  Is it normal for the facial mask to fade with age? I feel like his face is "paler" and around his eyes looks a bit dull and tired. To compare, here's his face when he was a baby, and had a super dark mask


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

emeko said:


> Thanks  Is it normal for the facial mask to fade with age? I feel like his face is "paler" and around his eyes looks a bit dull and tired. To compare, here's his face when he was a baby, and had a super dark mask


Yes. There is a thread on color fading. 
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3125
You have baby pictures! - I am SO jealous!! :mrgreen: 
What a cute baby Beck was.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

WOW, what a difference in his mask after (almost) three years! He's really gotten lighter, hasn't he? Still so very cute, though, that's one thing that hasn't changed. <3

Happy early birthday Beck!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It's very normal for masks to fade, sometimes to almost no mask at all. Usually it's happening by a year old.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Quigley is about 4 years old now and he looses about 3-4 quills a day (sometimes just 1-2). His quills have grown more sparse on his back in the last two years (didn't have him before that). There was another thread somewhere on quills loss in older hedgies. I can try and find it it might help answer your question.

Update: I could not find that thread last night. I fell asleep searching through something like 900 results.


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Happy early birthday Beck! 
He's a cutie!


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