# I'm afraid my hedgehog may be too thin



## Tiorfior (Jan 13, 2018)

I leave out a lot of food for her, and I can hear her eating during the day and at night. Her bowel movements seem pretty consistent, shes pooping, but when I pick her up or play with her, even just look at her, she seems really thin. When I pick her up, I can feel her ribs fairly easily and it feels like there's a lot of excess skin. She looks really slender. She's also really active at night and runs around everywhere. Should I see a vet? Should I be worried? I went to a vet about something else about a month or 2 back, she was about as thin as she is now and he didn't say anything about it. Should I change her food? She's quiet young still, if that helps. She was born at the very start of October. Is she just working off everything she eats? Or should I be worried? Thank you!


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

It definitely sounds worrying if you can feel her ribs. When looking down at her on a flat surface do her sides cave in like this ) ( ? If they do she is severely underweight. The ideal shape for a hedgehog is a tear drop so this what you should aim to get her to if her sides do cave in or if her body is straight | | then she also needs to put on some weight to get her more round at her bottom half.

What is the fat percentage of her food? Some hedgehogs are runner hogs and may need a slightly higher fat content than your average hog if they are more active and burning off their food consumption too quickly. Perhaps you can add a higher fat % kibble to her existing food to bump it up a bit. Just make sure you gradually add any new food as this can upset their stomach and may cause more problems such as food striking and losing more weight ~ I learnt the hard way with my boy! ><

I'd start weighing her every night (around the same time, such as before she poops and pees since this can change their weight by quite a few grams) and count out how many kibble you give her every night then recount them the following evening when you change out her food for fresh kibble. Also insects are a great way to help gain weight (wax worms, superworms and mealworms are all high in fat, especially wax worms ~ live or canned is best). My boy was underweight when I first got him (he's pretty petit for a hedgie anyways) but he has steadily gained over 100gs during the 1 year ive had him. Insects and a mix of premium quality cat foods (he was originally on crap hedgie food) were the key to getting him to gain weight


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## Tiorfior (Jan 13, 2018)

Is she's walking, her sides do cave in, but if she's just sitting there, she's more of a teardrop I feed her what the breeder told us too, and we haven't switched it out yet since we haven't had her a very long time and the breeder also suggested not changing it till shes 6 months old. She eats Purina immune health blend for indoor cats. I don't know the fat percentage, but I'll definitely keep the rest in mind. Thank you very much


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Hedgehogs less than 6 months old should have kitten food mixed with regular cat food. Purina is also not a good food to feed. I would add some high quality kitten food to it.


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