# Sketch-Normal Size Female?



## Jen.Uh.Fur (Mar 29, 2011)

Once again we were told this one was a boy. We were finally able to confirm, and it's a girl. A very big girl at that. Is this a normal size for a female? Or does she look like she's pregnant? Paired with the digging she has been doing the past couple days we are worried now.


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## vbno1 (Mar 27, 2011)

im not sure how to tell is she eating a lot more you need to put a nest box in there just in case probably im not an expert but im trying to help and if she gives birth dont bother the baby's for a while and make sure theres food in there for her and the hoglets is she is


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## habs_chick (Jan 23, 2011)

I have a boy hedgie and he's pretty small so i wouldn't really know...she may just be overweight but i dunnooooo....looks kind of pregnant to me. imo anyways. hopefully she's just overweight! ...i really dont understand why people that sell hedgehogs don't know how to sex them properly...it doesn't seem that difficult to me :S ....where are you getting these hedgehogs from?! whoever it is doesnt seem too professional  poor little guys


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## Jen.Uh.Fur (Mar 29, 2011)

The first day not much. But she has been eating in the morning and at night. She just had 30 kibbles. And she ate about 15-20 this morning. And she has had a bit of carrots.

habs_chick, they aren't. After the mess with Petunia we will never go there again to buy anything. We were really uneducated about pet store hedgies.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

She looks pretty big and if they thought she was a boy, they may have been keeping her in with the boys. It doesn't take very long to get baby hedgies started...

They all seem to dig though, boys and girls...I don't think digging is a conclusive sign of anything.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

She does look big, but that's not a definite sign of pregnancy. She could just be overweight. There's really no way to tell for sure if she's pregnant, so the best thing to do is assume that she is. You'll have to be prepared for babies for 55 days after the last day she was at the pet store. Be cautious when going to do anything with her cage, listen for squeaking. Make sure she's eating and drinking. If she does end up having babies, the wheel will need to removed from her cage and she needs to be left alone entirely, except for changing food and water. No peeking, no taking her out, no pictures, nothing. No changing bedding either, until the babies are fully grown.

Hopefully she's just overweight, but it's best to be prepared. If she ends up having babies, there's some great breeders on here that can help you through it.


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## habs_chick (Jan 23, 2011)

Jen.Uh.Fur said:


> habs_chick, they aren't. After the mess with Petunia we will never go there again to buy anything. We were really uneducated about pet store hedgies.


I don't blame you. I wouldn't either. When I got Bobo he had mites and I was pissed. I could only imagine what you went through with Petunia. (Bless her little soul) 
but as other people have mentioned, it's best to be prepared for the worst. 
I wish you the best of luck if she is pregnant!


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Oy Jen.Uh.Fur, yeah sadly pet stores are hit or miss, usually miss. Its hard to tell if a female is preggers, some will show obvious signs, others will not. Like others have said, the best you can do is count 55 days since you got her, and mark the calendar, and read everything you can from the Breeders & Babies section here.

As much as I hate to say it, I'd call and ask the pet store if she was kept with other males, I'm going to guess probably yes, especially if they thought she was a boy.

If she's on fleece, change it to aspen or something other than fleece, since if she does have babies, it'll be at least two weeks before you can even think about changing it.

And like everyone else said, be careful when you go to bond with her, set her up in a room where she will be disturbed the least, and if she does have babies, you just let her be, change the food and water once a day and talk quietly to her while doing it, remove wheel, etc.

Its basically a 50-50 chance, my girl Hester was housed with her own brother when I got her, but somehow managed to not have been pregnant, so there are chances of dodging a bullet.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Hopefully she's just big-boned! Guess we'll all find out. But either way - she's so much better off with you!


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

> If she's on fleece, change it to aspen or something other than fleece, since if she does have babies, it'll be at least two weeks before you can even think about changing it.


Actually if she does have babies you can't clean the cage until the babies are weaned. At two weeks you can "spot" clean. Meaning you take out a handful of dirty bedding and replace it with a handful of clean bedding when you feed. You can't clean the nest or even spot clean it till the babies are weaned.


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## zorropirate (Aug 13, 2010)

Goodness!! 

I'm so sorry for your loss of Petunia, but so happy for Sketch to have a good chance at a happy life with you.


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