# Is My Hedgehog Choking?



## Hedgiehogs (Mar 11, 2016)

I left my hedgehog with my friend while I was on a exchange trip for three months. When I returned, I found out that she had been feeding felix a raw diet consisting of raw carrots, slightly cooked chicken (she left it a little pink in the middle because apparently that makes it easier to chew?), expired canned crickets and banana. She had been giving him a quarter cup of chicken a day and now I'm worried that he's too fat. She also said that after feeding felix the carrots he started coughing and making gargling noises. 

Since I have taken him home, he still has difficulty eating his kibble and I'm worried that there is still some raw carrot stuck in his throat! 

Is there anything that I can do?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

... Oh boy.

Well first, what does he look like when trying to eat the kibble? Is he struggling to chew it up? If so, try crushing it and see if he eats more. Or is he just uninterested in it? Are you seeing him make any gagging or coughing motions, or is he vomiting at all? If he still had anything actually stuck, you would likely see something like that. Is he eating anything at all and how much?

Secondary questions, how old is he? And how long exactly was he fed this diet? Was it the whole three months or only a few weeks?


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## Hedgiehogs (Mar 11, 2016)

I tried to crush up the kibble and he is still coughing. There is nothing noticeable in his throat but there was a small clump of what looked like dried up barf in the corner of his cage. I don't know how long that has been there...

Felix is 5 years old and weighs 490 g.
When I got him back from the sitter he was well over 600 g.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

He might be having trouble with the kibble being dry after eating a moisture-heavy diet for a while, but I'm not sure. I would really recommend making a vet appointment for him and get him in in the next day or two to get looked at, just in case. If you've been home for more than 2 days & he hasn't been able to eat at all, you'll want to prepare to syringe-feed him, though I would have the vet check him first just in case there is anything stuck. But if that's the case, he definitely needs to go in today or tomorrow so he's not going too long without food.

(Honestly, I have to say, I'd make your friend pay for the vet visit if it were me. I'm still kind of in disbelief that they would change your pet's diet so drastically without checking with you. And it wasn't even a good change, with such an unbalanced diet!  )


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