# Introducin my hedgehog bessie.



## laurennicole (Oct 16, 2008)

Hi,
Heres info on my hedgehog bessie. She's 3 yrs old. I just got her yesterday.I put on a classifides site 'In Search OF a hedgehog' and like 2 weeks later i got an e-mail from someone whos was geting rid of a free hedgehog she said she was very mean so i went and got her and she was not mean just a tiny bit shy but she acts really sweet.Her birthday is today she turned 3 today.She has freckles on her face. my sister has a hedgehog and i have been training him so i have some experiance with hedgehogs. she is overwieght because the person i got her from fed her way to much so im trying to help her lose wieght any advice ? :?: she has a wheel but she likes to run on it for 20 seconds.


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## Gnarly (Aug 29, 2008)

Welcome to the site, and congratulations on your new little girl!

Can she roll completely into a ball? 
What kind of food are you feeding?


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## laurennicole (Oct 16, 2008)

thank you she can not completly roll into a ball i dont know what food she has but shes running out of her food all i know is the girl i got bessie from was feeding her hedgehog food that she orderd online but she ran out so she gave me this mistry cat food thanks,lauren


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Can you describe the look of the food? While many look a like we may be able to give you a hint as to what the mystery food is.

My recommendation. Don't try to do too much to her to make her lose weight right now. Allowing her to settle into your home is the most important thing to concentrate on initially. You may find that after she settles she starts to lose weight. Maybe her cage wasn't big enough, the previous owner was feeding her mostly high fat foods, or too many fatty treats, or maybe her wheel wasn't always in the cage, the temperature wasn't warm enough, etc. Lots of possibilities.


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## numothehedgehog (Aug 30, 2008)

Congrats.
Get some pics!!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Congrats! Hope she settles in nicely.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2008)

Here are a couple helpful articles with suggestions and info:

http://www.hedgehogvalley.com/obesity.html

http://www.pawprintonline.com/central-h ... hefty.html


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## laurennicole (Oct 16, 2008)

hi,
bessie is settiling in very well and i already know not to start her on a diet until she settles in. Heres what her food looks like it has little star and circle shaped brown cat food. i only have a ziplock bag of it. heres a pic of her i just took yesterday tell me what you think heres the link to the pic http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=11sickz&s=4 thanks,lauren


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## hedgieMate (Aug 28, 2008)

laurennicole said:


> ...and like 2 weeks later i got an e-mail from someone whos was geting rid of a free hedgehog she said she was very mean so i went and got her and she was not mean just a tiny bit shy but she acts really sweet.


I am so glad you got Bessie from the original owner (if you ask me, the original owner was the "meanie" in this story, not Bessie.:x ).

I'm glad that you're getting good advice on here too. I agree with Kalandra not to be too concerned about her weight until she settles in first. But after that, you can start feeding her with high-quality low-cal/low-fat cat kibble. You can also scatter the kibble in the cage to encourage her to forage food in the cage too. Good diet and exercise are the key to a healthy life. She may start wheeling more once she loses a bit of weight when you switch her to better cat food.

I'm sure Bessie will lose some weight eventually under your better supervision and will turn into a slim, healthy, and happy hedgie. Give her a big birthday hug from all of us. A very happy birthday, Bessie!


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## laurennicole (Oct 16, 2008)

THANK YOU ALL!! for all the helpfull responces and for being so kind!!   :idea:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Congratulations on your new girl.

I notice you mention your sister has a boy hedgehog. I just want to remind you to keep her well away from him. At her age a first pregnancy would probably kill her. Don't even let them have supervised playtime because mating can happen very quickly.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Oh my! My picture of little Bessie is a bit foggy, but she is just adorable. And those 2 little toofers that I see!!! Her face is so sweet and gentle. Now, if it happens that you cannot locate her one morning when you wake up its because................................ I KIDNAPPED HER.......... thats how adorable I think she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## laurennicole (Oct 16, 2008)

shetland thank you so much for that funny comment!! and for all the wonderfull things you said about her i already know that if you put them together they will have babys. lol


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