# Help Milo's overweight :(



## funkybee (Mar 27, 2009)

This past year has been kinda crazy and I havn't had much time for Milo  I've been Taking care of him just not sociolizing as much as I should. And I'm ashamed to say he's gotten quite fat (578g) What do I do?? I've been topping off his bowl every night with 1/8 of a cup of food but theres usually still some left from the night before, how much should he be getting each night? I have been feeding him Wellness weight managment/Now grain free senior&weight managment/Natural balance green pea and duck, but I'm thinking of replacing the Wellness because he clearly doesn't like it as its the last thing left in his bowl every morning. I would like to switch him to a more natural diet, making him a variety of veggie mixtures and cutting back on the kibble as well as increasing his mealworms and crickets;would this help with his weight? He definatly uses his wheel but is not very active otherwise. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2011)

Crickets are lower in fat then mealworms and other works if you increase the insects and reduce kibble I would go with crickets, there's a few topics on baby food mixes to get your hedgehog down in weight on here you should check out as well. I would also check your hedgehogs legs is their fat on them and can your hedgehog ball up? if you have had less time to handle/socialize I would assume your hedgehog is more likely to ball up if the ball is complete you just have a big hedgehog, not and over weight one 

That's the tricky part about hedgehogs each has its own size and what is over weight just like humans.

Do you count the mix of kibble? You said you top it off and there is always a few left, how few? You want some kibble left but not too much. its very rare a hedgehog gorges itself aside from if its a treat like bugs or a favorite fruit or something.

In some cases swimming has proven a way to manage weight but this can cause dry skin so be sure to provide extra care


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Yes, increasing veggies and fruit will help. Go easy on the fruit because of the sugar. And TWO is right - if you increase insect consumption, go with crickets over mealies as they're lower in fat. 

Does your hedgie wheel? Do you know roughly how much? What type of wheel?


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2011)

I posted a log recently for wheeling activity and if you have a CSW you can ask LarryT how to hook up a speedometer to track your hedgehogs wheeling


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## funkybee (Mar 27, 2009)

His legs are definatly chunky thats waht caught my attention, and he can roll into a ball but his nose is still exposed. I don't count his kibble but I do measure it when I make a mix and when I put it in his bowl.
Yes he has a bucket wheel and I have to clean it every day so he definatly uses it. but whenever I see him use it he only runs for about 20 second then hops off then he'll hop back on and run a few more seconds :roll:


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2011)

I would invest in a speedometer so you can track using my log or something similar to know how fast and how many miles he is running a night.

It might be worthwhile to count an exact amount say 80 kibble and see how many are left, you want there to be like 5 to 10 piece left in the morning for margin of error and some days maybe he's a bit more hungry. If there's more then that left over cut it back but ensure there are leftover kibble in the morning this helps track health issues and know a better grasp on you hedgehogs habits.

I assume your weighing every day, I suggest doing so if not and around the same time each day, I attached it in this post .

A good time is the morning after they've eaten, run, and pooped for accurate results (one poop can be quite a few grams lol)

review the kibble contents and cut back on the one with higher fat contents to help with it as well and try a mix with baby food to see if that will help


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

How big is Milo's cage? Does he have very much room to run around when he's not wheeling? Liam likes to run in "spurts" on his wheel as well, but in between he'll run around the cage like a madman. Especially if you don't have as much socializing time as you used to, having more cage roaming time might help burn some extra calories! 

As others have said, crickets are a good low-fat treat, and adding more fruits and veggies is healthy too. Good luck - let us know how it goes!


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## funkybee (Mar 27, 2009)

He's cage is not as big as I'd like (but neither is my apartment) I think That's definatly part of the problem, he loves to run around and explore the livingroom but that has not happened too often lately  I will definatly be taking him out for daily exercise time from now on.

Heres a pic. And don't worry he's in his travel cage in this on,we were visiting grandma lol


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2011)

definitely overweight from what I can see hope you utilize some of the resources


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

funkybee said:


> He's cage is not as big as I'd like (but neither is my apartment) I think That's definatly part of the problem, he loves to run around and explore the livingroom but that has not happened too often lately  I will definatly be taking him out for daily exercise time from now on.


I certainly understand having a little apartment! Liam's cage is a 3x2 C&C, it probably takes up like a third of the loving room floor. :? Thankfully my roommate doesn't mind.

Sometimes when I take Liam out I'll put him in the bathtub for a bit first. Since there aren't really any places to go hide in there, he'll run around a lot. Mostly I do it so that he uses the bathroom before playtime, but maybe it would help Milo get some exercise too? Just a thought.  He's adorable by the way!


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## funkybee (Mar 27, 2009)

I don't have a tub  but I could set up his playpen fence in the kitchen and let him run around till he does his business, that's a good idea then let him loose on the carpet which is where he really likes to explore.


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