# New hedgie not eating, losing weight :(



## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

We brought home a new baby on Friday, he was 235g when he got here, but he hasn't eaten much (I see kibble scattered around outside of his food bowl, but when you put them all back in, it doesn't seem like he's actually eating any of it - this is the same food his breeder gave me, and aside from trying to entice him to eat, which he hasn't actually eaten, he hasn't had anything different) and he hasn't pooped much either, and I weighed him today because he seemed a little sluggish/lethargic, and he's down to 210g  ETA, he was born 8/20, so he's just about 8 weeks old now.

Temperature in his cage is good, it's been holding steady at 78-79, but when the sun hits that side of the house in the afternoons it does raise to the low 80's for an hour or two. I don't think this is a hibernation attempt.. he seems okay when I take him out (not wobbly or anything), just a little less enthusiastic about getting away from me than he was a few days ago. He ran in his wheel the first two nights he was home, but hasn't since (or at least, the odometer doesn't show that he is, and I haven't seen him on it either).

I already tried calling my vet and they are closed today (I can probably get him seen tomorrow), but I'm not really sure what they could do for him if I can't get him to eat anything. He has been drinking some (I've watched him do that).

Any suggestions? I am going to go out in a bit and get some baby food and try syringe feeding him some. I've already tried offering some wet puppy food (already have it for my dog who I can't keep weight on) and he didn't seem too interested in it. I've also offered him some of the high fat kibble I give my dog (it's 32% protein and 22% fat, and very tiny pieces - smaller than a lot of the cat foods I have for my other hedgehog) but I only put about 20 of those in a separate dish and all of them remain.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Syringe-feeding him is a good plan. What kind of food did your breeder give you? Do you know how old it was? Sometimes if it's stale, they will stop eating much of it. You could try getting a new bag and see if he's more interested. Is there any light that might be in the room or on his cage at night, preventing him from coming out?

The lethargy/sluggishness could be from not eating enough, but could also be a sign of illness. I'd definitely start with the syringe-feeding, and maybe try a new bag of food. If that doesn't help and he's still not interested in food, a vet visit would be a good idea. Have you noticed any kind of URI-like symptoms like stuffed up nose, sneezing, runny nose, etc.? Sometimes URIs can make them go off their food because they can't taste much and they don't feel good.


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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

I haven't noticed any sneezing or other URI symptoms (no wheezing, running nose, etc). He seemed fine a few days ago, now, not so much, but it's more in a general way, nothing super specific besides the not eating.

I'm not 100% sure what food he was on before.. it looks to me like kitten chow (because it's X's and tiny hearts) mixed with mealworms and some very tiny pieces of dry fruit. When Webster (our first hedgie) came home (same breeder) I transitioned him off of it relatively quickly (over about a week) with no problems.

Now that I think of it though, with the kibbles being scattered around the cage, maybe there is something going on with his mouth... like he's trying to eat, but can't. 

Ugh, why do places have to be closed on holidays!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I hate that!  I didn't think to mention mouth issues, but that does sound like another good possibility. I hope you can get him into the vet tomorrow and that he cooperates with syringe feeding later. There's a sticky (and demo video) of syringe-feeding in the Health forum if you need any tips or anything! Keep us updated on how he's doing & what the vet says when you get him in.


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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

I'm no stranger to syringe feeding, but I needed to get some food that would go through the syringe easier, which thanks to a quick trip to the store, I have now 

I got most of 3cc of what I mixed up into him, which makes me feel better, even though he really wasn't a huge fan. I plan on leaving him alone until tonight.


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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

Tiny update, after I had dinner I fed him another 6cc of babyfood mix and held him for a little while and he seemed to have perked up a bit (he still doesnt' seem as active as he was Friday and Saturday), then put him back in his cage with a tiny dish with about 12cc of the babyfood mix, plus another tiny dish with some crushed kibble. I just checked on him about 4-5 hours later and the baby food was all gone except for some residue on the sides of the dish and about 5g of the crushed kibble was gone, so he did at least come out of his hut and eat a little on his own  

I cleaned and refilled the babyfood dish, so hopefully he'll eat some more of that tonight.

That's reassuring, but I'm still calling the vet tomorrow to get him checked out so we can try to figure out why he's not interested in the regular kibble.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm glad he's eating, that's a great sign! I'm definitely leaning more towards mouth issues, if he went right for the baby food and crushed kibble. I hope you guys get some answers at the vet tomorrow.


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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

He ate more baby food over night, but I still called the vet this morning since there were kibble pieces scattered all over again, without much evidence that any were eaten. However, thanks to the baby food, his weight was up to 226g this morning 

We went to vet this afternoon, they didn't find anything obviously wrong (good news!), but they did dislodge a baby tooth (a molar - it's so cute) during the oral exam, so I'm wondering if that was what was bothering him and if it could explain his avoidance of hard kibble.. the vet didn't seem to think so, but once the tooth came out he stopped struggling as much with them trying to get in his mouth to get a better look (I was holding him, so I could tell the difference once the tooth was out). He also pooped for the first time in 3 days while we were there, so they did a fecal exam and found no evidence of internal parasites.

(awwww!)









I was sent home with some metacam in case his teeth/gums are still bothering him, and told to keep feeding him the babyfood mix as long as he's eating it. They offered to sell me some A/D, but said since I was already giving him their next suggestion, which was baby food, I could just stick with that if I wanted - especially since he was not interested in trying the A/D while at the office AT ALL. Or the Mazuri insectivore gel. They didn't have any Carnivore Care, so we didn't try that, but I might order some to see if he'll eat that.

So hopefully he'll start eating more, and continue to put some weight back on.. if not, then the next step is to bring him back so they can sedate him for a more thorough oral exam and endoscope of his upper GI system, and x-rays to see if they can see anything that way.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

That tooth is so tiny!! Hopefully that was the problem and he'll go back to eating his kibble now. I love baby food as a supplement & soft food alternative, Lily always had a great time eating hers when I made her mixes. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he does better now!


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