# hedgehog eating poop!!!! HELP



## kkw16 (Oct 22, 2010)

Hi

I am a new owner to hedgehog. Yesterday was the first day of me getting the hedgehog. He seems to be not so friendly but I think thats normal because is a new home for him. BTW he is already 1 year old i believe because the owner doesn't even know how old the hedgehog exactly is. I Believe I am the 3 or 4 owner of this hedgehog. I am using the white carefresh bedding now and it seems like is causing his to lick and sneezes a bit sometimes.

So back to the problem. 

Last night I was trying to potty train him and put all his poop on a dish. After that I went to sleep. I believe there were like 5 long poop at the night but this morning there is only 2 little ones left. I have a dish of Healthful LIFE cat chow food for him but he rarely eats it. he only eats like 8 - 10 pieces and drink like 10 zips of water a day. Why is he picking the poop not the food?

I am scared that tonight he will eat his poop again and not getting enough food.

HELP!!!
what should i do!

but other than that problem my hedgi is a lot friendly compare to the first day i play with him like 2 hours a day is that too much??


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Poor guy, hopefully he has a forever home with you. He sounds like he's an outgoing hog for being as active as he is with a sudden change in home, but he's probably gotten use to it to a degree.

Usually if they eat their own poop, it means they're either not getting enough food or they're lacking something in their diet, thus they eat the poop to try and reclaim some of the nutrients.

Main Question: Was he on Healthful Life Cat Chow before you got him?

Sudden food changes can cause upset stomachs, and hedgehogs can be picky eaters. My first hog I totally changed her food by mistake, and she totally ignore it and proceeded to dig around her cage for pieces of her old food. If you introduce new food, you need to do it slowly, add a little of the new kibble to see if they're going to eat it, while slowly removing the old kibble, to avoid an upset stomach.

If he wasn't on the Healthful Life Cat Chow, you need to find out what he was eating before, and offer it, even if its something not overly good for them, just because that was his diet before. Then slowly introduce the new food.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

This is the recommended cat food list for hedgehogs, most owners do a mixture of two to three.

I'm also a touch concerned over the sneezing and nose licking, it can be a sign of sickness. If he starts to discharge any colored snot from his nose, or sneezing grows worse and worse, he'll need to see a vet asap, as he might have an upper respitory infection.

It could also be just the carefresh, I think that stuff has some dust to it, and dust can make them sneeze, or possibly slightly allergic to it. You might think about using fleece, which is what most owners around here use. Its less of a mess and basically you spot clean the poop off it everyday, and then change the whole liner out every few days (when needed). In the long run you'll save money because you don't have to keep buying bags of bedding.

And last, 2 hours of playtime is no problem at all, if he's that out going about being out and about, that's good, and if you got the time to give to him, that's also good. It would only be a concern per say if he was attempting to hide all the time, or was going to sleep and you kept waking him up so he could play (not to be confused with waking them up for bonding time, like if he was playing and went to sleep).

But I would check into what he was eating before, if it was different, get some and offer it to him, and then slowly change it over.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

It could be a sign that he is needing another food and is lacking something he needs. I looked up the cat food and if its the one I seen the protein is a little high (I think it said 36%) I would try to slowly incorporate another food from the recommended food list. I believe the general rule of thumb is around 30% protein and under 15%fat (maybe a tad more for a hedgie that doesn't keep weight on).


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