# Hedgie stopped eating | What's an URI?



## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

Joey is ill, I think. He's not eating well, only a fw kibble a night, unless he gets mealworms (which he gets 12-18 of every 2 days), he eats them all. He sometimes get high-quality wet catfood, mixed with a little bit of goat's milk (he loves goat's milk). His stool's good, not that much though, but I think that's because he's not eating that much. He gets really skinny now and I get more worried every day. He has been trying to go into hibernation like, 6 weeks ago. Could that be the cause? Or could it be something else? Are there any tips on feeding a hedgie with a syringe, because he's been very grumpy lately and I can't handle him atm without his blanket, even though I spend a lot of quality time with him. 

And then I had another question. Everywhere I hear about URIs, but what are they? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm not a native english speaker and my dictionary doesn't quite explain it. 

THanks!! 

Ivy & Joey


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

You would want to syringe feed him now. He's losing weight, and being malnourished. Try the corner of their mouth to get the syringe in. 
It could very well be related to the hibernation attempts.
URI = Upper Respiratory Infection.
I'd bring him to the vet in order to get it checked out...


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

He NEEDS to be syringe fed!

Pick up some plain meat baby food, or some canned Hill's A/D or Medical Recovery (any vet clinic will carry this) or take his regular food and make it into a wet soup mush. Pick up a syringe from a pharmacy/pet store/vet's office. 

Syringing steps:

1) Get a towel, it will be messy
2) If you can get some sort of glove with a grip on it, you will need to "scruff" your hedgehog by taking your hand and gently grabbing the loose skin of the back of his neck - this prevents him from not balling up.
3) Draw up some liquid food in the syringe, then squirt it back into the bowl. Repeat until the liquid is smooth and not chunky (chunks get stuck in the syringe)
4) Insert the syringe into the SIDE of the hedgehogs mouth (do NOT point it straight back to the throat, this will cause choking and aspiration pneumonia = food in the lungs)
5) Slowly squirt a little food into the mouth. Let the hedgehog chew AND swallow, then repeat.

You need to aim to get a good 5-10 ml (preferably more) into your hedgehog at LEAST 4 times a day, preferably every 3-4 hours if you can. 

ALSO NEVER FORCE THE SYRINGE IF IT GETS STUCK - TAKE IT OUT OF THE HEDGEHOGS MOUTH FIRST!

You also NEED to take this hedgehog to a knowledgeable vet ASAP!

A URI or UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION shows symptoms of runny nose, sneezing, etc. Does your hedgehog have this?

A Hibernation attempt can cause a URI and other sickness. Please make sure your hedgheog is kept even WARMER than before the hibernation attempt. Around 78-80F is best at this point. You should also put some heating pads / hand warmers in the cage as when they are sick they need more heat.

Another reccommendation is to pick up some cat food called "Royal Canin Babycat", the pieces are tiny and high in fat. Put them in the hedgehogs bed as he may be too sick to get up and eat.

I hope everything goes well and wish him a full and speedy recovery!


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## MissIvy (Sep 10, 2011)

Thank you guys for the good advice! Last night he got a bowl of plain chicken (boiled) and some mealies (about 15). He almost ate it all and I was really glad he ate it. His kibble are still almost untouched. Today I'll start syringing him. Is there any good recipe for it? 

I have Royal Canin Kitten at the moment in his regular kibble. I do have Hills A/D already, since the vet recommended to give him a little bit of that once a week. 

So, if I mix the RC Babycat with the RC kitten (so he eats something of which I know he likes it, because he can be rather picky) and mix this with some goat's milk (high in fat) and the Hills, would this be a good mix for the syringe? 

As to the vet, I have somewhat of a problem on that, since there are only about 3-4 hedgie-breeders in my country (the little wonderful animals aren't that popular here) and as far as I know (and I have been calling every vet in my area) there aren't any vets specialized or experienced with hedgehogs. 

However, we do have this hedgehogshelter, where they help injured, wild hedgehogs. These are the wild, European hedgehogs though. They have an European hedgehog-experienced vet, would this be okay?


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

That vet may be better than no vet. They're just completely different, and European hedgehogs can hibernate, while APH cannot. I'd give them a call to check... if not, try calling around for another vet, because he needs one.


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## JustOnePost (Dec 27, 2011)

Christemo said:


> That vet may be better than no vet. They're just completely different, and European hedgehogs can hibernate, while APH cannot. I'd give them a call to check... if not, try calling around for another vet, because he needs one.


APH Hedgehogs can hibernate, I just wanted to clear that up


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

JustOnePost said:


> Christemo said:
> 
> 
> > That vet may be better than no vet. They're just completely different, and European hedgehogs can hibernate, while APH cannot. I'd give them a call to check... if not, try calling around for another vet, because he needs one.
> ...


Well... they "can" hibernate.... they just lack the ability to come back out of hibernation, hence why it is so dangerous for our APH's to go into hibernation, as it would just lead to death.

But I'm sure Christemo just meant that Euro hedgies can hibernate safely, while APH cannot.


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