# young hedgehog eats twice less as he used to (



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

Hello (
i fear we have a problem. we've bought a young hedgehog, now he's 4 months old. he ate normally, from 30 to 40 kibbles a night, Acana cat food. the last two days he eats about 15 or 20. he is active, he runs a lot, poops look normal. yesterday his weight was 257 grams, today 250.
what should we do?
(there is no vet here availiable at short notice, only one who works in the zoo)


----------



## AlexLovesOlive (Jul 7, 2014)

Try giving him some hard boiled eggs and meal worms


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Is there anything in his environment that may have changed? How old is the bag of food, is it getting towards the end of the bag? Or have you just started a new bag? You can try wetting down or crushing some of the kibble & offering it separate from a bowl of how he usually gets it. If he goes for smaller or softer kibble, he might have a mouth issue that needs vet attention.


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

Lilysmommy said:


> Is there anything in his environment that may have changed? How old is the bag of food, is it getting towards the end of the bag? Or have you just started a new bag? You can try wetting down or crushing some of the kibble & offering it separate from a bowl of how he usually gets it. If he goes for smaller or softer kibble, he might have a mouth issue that needs vet attention.


nothing changed in environment... but you're right we just started the new bag of food! I'll try to crush and wet kibbles and give him..
though yesterday i offered him some kibbles (unwetted, uncrushed) during the day and he ate about 5 of them, fast as usual..

thank you very much for your advice!


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

AlexLovesOlive said:


> Try giving him some hard boiled eggs and meal worms


thakn you i'll try!


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sometimes companies will make small changes to the formula of the food, and if they still have bags left for the old formula, they're allowed to use them until they run out of them, so the ingredient list may not change right away (which is stupid, but what else is new when it comes to pet food companies :lol. That may have happened, or the food just might taste a little different from being a new bag in general. Double check it to make sure it's not expired & smells okay, etc. But otherwise maybe give him a couple more days to see if he gets used to it. If he doesn't, it might be worth seeing if you can return the bag for a new one (some pet stores allow that, like Petco), or find a new food to start mixing in. If he likes the new one as well, perhaps he'll go back to eating his old amount between the two.


----------



## rodanthi (Feb 7, 2014)

I guess it wouldn't explain the weight loss but is there a possibility that he isn't growing as quickly anymore?


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

Honestly I don't know what to do..
I tried to wet the kibbles. he ate the same amount - about 15.
I tried giving him boiled egg - he ignored it
his weight is +- 250 grams (today 250 yesterday 253)
he is 4,5 months old, I think he should grow, right?

today an interesting thing happened. my friend came to me and I gave her a hedhehog just to hold, and he started to lick her hands like an icecream. which was strange because she was a completely new person and she was all salty from the sweat - training and generlly hot weather.

we don't give our hedgehog any supplements, only cat food - Acana - so probably we should start with some insects?

and another thing - he eats less since the weather is very hot here - about +30. might that be a reason?


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

this night he ate 34 kibbles 0.0
strange..


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

today he ate 20 kibbles.
he weights 249 (((
and almost no poop in the wheel 0.0


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

weight UPD: in the evening his weight became 243 grams, so he's lost 7 grams in a day, which is 3% of the body mass..


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

At this point, I'd be heading to the vet. You've ruled out outside causes like a problem with the food, preference for softer food, etc. If he's continuing to not eat well and lose weight, you should probably have a vet help you figure out what's going on before it gets worse. You may need to start syringe-feeding him as well, and your vet should be able to give you an easily-syringed food such as Hills A/D or Carnivore Care.


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

Thank you -_-
I'll take him to the vet if he will lose weight again, today he weights 251 gram again. -__-
and we probably shoul staart giving him insects...


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Good luck & let us know what the vet says.  And yes, insects are a great addition to the diet!


----------



## Yojiki (Jun 8, 2014)

well, it seems that I've overreacted, because he continues to eat very irregularly, and his weight can alternate from 250 to 265 grams. he looks normal,he's active and poops like usual...
today we'll have mealworms from the store, we'll see if that will improve his appetite.

i've noticed that he likes to bite clothes, and i wonder why does he do it. he looks like a little bulldog, bites and pulls vigorously...

thank you for your support!!


----------

