# Is my hedgehog underweight?



## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

Just a little concerned about my hedgie because she seems very thin compared to other hedgehogs I've seen. I know she could be of a lighter build, but she definitely curves inward around the stomach area when shes viewed from above. 
I feed her Whiskas weight management cat food. The nutrition information is: 
Crude Protein: Min. 37%
Crude Fat: Min. 8% Max. 12%
Crude Fibre: Max. 4%
Moisture: 10%

She appears healthy, she walks around, I hear her eating every night, she drinks plenty of water, and she poops LOTS. I'm just concerned there might be long term health affects of her not being a healthy weight. I might switch her to regular cat food. Anyway I might just be paranoid but I would feel better with some additional opinions.

My hedgie weighs 335 grams. I've weighed her before and shes always been between 333 and 337 grams.
As you can see in the picture, shes pretty narrow at the stomach/hips.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

She looks very thin indeed. The food is really low in fat, so you might switch to food with a higher fat content.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

Yeah. I read elsewhere that their food should be under 13% fat. But I think in my hedgies case a higher percentage might be better. I believe the regular Whiskas cat food is 11% Minimum and 14% maximum or something like that. To bad I can give her anything else since she doesn't seem to like anything besides cat food.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

There are a lot of cat food brands, there's a list on this forum with recommended cat food. I believe a lot of people with underweight hedgies give kitten food since that's higher in fat (like Royal Canin Babycat 34). Some hedgehogs need a higher fat percentage. There are also brands with the percentage somewhere in between 15-20 %, you should see for yourself what your hedgehog need but she's definitely too thin.
I've always thought Whiskas wasn't a good brand since it's usually full of grains and other crap so you might check the content of the food as well. The ingredients shouldn't start with grain or other fillers.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

I'll give that list a check. I got her some 11% fat stuff from my local pet store. Just a small bag to make sure she likes it. Unfortunately I didn't know about the grain thing, and the first thing on this stuff is grain :/ I'll get her some better quality stuff next time I go into the city (my local pet store only has Whiskas and Meow Mix) I always thought Whiskas was a decent brand. Oh well.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Ya, Whiskas is full of fillers. All products that hedgehogs(and cats) can't really digest, like corn. And then you have by-products which is essentially "leftovers" after all the good stuff is taken, like beaks, feet, etc etc. And it also has bha/bht as preservatives, which is a highly controversial subject on causing cancers and tumours, again, it's highly controversial and subject to your own personal views on the topic. Most food nowadays don't use bha/bht anymore because of it.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

How active is she? 8% can be fine for hedgehogs that aren't very active, but with a normal activity level 10-13% is usually the range that works best. If she's very active - lots of energy and crazy about wheeling - then she'll need something higher than 15%. I'd start by trying something that's around 12% or so, which could be all she needs to get to a normal weight. If that doesn't work to fill her out, try around 15% and go from there. It'd be a good idea to switch to a high quality food that's around 12% for the first step, and then if she needs a higher fat content overall, add in a higher fat food 50/50 with the first one to increase the overall percentage. That way you're not switching her completely from one food to another - find something in the normal range that she can get used to, and if it's not high enough, introduce a second to the mix to adjust the fat content upward.

This is the abridged list I have on my website: http://www.volcanoviewhedgehogs.com/kib ... oduce.html It's an easy way to compare high quality foods that are in the "normal" range for a hedgehog (8-15% fat) instead of having to dig through a much longer list. All of the foods on there are great in terms of the quality of the ingredients. For starting at 12%, Solid Gold and Natural Balance Green Pea/Duck are excellent choices and very easy to find - most pet stores carry at least one of those two.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

She's pretty active. She runs around her cage for a good 3 hours every night. And I mean she really going I can hear her re arranging the stuff in her cage and digging and walking around. She doesn't actually have a wheel though :/ but I compensate by letting her run around my room in an indoor enclosure I have. I'll probably get something around 12% and monitor her weight. If she gains enough so that she has a healthy sized belly and she stays around that weight I'll keep her on that. Otherwise if she gains too much weight or not enough I'll change the food accordingly. And yeah I always mix the new food with her old food for a few days so she can adjust. Luckily she's not picky about what kind of cat food she gets (as long as its chicken flavoured)


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

They should always have food mixed for transition, but what I meant is that since you're playing with it to find out what fat content will work best for her, it would be better to start with a 12% food, then add a second food if necessary to make the the total diet have a higher fat percent. For example, if you start with one of the ones I mentioned (12%), and she seems to need higher fat, then you could add a second food that's around 18-20% (using half and half of each kind for her food mix) to bring the total fat percentage to around 15-16%. It's a good idea for them to have a mix anyway, for unrelated reasons, but in a situation like this it's best to choose a "staple" (in this case, something around 12%) and add onto that, rather than using one food for a while, realizing it's still not high enough, and then switching to a different food. Food transitions and adjustments do better if there's one food that stays the same the whole time, especially if there are going to possibly be several adjustments on the way to figuring out the fat content that's just right. Hope that makes sense.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

She doesn't look thin to me as much as awkwardly distributed fat. She looks like she has a lot of bulk around her shoulders and none around her waist. At 300+ grams, I wouldn't really worry about being underweight unless she has a pretty large "frame" (like a person 5' can be 100lbs and healthy, but someone 6'5" can't).


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

@Moxieberry Ah I see what you mean. Good idea, way better than mine anyways 

@LizardGirl No she's pretty thin at the shoulders, she just sits with her front legs closer to herself and it makes her front look bigger. I can feel her ribs really easily so I don't think she has much fat there either.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

How old is she? LG does have a good point, but since she's only on 8% fat right now and you can feel it when you hold her, I think she could stand to gain a little. It might not a lot - for some hedgehogs only 15-20g can make a pretty visible difference. I'm wondering about the age because if she's fairly young, it could be that she's just growing awkwardly and will fill out fine. Just use your best judgment, but regardless, switching to a high quality food should definitely happen.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

I don't know exactly how old she is (I'm her 3rd owner) but I believe she is close to 2 years old.


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## Borquelle (Oct 14, 2012)

It has been a constant fight to keep weight on my hedgie. She got off to a great start on a high quality diet, but we ran into trouble because of several factors. She's a runner; over three hours a night. Also, she simply will only eat so much and if it isn't enough, she loses weight.

She is 318 grams at 39 weeks. She was also 318 grams at 13 weeks. Her peak weight was 336 grams and I had to arrest a drop that went to 290 grams. Her shape has always been good, but not her weight. I've had to move her to to a high proportion of Royal Canin Babycat 34 (34%F). But that is what she needs. On the plus side for her, all that exercise means that she gets 15 mealies a day! She does get 1/2 ounce of chicken or turkey baby food with a gram of Solid Gold ground in, so I've got as much quality in the diet as possible. She simply seems to be one that needs a lot of fat because she just won't eat enough volume otherwise.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

See I wish I could feed her things like mealworms and chicken and such, but it seems all she will eat is cat food. The closest I've gotten with her eating anything else is she will anoint herself with fresh fruit I give her.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

You should definitely try a higher fat food. Fat = flavor, so usually hedgies won't snub a tastier food.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

Okay, I got some new food for her. I looked at the chicken soup for the cat lovers soul stuff and its like 22$ for a 2.5 Kg bag :O. However I found another brand called Lifetime (it might be a canadian brand because the logo is a maple leaf) that seems pretty good. Right off the bat the front of the packaging says corn, wheat, and by product free, so they seem to know whats bad.
The first ingredients are Chicken&Turkey meal, oatmeal, whole barely, brown rice, and chicken&turkey fat preserved with vitamin E. Down the list theres also ingredients like fish meal, flaxseed, and herring oil, which I know are good for humans and I would assume good for hedgehogs. 

The nutrition information is:
Crude Protein: Min. 31%
Crude Fat: Min. 12%
Crude Fibre: Max 3%

Also contains omega 3&6 fatty acids. Again I know those are good for humans so I'm assuming they're good for hedgehogs too.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Looks like a great food, nice find!


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

I just wanted to go in a different direction with this, has she been to the vet of late? When my hedgehog got older she started to develop this body shape....I am not trying to alarm you, but my hedgie had some medical problems. Has your hedgehog always been think like this? How long have you had her. I hope it is not a medical condition but you might want to take her in for a full exam if she does not plump up.
Please keep us updated,
Susan H.


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## Blarg_King (Sep 13, 2012)

Yeah she's been like this since I got her. She's around 2 years old so she's still pretty young. I've only been her owner for 6 months so I can't say how she was back then. But given the condition she was in when I got her (ears all tattered and covered in mites) I doubt her previous owner(s) took good care of her. The people I got her from gave me a bag of the food they were feeding her it was really low quality stuff. Now that I think of it she might have been skinnier when I got her :/

Also I just found out there aren't any vets that have experience with hedgehogs around me :/. crap. This is what I get for living in this desolate place.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

Well, you might have to take a little road trip to take her to the vet. I used to live 2 hours away from the vet where I was before...
I just got a new hedgie and I need to make an appointment to take her in for a check-up and get her established with a vet. I think it is again going to be at least 45 min/1 hour away! :| Still, I think it is important to have a vet so that if a real dire emergency comes up you will already know where to go. I also wanted to say that it doesn't necessarily have to be a vet who has a lot of experience with hedgehogs, as long as they are willing to learn, and willing to treat her.
Good luck, I hope you are able to plump her up and all she needs is a change of foods/ more food.
Susan H.


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