# Baby hedgie not drinking



## HenryTheHedgie (Aug 9, 2013)

Hello! I just got my first hedgehog last night. He is six weeks old. I brought him home and held him for a bit so he could start getting used to me, and then I put him in his cage. He looked around and then went into his shelter/hut. I think he stayed in there all night because none of the food was gone, and I didn't notice the water any lower. It is now in the afternoon of his second day with me, and other than when I held him, he stays in his hut. I saw him eat and drink some water from a dish before I put him in his cage last night. However, I haven't seen him drink water since then. I have a bottle in his cage, but I was afraid he didn't know what to do with it so I put a dish below the nozzle just in case. I haven't seen him touch either. Is there anything I should do to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated, or should I just let him be?


----------



## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

Archives say, hedgehogs go downhill fast if they aren't eating or drinking. Someone with more experience will hopefully be along soon, but as things are easier to deal with during business hours, I'll give the worst-case rundown:

1. Call local vets to see if any will give advice over the phone about when this goes from "concerning" to "serious."
2. Do a forum-search on the keywords "syringe feeding" to learn about how to make sure your small friend eats and drinks. I don't know where the boundary between "not eating much" and "eat, you stubborn punk, EAT!" is.
3. Use the forum archives to figure out what materials you'd need to buy from stores while they're open -- syringe, babyfood, whatever.

Now, this could be totally normal. Archives also say new babies sometimes don't eat their first night home. Do you have the same food he was eating before (at breeder or pet store)? Do you know if he was using a water dish or a bottle before?

Do you have a scale for weighing your small friend? If so, you can also use it to weigh the food & water dishes at night, then again in the morning, to know exactly what he's eaten or drunk instead of trying to eyeball it. One of the reasons I like water dishes over bottles is that it's easier to track daily fluid consumption. 

Good luck, and congratulations on meeting your new spikey friend!


----------



## HenryTheHedgie (Aug 9, 2013)

Weighing the dishes is a great idea! I don't have a scale but will definitely get one. I do have the same food the breeder was using, and he was using a bottle. He did eat some food and drank a bit from a teaspoon last night but that's the last I've seen. Thank you for the advice. I'll look into vet and research you mentioned.


----------



## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

When looking at scales, keep an eye on both the increment sensitivity, and the maximum load. I made sure mine can measure to the nearest gram, up to 1 kg (in imperial, that's fraction of an ounce to 5lbs, ish). That way it's fine enough to measure food (my little friend eats 5g/night), and won't be outgrown by an average-large hedgehog (500g, 1lb-ish).

My scale is a kitchen scale. I picked it because I found them easier to locate pet scales, cheaper than postal scales, and easy to wipe down if he has an accident.


----------



## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Keep in mind if weighing a water dish that evaporation will account for some of the missing liquid (especially at the temperatures our hedgies prefer). 

If he's comfortable enough with you, gently pinch the skin on his belly. If it takes more than a second for the skin to relax back to flat, he is dehydrated and needs fluids immediately. If not, just do your best to encourage him. Introduce him to the water dish, so he recognizes it. Fill an eyedropper full of water and stick it in his face and see if he'll lick at it/let you squirt some into his mouth (sideways across his tongue, so he doesn't choke!). You can mix water with his favorite babyfood, etc.


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Some hedgies don't really drink a lot. Especially if you have a large water bowl, you might not notice the level go down much. Another way to look for dehydration - check the color of his urine. Dark yellow urine is a sign of not drinking enough or dehydration. One thing not a lot of people think of is that often home water is different from the water they got at the breeder's - doesn't seem like a huge difference, but it might be to a sensitive hedgie. It sounds like he understands the bowl if he's already drank from it.

If you see that he's definitely dehydrated (either for urine or pinch test), another good way to get water in him (if you really have to fight him with a syringe or eyedropper) is by feeding something like watermelon - mostly water, and the sugar makes it tasty so it tends to be popular with hedgies. 

If he doesn't seem to be dehydrated, I wouldn't worry too much right away, just keep an eye out. It may just be he's not a big drinker. You could also try contacting his breeder and see if she noticed what a usual amount of water was for him.


----------



## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

How do you apply the pinch test to hedgehogs? I've done it with humans, but am having difficulty figuring out how it would be done for a hedgehog.

(Thank you for showing up. As I said, I don't have the experience to know "minor" from "big deal," just that it's always easier to get info & supplies while it's still business hours!)


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

You might be able to do it on the stomach or a back leg (in the thigh area) with a tolerant hedgie...but I'm not sure how well that'd work considering how protective most hedgies are of their stomach. You can do it with their back as well if they're not completely quilled up - just go from side to side and pinch the skin between their shoulder blades. You should still be able to tell if it sticks together at all, even with the quills there. People are able to scruff hedgies in that area, so you should definitely be able to pinch the skin well enough for a pinch test.

And that's definitely true! It doesn't hurt at ALL to have syringe-feeding supplies on hand, especially if there's any reason to worry. But not eating much or at all for the first night or two in a new home can be pretty common for hedgies, so it's not as worrisome (IMO, at least) as it is in a hedgie that's been acting normal for the past few months in their home or something like that. As long as he did eat and drink a little, my first guess would be that it's just him finishing settling in. Definitely doesn't hurt to do a bit of checking with the breeder, for dehydration, or getting supplies together though.


----------



## zamxonk (Mar 6, 2013)

Ambrose doesn't like the pinch-test, but he let me do it a few times when I was concerned about him. I just did it in the lull between when I flipped him on his back and when he scrambled to get up. Catching him when he was sleepy was imperative.


----------

