# Baby won't eat!



## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

My 11 week old baby boy, Meeko, will not eat! I picked him up from a breeder this past Saturday (3 days ago) and I have tried everything I know to do based on my experience with my last hedgehog, Lucy (RIH). I have tried the following with no success: the breeders food, 4-5 different brands of cat food, hedgehog food, wetting down the food, fruits and veggies, 2 kinds of wet cat food, mealworms, silkworms, a super worm, eggs, baby food and I even gave him a warm bath to try and stimulate his appetite. He doesn't seem to be drinking anything, either.

He is very active when he's out of his cage, he cuddles with me when I hold him, he runs on his wheel every night all night, but sleeps the entire time he's in his cage during the day. I have syringe fed him twice now with the baby food and he absolutely hates it!

Does anyone have any other suggestions I should try? If he doesn't eat soon I'm not sure what I'll do besides give him back to the breeder, which is 4 hours away. . I love him so very much I don't want to have to do that!


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

You'll have to keep syringe feeding him until he eats on his own again.


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## ellisrks01 (Mar 25, 2014)

Have you called the breeder and asked their opinion? If not I would try that.
Any real breeder should be willing to help with their baby and talk you threw syringe feeding and how to help hydrate him. If that's what it comes down to.
I hope you get meeko eating good luck!!


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Thank you for the help! I have called the breeder twice and she doesn't seem to know what to do either, she said that every time she has encountered a baby that won't eat one of these things have worked. I'm stumped. I will just have to keep syringe feeding. How long do you think it will take before he starts eating again? I was told he should get 16 ml of food and water a day minimum?


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## Charlie's mommy (May 16, 2014)

Minimum for us is about 22ml of food a day water I just took about one quarter to one half of their regular water bowl. Some hedgies hate baby food, what you can do is blend some wet cat food and baby food and syringe that. Charlie was difficult with water so I'd blend water and water melon and she took it a lot better EDIT: we typically got about 28-30ml but never under 24


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Are you positive he is not eating anything? Do you count his kibble to be certain? Sometimes they are eating a few kibble but we can't tell without counting. Try putting food in bed with him. Sometimes that will help with a baby in a new home. 

Syringing a canned kitten food might be more enticing than baby food. You will have to put it through a fine sieve to get it to be able to go through the syringe. Often it takes a while for hedgie to catch on to being syringed and then they don't mind it.


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

I've been weighing his food and him daily. His food has been at a constant weight of 118 grams and that includes his bowl. His weight when I got him was 239 grams and he is now down to 217 grams. 

Last night I tried the food in his bed trick and his water bottle ended up springing a leak in the night and when I changed out his fleece I didn't put the food back in there...so I'll try that again tonight. 

Am I just not patient enough? He's just so little he must be hungry?


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Try counting his kibble instead of weighing it. Even though it shows it weighs the same, he may be eating a few but just not enough to show on the scale. Try just adding enough kibble to the bowl to make it change weight to see how many kibble it is between one weight and the one above. Also, what increment does your scale weigh in? Some are 1 gram which is the best but one gram can still be numerous kibble. If the scale happens to weigh in 2 or 5 gram increments, that can be quite a bit of food. 

Are you giving fresh from the bag food daily? Some of them are really fussy and don't like it after it's sat in the dish for a while. 

Continue to syringe him and hopefully soon you will notice he'es been eating.


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

My little baby is syringe eating! I'm so excited! 

So, since he hasn't eaten kibble in 4 days, is it safe to switch his kibble to the better brand mix I would like to feed? I could start mixing that into his syringe food and switch him that way maybe?


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## ellisrks01 (Mar 25, 2014)

I just want to say that is a beautiful hedgehog. Awesome color.


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Thank you!


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

I didn't even see your post, Nancy! I will count his kibble tonight for sure! I have been giving him fresh every other day and I weigh on a 1 gram scale. I can't believe how picky he is! Good thing he's cute! lol


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

I agree. He is beautiful! Wow. I'm not one generally to go just for looks, but geez, he's a real beauty.


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Thank you so much! I thought he was pretty unique!


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## CoffeeKat (Jan 15, 2014)

That's a very impressive list! Did your Lucy really live to be 8 years old?


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Lucy was a rescue I got from a lady that bought her for her daughter. She had her 5 years and got her when she was 2, a and I had her for a year...but I can't guarantee it is completely accurate 

When we had to put her down the vet did say she was at least over 6. I'll never know for sure


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Meeko has eaten 3 pieces of food on his own! I made a last ditch effort to get him to eat by trying a bit of the food my mom uses for her cat (meow mix) and he ate it!! I called the breeder to tell them and she said that he was on that when in his care! Hmmpphhh...well they kept telling me friskies! I can't even be mad though...he's eating! I'm still supplementing with syringe feeding, but I'm one happy mama!


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## CoffeeKat (Jan 15, 2014)

Great news! Of course Meow Mix or Friskies is not the best food, but it's a LOT better than no food at all. So glad you had a breakthrough, and best of luck to you and your beautiful baby. Keep us posted.


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Yes, I cannot wait to change his food! I hate that they had him on such terrible food! With him it will probably take months to switch! lol I'm just glad I have him and he will live a much better life! <3


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

My girls were on Purina which I don't like but one of my girls stopped eating. I'm always excited when my non-eater eats, even if it's just a few bites. I still syringe feed her daily and hope she starts eating on her own soon.

Good luck with your little guy!


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Last night Meeko gave in....and ate EVERYTHING in his bowl AND bed!!  He must have gotten tired of being syringe fed! Or mama just finally got it right!

I am one happyyyyyy (and exhausted) mama!!! So proud of my baby boy! Thank you all so very much for all the help! I couldn't figure it out without you guys! 

That was so much fun, let's NEVER do that again!! lol


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

YAY, that's wonderful news. You did a great job.


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## CoffeeKat (Jan 15, 2014)

High 5, good job


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

My baby boy is so much happier today! :grin:


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

One more 

Not sure why they're sideways lol


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## Charlie's mommy (May 16, 2014)

Wow he's got some funky colors going on, I saw the first picture the other day but I can't get over how gorgeous he is! Congrats on getting him to eat! I remember my syringing days, such a good feeling when they finally eat by themselves.


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## ellisrks01 (Mar 25, 2014)

I'm glad he's doing well.  awesome pics too. 
Did the breeder tell you what color he is or is it on his pedigree?
I'm really curious and not good with colors. I'm more into great temperaments instead of colors but I'm obsessing over your hedgehog, :lol:


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

He will start to eat on his own. What we did with our girl was wait until she started to gain some weight back and then cut back on one of the feedings at night. We never could get her back to dry food at all and we tried several kinds. We put her on wet cat food. I put a tablespoon of it out every night until she started to eat all of it. She now eats that with chicken baby food.
As a side note your hedgie may not actually hate the baby food, they just hate being syringe fed!


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

I didn't read far enough into your posts! Glad he is eating on his own, you did it right! He responded almost exactly like my Penny did!


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

The breeder told me that our little Meeko is an Algerian Black Snowflake. The breeder also said that he was very unique  He was the only one out of 5 babies that had patches and that's not even why we chose him, we fell in love with him because he's such a good cuddler  

I am really curious though if anyone knows if Meeko is mixed? Anyone have one like him? I never really paid attention to the different colorations until now! lol


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

Here's one of his belly


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

He's definitely a pinto. Under the white spots on his quills you can see pink skin. This is a pattern not exactly a color identifier. I don't know if he is dark enough to be considered Algerian Black but he sure is dark! I don't think he's a snowflake although it is hard to tell with all the white spots. For him to be a snowflake, he would have to have at least 3 out of 10 quills be white. This does not include the spots that have pink skin underneath it. ... Hope that made sense.


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## xBellonaX (Aug 20, 2014)

It never crossed my mind about what kind he really is but it sure sounds complicated! Thank you for helping


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