# Overweight hedgie



## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

We have had Pete since last Saturday. During her first night here, I noticed she was having a hard time running on her wheel (she has a Cake Walk wheel with a CSW support) and I thought it was because of her nails (her nails were very long and all curled under her toes, I've never seen an animal with nails like that  ) I managed to cut her nails and I do think it helped a lot. However, she still has some trouble running, and the more I observe her, the more I think it's because she's overweight.

She walks (does not run) on the wheel a few steps, then stops. I observed her and I think it's because the fat rolls and extra skin on her bum cover her rear legs, making it hard to walk/run. She also has double chin. 

I need to get her to lose some weight, but I don't know how to start. Her current mix has 16% fat ( :shock: ). Mustard's mix has 12% fat (she's a wheel maniac,) should I switch her to that mix, or should I reduce the fat even more? How much fat would be ideal for a weight loss diet?

I don't know how much she weights, but I'm attaching some pictures. 

Thanks!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

more pictures.


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## CoxMD (Apr 30, 2010)

I'm feeding Blue Buffalo Weight Control and it has 8% fat, perhaps you could wean her off the high fat food and use the BB instead? I'm sure getting her nails in shape will help a tonne.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I need some help getting Pete to lose weight. 

When she first came to us she wasn't as active as she is now (she's been running an average of 1.5-2 miles a night, but sometimes hits 3 miles) and was on a 16% fat diet.

I switched her food to a mix of Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck and Solid Gold Katz-n-Floken which gives me a 12% fat mix. 

It seems like it doesn't matter how much food I put in her dish, she will eat it. The first week she was here she was eating an average of 50 kibble/night, then it increased to 60, then 80, and now I'm putting 95 kibble in her dish and she is licking it clean. She's been with us for 6 weeks now. 

Should I start limiting how much food she gets?

I give her mealworms sometimes, no more than 3 and not every night, should I stop feeding her these?

Could she have some disease that's causing her to eat more and more? Like, a thyroid disorder? She seems completely healthy. 

Help, please!


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## CoxMD (Apr 30, 2010)

Perhaps mix in a low fat food so that you have 50% low fat to 50% current mix? That way she could eat all you give her. (Please note that I am not an accredited Hedgie Dietitian.  )


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

CoxMD said:


> (Please note that I am not an accredited Hedgie Dietitian.  )


Can you imagine doing THAT job??? :shock: YOU'd be walking around huffing and puffing and hissing and pulling your hair out.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

CoxMD said:


> Perhaps mix in a low fat food so that you have 50% low fat to 50% current mix? That way she could eat all you give her. (Please note that I am not an accredited Hedgie Dietitian.  )


I thought about doing that, but I think she is eating more now to compensate for the current lower fat mix when compared to the mix she was initially in; so maybe if I add low fat food, she will just start eating more and more. And the actual amount of calories/fat will be the same. I don't know. :?


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## Ophelia (Dec 10, 2010)

I don't think there should be an issue with limiting food if the hedgehog is overweight. Just like how you would reduce the food intake of an overweight person... I would just maybe go with an average of what she eats? I have no idea what I'm actually talking about, but it makes sense to me.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Ophelia said:


> I don't think there should be an issue with limiting food if the hedgehog is overweight. Just like how you would reduce the food intake of an overweight person... I would just maybe go with an average of what she eats? I have no idea what I'm actually talking about, but it makes sense to me.


I think I'll start limiting her food to 80 kibble/night and see how she does. It breaks my heart to get up in the morning and see she doesn't have any food left in her bowl  . I hate the idea that she will be hungry but I want her to be healthy.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

You can also try scattering the kibble throughout the cage, so that she has to actively "hunt" for her food.
Perhaps something along the lines of those roller treat ball things, where kibbles falls out if they roll the ball around. This way, keeps her intrigued and active, yet not exactly starving her, as it will basically slow down her eating. So maybe half her kibble in a bowl, half her kibble in the ball kind of deal. So it doesn't feel like you're starving her, as to just giving her something to do and figure out. 

Mind you, I'm not sure if there are those treat ball things small enough for a hedgie, so it may end up being a diy experiment. Even if you were to find ways to poke a hole or two into a few golf balls, making sure the edges are blunt seem like it would be a fun idea.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Immortalia said:


> You can also try scattering the kibble throughout the cage, so that she has to actively "hunt" for her food.
> Perhaps something along the lines of those roller treat ball things, where kibbles falls out if they roll the ball around. This way, keeps her intrigued and active, yet not exactly starving her, as it will basically slow down her eating. So maybe half her kibble in a bowl, half her kibble in the ball kind of deal. So it doesn't feel like you're starving her, as to just giving her something to do and figure out.
> 
> Mind you, I'm not sure if there are those treat ball things small enough for a hedgie, so it may end up being a diy experiment. Even if you were to find ways to poke a hole or two into a few golf balls, making sure the edges are blunt seem like it would be a fun idea.


I love this idea and will definitely look into it some more! Thank you!


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Ugh, by golf balls, I meant ping pong balls XD THOSE are the light hollow plastic ones. *smacks self* Too much studying is bad for the brain


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

She doesn't look too big, not like the softball I call "Gin" haha...maybe cut back on the mealies? put her on a food-counted diet?


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

HedgehogsAnonymous said:


> She doesn't look too big, not like the softball I call "Gin" haha...maybe cut back on the mealies? put her on a food-counted diet?


She is very overweight. Lots of fat rolls everywhere and double chin.


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## Gibbz (Jan 17, 2011)

susanaproenca said:


> I need some help getting Pete to lose weight.
> 
> When she first came to us she wasn't as active as she is now (she's been running an average of 1.5-2 miles a night, but sometimes hits 3 miles) and was on a 16% fat diet.
> 
> ...


90 kibbles a night?! Yes, you should be limiting her food. Hedgehogs have a tendency to not know when to stop eating; as I've read and also noticed with Nanuq. Since I've gotten him I have limited his food and he doesn't have a weight problem at all. I would start by limiting her food intake and go from there.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I started yesterday, I put only 80 kibble in her bown. She licked it clean, even the crumbs. 

My other hedgie Mustard always has kibble left in her bowl and actually I have a hard time keeping her weight up as she is very active. I wonder if Pete eats a lot because she didn't have enough to eat when young. For the little I know she was... Mistreated at least.


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## CoxMD (Apr 30, 2010)

She may be eating so much because she's been starved in the past. She may not know when her next meal will be so she eats all she can. Perhaps base her food intake on the amount that Mustard eats in a night assuming that they are relatively the same size.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Gibbz said:


> 90 kibbles a night?! Yes, you should be limiting her food. Hedgehogs have a tendency to not know when to stop eating; as I've read and also noticed with Nanuq. Since I've gotten him I have limited his food and he doesn't have a weight problem at all. I would start by limiting her food intake and go from there.


Most hedgehogs will NOT overeat. I have 19 hedgehogs at the moment and all are free fed, their dishes are never empty. Out of the 19 I have right now not one of them is overweight and not one of them eats all of their food. Yes there are hedgehogs that do, but saying "hedgehogs have a tendency to not know when to stop eating" is wrong and its a dangerous thing to be telling owners that may then limit the amount they feed and end up with under weight hedgies.

The best way to help a hedgie lose weight is to add a lower fat food to the mix or switch them to all low fat food.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Gibbz said:


> 90 kibbles a night?! Yes, you should be limiting her food. Hedgehogs have a tendency to not know when to stop eating; as I've read and also noticed with Nanuq. Since I've gotten him I have limited his food and he doesn't have a weight problem at all. I would start by limiting her food intake and go from there.


Nanuq is a baby....right? Babies should never EVER have their food limited. They know how much they need to eat. My boy used to eat OVER 100 kibbles every single night when he was a baby. He cleaned out his bowl every night, and I would give him extra in the mornings, and he'd sometimes come out for an afternoon snack at around 4pm. And now, as an adult, he eats around 40 kibbles, his choice, and he always has extras if he choses to eat more. And he is not overweight, his weight remains around 310g.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Thank you all for the replies. This is what I've done so far:

- I switched her food from the original 16% fat to a mix that's 11% fat.
- I'm limiting her food to 80 kibble/night. Mustard eats about 40/night but she's much smaller. 
- I'm making sure I keep her nails always trimmed so it doesn't bother her to run.
- I'm trying to get her to explore more.
- I'm going to start limiting mealworms to 2 or 3 a couple of times/week.

Let's see if it works.


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