# 4-5 Week old hedgie wont eat..



## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

This is my first time owning a hedgehog and I just recently got my baby 4 days ago now.. I notice he will eat only little bits of his food but it doesn't seem like hes eating enough.. he doesn't eat a full table spoon of food a night.. I tried softening his food with hot water but he doesn't like that and he wont eat carrots or cucumber. I am going to pick up some goats milk today because i read its good for baby hedgehogs to eat and every time i'm drinking milk my hedgehog tries to get into my cup.. I'm just wondering if I doing this right or if there's anything I should try or do to help my hedgehog get his full meals.. Im very worried..


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

4-5 weeks old is much too young for a baby to be sent to a new home. They wean at around 5 weeks - if that's really how old he is, he's probably barely been weaned and not started well on hard food yet. You should get some Royal Canin Babycat, which is very small kibble and ideal for babies. If he doesn't do well with that, crush it up into a powder so he doesn't have to chew it, or add a little bit of water to soften the pieces. You should also get a digital scale and weigh him daily to make sure he's gaining weight. If he doesn't start eating on his own when you try the smaller kibble, try baby food (beef or chicken) or Esbilac goat or puppy milk, and see if he's willing to lap that up. If not, either of those work well for syringe feeding. A baby that age can go downhill fast if he's not getting food, which is why it's so important for them to be old enough and big enough and eating well before they go to new homes. Good luck!


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks so much! I cant believe how young the pet stores here order them in.. I wanted to get one from a breeder but I live in Richmond B.C and its hard to find breeders. There are so few and their all spaced out and I would need a car to travel. I never wanted to get one from a pet store but when I saw my little hedgehog in there I new I needed him.. I picked up goats milk and some meal worms today and he seems to love them both.. I tried to mix the goats milk with his kibbles to make it softer too but he doesn't want it at all. I don't want to resort to using the syringe until its my last resort? is this an ok diet for now or how should i proceed?..


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

As long as he's eating you should be fine, but if he stops for more than a day it can be really bad for a baby that young. If the kibble you're feeding him is what the pet store was using, it's probably crap anyway. Definitely pick up some Royal Canin Babycat - the tiny kibbles will be easy for him to eat, and it's really high fat, it's pretty much ideal for putting weight on babies. The fat makes it yummy too, which will help entice him. Are the mealworms live or freeze-dried?


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

I feed him live meal worms because they have more to offer then already dead ones, plus he gets excited when he can chase them down. I cant find that type of cat food here though unfortunately.. The only types I have seen are Iams, Purina, whiskas. I may just have to order it in off their site but i am extremely happy he is eating more and going to the washroom more but he does tend to have runny poop.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I know there's Royal Canin in BC - a friend of mine (also a breeder) uses the same stuff in her mix. You can try to check the Royal Canin site to see what stores carry it. At some point you're going to want to get him on a good diet of kibble anyway, and all of those brands aren't very good in terms of ingredients (lots of fillers, byproducts, etc). I'm glad he's eating at least! Have you been able to get a scale yet? You really should be monitoring his weight daily, at least until he gains weight and is eating kibble well on his own.


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

No not yet, my fiance and I are going to look for one tomorrow but I just had a kind of disturbing experience with my hedgie.. I took him out of his cage and placed him on my bed and he peed all over my sheets and then ran around like he was hopped up on sugar.. and he was i think humping my sheets.. he left little wet dots behind him.. and he tried to nip me a lot.. I don't know what to make of this..?


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## Malteaser19 (Jun 27, 2012)

The peeing is normal, babies cant controll their movements like adults can, that should improve with time.. Perhaps you could try waking him up and putting him somewhere to do his business before you let him out for bonding? Also, welcome to "boy time" lol the joys of owning a male hedgie


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

I bought a kitchen scale to weigh him on and he weighs 195 grams.. is that to much or to little?


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

195 grams is actually quite a reasonable size! I wouldn't be surprised if your hedgie is actually older than they said (pet stores will often lie about ages to entice people into buying "babies"), just having a hard time adjusting to the changes in his life. Glad he's eating on his own though, good luck with him.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

That's a great size. Like LG said - it sounds like he's a few weeks older than you were told, most likely 6+ weeks when you got him. To give you an example, the young ones we have right now are 293g (10 weeks), 243 (8.5 weeks), 200g and 202g (8 weeks), and 186g and 219g (7 weeks). Your boy fits nicely in the expected range for babies.


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

That is great! Thank you guys so much! I appreciate this so much! I am glad to know my little guy is a good weight! getting him onto his kibbles should be interesting though! Haha


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

It might be that he's not very interested in the kibble because it's not very good, or it might be too big for him. Try crushing/grinding some of it into smaller pieces and see if that makes the difference. You also might see that he takes immediately to the new food you get, it sometimes happens when they're offered good quality kibble after only having not-so-good kibble available. He could also just be kind of picky when it comes to kibble.


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

My boyfriend found the Royal Canin baby cat food and my hedgie is eating it! I am so happy he is eating it! but now he falls asleep in his food dish while he is eating! I only gave him two table spoons to start because its his first day on it. He seems to love it a lot though!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Glad to hear it!  2 tablespoons is plenty, that's around what most babies will eat while they're still growing. Just don't wait too long to add in another kibble (maybe ground up into smaller pieces if the size seems to be an issue). Babycat is high in fat, which isn't at all bad at this age, but it can be a problem when they get older and they don't need so much extra fat in their diet for growth. But, if they're used to just eating babycat, they can often be reluctant to eat anything else when it comes time for them to be on a more low-fat adult diet, because the extra fat in Babycat makes it particularly yummy to them. Give him a little time to get used to the new food, but in a few weeks it'd be a good idea to add in something that falls more under the adult range of fat (under 15%). Just 1/3 or so of his total food is a good place to start - you just want him to get used to a second food early so he has no problem switching over when the time comes. Sounds like he's doing really well overall!


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## littlerunner (Aug 7, 2012)

Yes he is doing great! he has harder poop the last few days since i switched him off the goats milk. when he was on the goats milk his poop was quite runny and I almost couldnt tell the difference between his urine and the poop..He has alot more energy aswell but he is still not to fond of me yet, Ill just have to keep cuddling him


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## deenavone2907 (Feb 3, 2015)

I was looking up what I can feed 4 week old hedgehogs 2 of them and I read that you can feed them teaspoon of salt 1 table spoon of sugar or two and 1 litre of boiling water cold down is this ok ??


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