# New hedgie is she pregnant?



## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Hellow,

Last sunday i bought 2 Atelerix albiventris. 1 boy 1,5 years old and 1 girl 1 year old. They each have a terrarium so they live sepperatly. They both have a flying soucer to run on. And boy do they run haha.
So i bought them the 17th. The 19th i weight them and archibalt the boy weight 349gr. Pennellope the girl weight 346gr.
I just weight them again and archibalt weighs 360gr and Pennellope weighs 370gr.

I feed them royal canin fit32. 2 small spoons a day and they dont eat everything. 

Can Pennellope be pregnent? I bought them on a (dont know the english word for that. I am dutch) show. A place where people rent a table to sell animals and animal supplies.

Pennellope is verry active and the whole night she i busy running on the aoucers. Archibalt runs a little bit some times. He is a little bit lazy haha. So i am wondering why Penneloppe gains more weight then archibalt. Only thing i can think of she can be pregnant. Is there a way to tell?

Thanks for helping me. Greetings from Holland.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

Alas, it isn't easy to tell if a hedgehog is pregnant. If there is any chance she had any contact with the male, she could easily be pregnant. It only takes a few seconds!

You might want to read the thread on Emergency Baby Advice, just in case.


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

A 25 vs a 10 gram increase on a new diet isn't all that big of a change. I've heard of hedgehogs having poops that weighted 20 grams, and they might have different metabolisms. However unless you can be sure that she never had contact with a male it's good to be prepared. Because of her age you might want to have a vet lined up. You never want a female to give birth for the first time when she's over a year old. It is possible that her hips will have fused and the babies will have no exit and she will either die or need surgery to remove them. Hopefully she's not pregnant, or if she is, hopefully her hips will not have fused. good luck


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

Welcome aboard tuin and good luck!


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Sorry for the late reply. I had troubles activating my account.

Shortly after my post we went to the vet for an echo to see if she is pregnant. There was nothing to see but the vet told me that she could be pregnant for a short time. It is difficult to see when the are only pregnant for a few days.

Today she is 400 grams. So she gained more than 50 grams from 17 september until today. She does not look fat. Her belly is not bulging to the sides. Her bum how ever feels much hevyer than before.

Should i go an make another echo to be shure? She was really cute at the vet. Didnt make a fus or nothing. 

Thanks for the help!


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## Haley (Nov 18, 2013)

First, I'm guessing you mean 17th of November, the 11th month not September the 9th month of the year. 

So you have had her less than three weeks. If she is pregnant you will know soon! 

I don't know anything about pregnant hedgehogs. You may want to start a new thread asking if a sonogram/echo would be able to give you a definite answer.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Sorry it is November.

She also eats a lot more. 10 grams in the beginning and she didnt finnish everything and now 25 grams en she eats everything.

The problem is her pelves. There is 1cm of room for the babys to come out. (I asked the vet because she still could be pregnant) It will open a little more when she starts delivering them.

That is my main reason to take her to vet for an echo. I am worried that IF she is pregnant a baby wil get stuck and she and here babys will die.

She was not stressed out when we went to the vet. Looked like she was enjoing the belly massage. No huffing nothing. She is just to cute


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm not a breeder, but as far as I've read from those on here, a sonogram rarely tells you for sure whether a female is pregnant or not. Typically the babies are so small that they don't show up on the sonogram until the female is nearly due anyway. Some of the other signs of pregnancy that I know of besides weight gain include enlarged nipples, eating and drinking a ton, restlessness and nesting behavior, and grumpier behavior than usual (hard to watch for since she's new to you). But it's still difficult because some females don't present with any signs of pregnancy, but still give birth. 

I would guess a sonogram wouldn't be worth the money since it likely won't tell you anything definite. Your best bet is to treat her like she's pregnant - watch her closely for any signs, keep track of her eating/drinking, make sure the cage is set up properly (it should be in a place where she can be isolated & left alone if she gives birth, so doesn't get stressed by lots of activity around her; the bedding should be loose, such as Carefresh or wood bedding), and continue counting the days. Once you've had her for 55 days, if there's been no signs of babies, she's likely not pregnant.

In the meantime, make sure you read up on the Emergency Baby advice that Annie posted, and keep in contact with your vet. Make sure they have the experience necessary & find out what the cost would be if she should need an emergency c-section or spay due to pregnancy or delivery complications. Hopefully she's not pregnant, though! Keep us updated on her!


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Thank you for explaining. The sonogram was just €10,-. My vet is really nice. He can help if Penelope gets in trouble giving birth. Even at night. The cost wil be no problem. I always have a piggybank for emergency with one of my animals. ( i have a lot haha)

Is it a good idea to give here as much kibble as she wants? She does not eat insects (live or dead) or wet cat food. Archibalt does. Penelope only eats apple and royal canin fit32. I am stil looking for things to give that she will like.

I am looking for a list of things they can and cant have.

Thanks for all the help and i will keep updating on her.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sounds like you're well-prepared, at least! I'm glad that you ended up with her, it sounds like they both have a good home. 

Yup, it's usually recommended to free-feed all hedgehogs unless there's a reason not to - such as weight gain that can't be stopped with a lower fat or calorie food.

Here's a list of safe treats - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/12-diet-nutrition/17725-treat-list-safe-fruits-veggies.html There's a lot of other helpful nutrition-related stickies in the Nutrition forum, at the top.


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## Haley (Nov 18, 2013)

Wow, it is great that you can get a sonogram for such an affordable price! 

Maybe ask on the breeding and babies area if the 1cm pelvic opening is too small. I know the newborns are tiny, but I have no idea how tiny.

I hope she is just putting on a bit of weight.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

I made Penelope an iglo today and give her some tiseus. She just woke up so i put it in het terrarium. No problems she keeps on eating kibble. Here 2 photo's. She doesnt look like she is gaining weight.

















Now just sit and wait to see what she thinks of her iglo.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

She is laying next to her food dish. Never seen her doing that before but she seems fine. 23°c in her terrarium now.(coldest side. Other side is 25°c) Maybe a bit to warm?

I worrie myself sick over her. She gained almost 60 grams in almost 3 weeks. Still hoping she just is having the munchies and not babies.


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

If they're kleenex or toilet paper tissues I would take them out. Some people have had that sort of bedding stick to babies when they're born and while trying to clean them the moms accidentally injure them. A good paper based bedding is kaytee, though I'm not sure if you can get it where you are. If she's on loose bedding though she should be fine with whatever it is. good luck


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

They are kleenex going to take it out right away. Thank you. She is now sleeping next to her food dish. She looks fine. I never heard of kaytee. She hase fleece on the bottom of her terrarium and a little fleece blanket in the iglo. Will that do?


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I used pieces of toilet paper for all my moms and never had an issue. The cheapest toilet paper is best as it disintegrates easily. You need a type of commercial bedding because the fleece will get horribly smelly and you can't change it until babies are weaned. I used kiln dried pine shavings. Some people use aspen shavings. I don't like, nor trust bedding such as Carefresh because not only is it dusty, but it can cause an impaction if ingested. Some shavings are almost a sawdust size which is too dusty. I always chose a medium sized shaving and when I brought it home I laid it out in a large bin to air out before use.


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

This is Kaytee, http://www.kaytee.com/products/clean-cozy.php I'm not sure where you would get it where you are, or if there's something similar. It's much less dusty than carefresh, and very fluffy and white which makes it easy to see urine, feces and blood. I have everyone on fleece until a week before they're due and they do fine switching over to it. I've never used the kleenex, but there was a recent discussion on a breeder board where someone was deciding whether to use it to line a nest and a couple of people said that they'd lost some babies to it, but I have no experience losing babies to kleenex.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I used to hear that toilet paper or kleenex would stick to babies but using logic, any type of bedding will stick to those wet sticky babies. I would not use kleenex or paper towel because it holds together unlike the cheap toilet paper.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

I am looking for a good bedding. From what is kaytee made?

I found cotton bedding and hemp bedding. They look nice and soft but no idea if it is dusty or not. The shavings i find verry dusty. I have thierwohl super enzym for my other animals but it is to hard for the hedgies. But not so dusty.

I hope to find some good bedding in time. If she is pregnant the babys can come on wednesday. I still really hope she is not.

Other question. If she is not pregnant and she eats so much i will have a really big hedgie when the 55 days are over. Is that bad for her health? Ofcourse if she is not pregnant and the days are over i will give her a dieet food but just wondering i she needs exercice to lose the wait.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

I found the brand Supreme. They have, CosiNDry, Tumblefresh and Supasoft bedding. Wich is the best one?


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

I am getting nervous. It is 23:30 here now. Normaly she wakes up during the day to eat but she hasnt. 23:00 the lighting goes out. Usualy 23:10 she gets up. She didnt. I listend but i do not hear anything. 

If she doesnt wake up before i go to bed i will set my alarm to check on her during the night. If she is having complications i can rush to the vet.

This whole thing is killing me. I am so stressed out. What if she delivers tonight? She still has fleece in her terrarium. 

Sorry for my many posts in this topic with questions. I am so worried about Penelope.

How will i knoe if something is wrong when she is in her iglo.

My head is full of questions. I have so much respect for breeders. It is so difficult an time consuming. My advice to beginers is pleaseeee dont. You have no idea what you are beginning!


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

If her 35 day mark is on weds she absolutely could deliver now, 35 days is typical, but it can be as early as 30, and I'm sure someone out there has had them even earlier. If she delivers on fleece it's not the end of the world, but it's going to stink for a bit. I would throw some loose bedding in on top of the fleece so she can build up her nest and so it can absorb some of the urine. Most people will tell you not to change out the cage for the entire six weeks, I personally do a cage change at 3 weeks and give the mom back her wheel then too. you typically start holding the babies at 2 weeks so the mom is used to your smell and things getting moved around by that point, and is also unlikely to abandon babies, though it can happen and would be safest to not change things until they're weaned.

As for bedding types, I'm not familiar with any of those. Pick the one you like the best and cross your fingers. If it's dusty it's not a huge problem, people have raised babies just fine on carefresh which is very dusty, what's most important is getting a loose bedding in there so she has time to adjust.

If it turns out she's not pregnant a great way to get the fat off is swimming her. I wouldn't suggest doing it more than once a week because it will dry out her skin, but if she does get dry skin you can put a little olive oil on it. Going back to their regular food is fine unless she is really really big. Other than that just take her out a lot, let her run around and explore, go easy on the treats until she's back at normal weight. This is all true even if she is pregnant, a lot of moms are much heavier post baby than pre baby same as us humans.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Having not seen them in person I cannot be positive, but from some quick research it looks like CosiNDri would work well 
I hold babies at two weeks, very slowly at first and totally listening to momma's reactions to ensure she doesn't get too stressed or stress her babies. 
Keep a quiet eye on her, if there are no babies then switch her over to that bedding. If she's already delivered then you can put a little bit of bedding in and see if she brings it into her nest. Follow her lead though, do not do anything if she seems agitated. 
Her health is most important though so if there are signs of problems, such as she hasn't eaten or had anything to drink in over a day, it's time to get her to a vet. Mom's can stop eating directly before or after labour but if she goes too long she puts herself in danger as well as babies.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Thanks so much for all the answers. 

I am happy to say that i just saw her. She was laying flat out. When she saw me she quickly went in her iglo. She did eat a litlle.

It is not helping us bonding. I do not pick her up any more. She needs a footbath. Is that an bad idea?

Deserhedgehogs she still gets her normal food. Royal canin fit 32. Should i be giving something else because she can be pregnant? Letting her swim in oatmeal water can that help if she is not pregnant and having the munchies. Or to lose weight after her raising her babies.

Spikemoose i will go to the store monday asap. I hope thet sell it. Ordering online takes to long. If they dont i will buy the next best thing i can find.

I am really happy with all the help. Thank you all so much!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'll leave your questions for the breeders to continue answering. I just wanted to comment & say that I'm very glad this girl ended up with you. You sound like you're doing a great job with her, and she's being well cared for.  I haven't been able to help much, but I have been watching this thread for updates, keeping fingers crossed for no babies! They are cute, but so stressful. :lol:


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## DesertHedgehogs (Apr 2, 2013)

For food I usually don't change them over to a higher fat content food until they've actually given birth, I just offer them as much as they can eat of their usual diet. If she does give birth the 14% fat is a little low. I would slowly mix in something with a higher fat content around 18% or even higher. 

There are different thoughts on handling while close to a due date. Some don't and some do. If she seems stressed by handling I usually don't. If she's a mellow girl, it's your call.

She can swim to lose weight either after the babies are weaned, or once you're sure there are none. For swimming I fill the bath tub with enough water that she can't touch the bottom, and then I put a brick wrapped in a towel in there so she has an island she can rest on. You can put oatmeal in this bath, but I still wouldn't do it more than once a week because it can dry out the skin.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

01:00 midnight here. Penelope just woke up. I jently opend the door en she didnt huf. So i took her out for a short time. She was some what grumpy. I weigt here. She gained 74grams in exactly 4 weeks. So i have her for 28 days. That is allot of weight gain. Ofcourse when i put her back she right away went to the food dish to empty it haha.

Tommorow i go to the pet store to get some propper bedding. 

For now all i can do is wait for the 55 days to be over.

Some other news, today i picked up Ed. Short for Eduard. A almost 7 weeks old little hedgie. He is just to qute.

Where can i put pictures of my hedgie friends?

Thank you lillysmommy for the compliment. Its nice to hear that i am doing good with my hedgies


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

I'm not a breeder just wanting to throw this out there...

Are you keeping Ed separate from your other hedgies? And by separate, I mean a different room. New hedgehogs need to be quarantined for at least 30 days to ensure they won't pass on any illnesses or anything to your existing pets, especially pregnant ones.


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## izzyssweets (Dec 7, 2013)

How is your little friend doing


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

The new hedgie is downstairs julieanne. Thanks for the tip! I was aware of that.

I put in some soft bedding for Penelope. She really is grumpy. Not plesant. I will not disturb her any more. Only in the morning when she is sleeping i will jently change food and water and cleen up some poop.

I will keep posting about how she is doing.

Again thanks for all the help everybody! I really apreciate it.

and sorry for my bad English haha.


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

Your English is fine! You are doing a great job with your hedgie. She is very lucky to have you.


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Thank you julieanne.

I just woke up(02:15) to check on Penelope. She was sleeping really qute outside her iglo. I made a picture.









Yes my hedgies like christmas haha  That are windowstickers. Sticked on the outside off the terrarium 

Yesterday she ate less then the last days. Still more than in had her in the beginning. Waiting until day 55 is still such a long time


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

How wide is the cage?


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

1 meter by 50 is the cage. The iglo is kind a big home made


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

1 meter by 50 meters??


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Tuin means 100 x 50 cm


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

Everything is still the same with Penelope. Im still hoping she is not pregnant. She is with me for 34 days now...


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## Tuin (Nov 21, 2013)

I just bathed Penelope. She did fine. She lost 15 grams of weight. Really hoping she is not pregnant. Last week i saw she is quilling ( think u call it quilling) she is changing her priks haha. So i gues she really is 1 year old. Maybe thats why she is grumpy etc. After the bath i put a litlle olive oil on her. Waited a few minutes and rinsed it of. Her skin looked dry.

By the way
Marry christmass everybody!


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