# Average weight at 8 months...?



## PrincessZebra (Jul 2, 2011)

I am worried about Quillow's leg, it's weirdly bent when she walks. And she has recently been sitting on her butt like a dog.

Could she be over weight? She uses her wheel, but what else should I do to help her lose weight. I'm thinking of making her swim in the bath tub but that sounds dangerous.

I've been feeding her baby food (carrots, pears, and sweet potatoes) everyday. She was off of it for a little while (4 weeks maybe?) and now has eaten a pear bottle for the past week. I'm taking her off of it to see if that helps with the weight. Should I not be feeding her the baby food? Too much fat maybe?

Thank you!!!


----------



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

If her leg is weirdly bent, it could be something more serious than being a bit chubby. I'm by no means an expert though, merely speculating. I have seen my hedgie sit on her butt like a dog - usually when she's eating or sitting in my hands.

Swimming shouldn't really be used as a weight loss tool as it's normally pretty frightening for a hedgehog. Some weight loss ideas are hiding treats around the cage to encourage activity, putting a dig box in the cage, and frequent time out of the cage for exploring.

It's hard for us to say if she is overweight or not without pictures. You should try to get birds-eye angle pictures (from directly above her) when she's completely relaxed - not stretched out or balled up - and post them here. A hog at a healthy weight should look like a twinkie on stilts :lol: Like this | | An overweight hog is more round, like this ( ) and an underweight hog looks like this ) (. But, there are different body types - some are a more teardrop shape, with a bigger back end, and others are more round in the middle and have smaller behinds. It's impossible for us to help you determine if she's overweight without pictures, lol

Hedgehogs come in lots of different shapes and sizes, but my hog was about 375 grams when she was 8 months old. Some hedgies are bigger, some are smaller. I know of older hogs (like 2 or 3 years old) that aren't even 300g. And then there are others that aren't full grown and are already at 800 grams.

Baby food is a good option for treats. I wouldn't take her off it unless there is actually a problem with her weight.


----------



## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

Are her legs chubby? Can she ball up fully? If the answers are yes to the first and no to the second then she's probably overweight. 

Cutting out the baby food is fine. They don't ever NEED baby food unless they are sick, but most are okay for snacks. 

Please do not ever make your hedgehog swim to lose weight. Most can swim if taught how, but it is unsafe and terrifies them. The reason they swim is to get away from the water. There are way too many problems that can happen making a hedgie swim. They can easily get an uri that can turn into a deadly form of pnemonia. They can also easily drown (hedgies can not swim for very long). 

If she is overweight for sure then try adding in a reduced fat good quality cat food. Do not ever limit their food though hedgies need food available 24 hours a day and can get health problems suck as fatty liver disease that can kill them if you don't allow enough food to be left out at all times. 

What kind of wheel does she have? Is she using it? 

As far as the leg being bent strange can you explain it more. From the way you described it you made it sound like the leg has been broken and if this is the case she needs a vet asap. If she can't walk right that especially would make me look at getting her to a vet asap. She could be in pain and need at the least some pain meds. The vet can give you an accurate diagnosis though because it could be caused by many things some a lot more serious than others.


----------

