# Please help! Signs of impaction?!



## JLB92 (Oct 27, 2014)

I just recently starting phasing out my hedgies old food which was Complete Nutrition for hedgehogs and slowly starting adding in Innova Cat Food. The first night we tried feeding him a pellet of the Innova, he went crazy for it and loved it. We started the phase about a week or two ago and he has been picking the cat food pellets out of his bowl and choosing to eat those over his old food. Only problem is lately he has not been pooping as much as he used to. Tonight as I write this, he keep trying to go to the bathroom(lifting his butt/tail) but nothing is coming out. A small poop came out but it is green, almost blackish and has mucus on it. He looks like he is in a lot of pain and i dont know what to do! He keeps laying on his stomach with his back legs kind of out. There are no vets that handle exotics that are open right now near me. HELP!!!


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## sc2001 (Oct 12, 2014)

I've had this happen before. I was feeding my hedgie dry mealworms a while ago, not knowing that they could cause constipation and impaction. So my hedgie started to strain while going to the bathroom and looked very uncomfortable. 

I would try giving him a warm bath. Hedgies tend to do their business while in warm water. 

I would also try some pure mashed pumpkin, this will help get everything out. If your hedgie doesn't like the pumpkin, you can syringe feed him.


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## JLB92 (Oct 27, 2014)

Thank you sc2001 for responding. I brought my little guy to a 24 emergency vet, but they did not have an exotic DR on staff so they did not help much. They basically told me to transition him back to his old food and they gave me an antibiotic to ensure that he does not have any bacterial infections in his GI tract. I am worried he won't go back to eating his old food now because he has been only picking the cat food pellets out of his food which has been mixed. 

I was reading that some people feed their hedgies Spike Delight commercial Hedgehog food, which I may try because the cat food does not seem to be sitting well and the DR said all off the books he checked and when he contacted the exotic DR, my hedgie should only be fed commercial hedgehog food.


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