# the opisite of obese



## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

ive had rose for 5 months now and she's about the size of a full grown teddy bear hamster. i think she was a runt but i could be wrong, any ideas of whats wrong with her and do you think shell grow?


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2011)

hedgiebum14 said:


> ive had rose for 5 months now and she's about the size of a full grown teddy bear hamster. i think she was a runt but i could be wrong, any ideas of whats wrong with her and do you think shell grow?


Some hedgehogs are naturally smaller framed averaging in the mid 250gs to 300gs and are perfectly healthy.

You want your hedgehogs body to look more like this:

()

and not this:

)(

If your hedgehog has an hourglass like body shape you'll want to add more fat to her diet such as supplementing more meal worms into her daily intake.

Adding a kitten cat food in to help promote some extra weight gain.



EDIT: I noticed your feeding just a hedgehog food, most of these don't provide enough nutrients for hedgehogs and can cause a lower weight because the majority of the ingredients are "junk" and are just processed into more waste.

Have you ever caught your hedgehog trying to eat its waste or pee? This may sound disgusting but usually an animal does that when they aren't getting everything they need, they don't always do it, but if your hedgehog is small it may also be due to not getting the nutrients it needs to grow.


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## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

TWCOGAR said:


> hedgiebum14 said:
> 
> 
> > ive had rose for 5 months now and she's about the size of a full grown teddy bear hamster. i think she was a runt but i could be wrong, any ideas of whats wrong with her and do you think shell grow?
> ...


thank you very much and yes, she does have an hourglass figure, i hate it! XC


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2011)

I edited my reply to add in concern about the hedgehog food, it usually alone is unable to provide your hedgehog with all it needs to grow


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## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

TWCOGAR said:


> I edited my reply to add in concern about the hedgehog food, it usually alone is unable to provide your hedgehog with all it needs to grow


 really? i should feed her more of her natrual diet then


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2011)

hedgiebum14 said:


> TWCOGAR said:
> 
> 
> > I edited my reply to add in concern about the hedgehog food, it usually alone is unable to provide your hedgehog with all it needs to grow
> ...


A decent quality cat food should be fine, if its the hedgehog food I am thinking of its got by-products which can be anything from an animal beaks, feet, its the leftovers processed and corn isn't very digestible and its early in the listing so supplementing a cat food such as Blue Buffalo Basics will help your hedgehog and maybe even reduce the poop output some adding a new food can increase smell for a bit and should be done slowly but a lot of people who have added a cat food find once the hedgehog tastes it they ignore the hedgehog food. Its likely because the cat foods have real meat and less non needed content.

Unfortunately they have yet to make a really wonderful hedgehog food commercially to stand on its own. I've even seen some which have things that kill hedgehogs.


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## moothecow (Jun 4, 2011)

Check out the cat food thread on the nutrition forum for some ideas of what good catfoods are to switch to! There are lots of different foods that are good


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

My Zoé was really skinny too when I got her, she weighed only 209 grams at 5 1/2 months. What worked for me was adding a kitten food to her cat food mix and giving her more mealworms, about 7 each night. She now wheighs 250 grams at almost 2 years old and is doing great. I suggest weighing your hedgie everyday while you're changing her diet to closely monitor her progress.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Do you know how much Rose weighs? From her pictures in your signature she doesn't look too skinny to me, but I might be wrong.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I was wondering the same thing, how much does Rose weigh and do you have a picture of her taken from above her to show her shape (preferably with her quills down).

Hedgehogs come in such a range of sizes. I had a health adult that was 296 grams and a healthy adult that was over 750 grams. Are you certain the hedgehog has an hourglass shape and doesn't just have a runner body style? Runners look like twinkies running on stilts. 

Runners sometimes can be harder to keep weight on. Add in a little regular cat food instead of the weight management/senior versions, Royal Canin Baby Cat or feed extra mealworms and you can usually maintain their weight.


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## JLF1995 (Jun 22, 2011)

My first hedgehog is DEFFENTLY a runner! No matter how much food I feed him, he keeps his size and stays his weight at 9.5 grams! It scares me but the vet says he is fine! My other Hedgehog Norah is 12 grams and still runs on her wheel, but not as violent as Hedgie, my first hedgehog.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2011)

JLF1995 said:


> My first hedgehog is DEFFENTLY a runner! No matter how much food I feed him, he keeps his size and stays his weight at 9.5 grams! It scares me but the vet says he is fine! My other Hedgehog Norah is 12 grams and still runs on her wheel, but not as violent as Hedgie, my first hedgehog.


I think you mean ounces if your hedgehogs weighed only 9.5 grams and 12 grams I'd be seriously worried.

If possible its more accurate for weight fluctuations to weigh in grams if you have a scale to weight them at home


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## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

Kalandra said:


> I was wondering the same thing, how much does Rose weigh and do you have a picture of her taken from above her to show her shape (preferably with her quills down).
> 
> Hedgehogs come in such a range of sizes. I had a health adult that was 296 grams and a healthy adult that was over 750 grams. Are you certain the hedgehog has an hourglass shape and doesn't just have a runner body style? Runners look like twinkies running on stilts.
> 
> Runners sometimes can be harder to keep weight on. Add in a little regular cat food instead of the weight management/senior versions, Royal Canin Baby Cat or feed extra mealworms and you can usually maintain their weight.


Very good question because on her last vet visit she was weighed in ounces. i herd 29 ounces but i think im wrong. actually im pretty sure im wronge but ill get a pic of her with her quills down its easier.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Get yourself a kitchen scale that weighs in grams. Scales can be purchased for under $20 in many stores now. Weighing hedgehogs regularly is a very good idea anyway as we can more quickly detect health problems when there is a weight change. Also weigh in grams, each gram is 28 grams. 28 grams is a large amount of weight for a hedgehog. 29 oz is over 800 grams... that is a large hedgehog.

An image from above will help us look at your hedgehog and try to help you determine if she is extremely underweight or just that is her body shape.


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## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

*opposite of obese: pic*

okay heres roses size  unfortenutley



















some people said she could have malnutrition but im not sure,
i couldnt get a good pic because rose was to eager to explore the living room.
Rose is very subborn and wont get a good pic and my camera keeps changing angles withought me knowing







i dont mind rose but i need a new camera -.-


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## hedgiebum14 (Jul 25, 2011)

Kalandra said:


> Get yourself a kitchen scale that weighs in grams. Scales can be purchased for under $20 in many stores now. Weighing hedgehogs regularly is a very good idea anyway as we can more quickly detect health problems when there is a weight change. Also weigh in grams, each gram is 28 grams. 28 grams is a large amount of weight for a hedgehog. 29 oz is over 800 grams... that is a large hedgehog.
> 
> An image from above will help us look at your hedgehog and try to help you determine if she is extremely underweight or just that is her body shape.


lol then shes DEFENETLEY not 29 ounses XXD i posted some pics but if shes 29 grams i think its her body size


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## mizgoldstein (Feb 12, 2011)

*Re: opposite of obese: pic*

I was reading your other thread so I am up to date on the situation and compared to my Lulu, your Rose looks very skinny! but I also don't know if that's a "runner's" body (which I cant stop laughing about the imagery I'm getting from Kalandra's comment - a twinkie on stilts :lol: ) but either way I would deff look into some of the cat foods listed and introduce more mealies and get a kitchen scale asap.

I feed Lulu a three different cat foods mix and one of them is the Wellness Kitten formula and I feel she is at a healthy weight right now for her age. The other two foods I use are the Katz n Gold or Gold n Katz, I forget the right name, and the Innova in the pink bag (I have all the exact names written down at home - I just know her Wellness has her main ing. chicken, her Katz has her turkey and her Innova has her lamb - I've read here before that three main meats makes a good complete diet)


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2011)

hedgiebum14 said:


> Kalandra said:
> 
> 
> > Get yourself a kitchen scale that weighs in grams. Scales can be purchased for under $20 in many stores now. Weighing hedgehogs regularly is a very good idea anyway as we can more quickly detect health problems when there is a weight change. Also weigh in grams, each gram is 28 grams. 28 grams is a large amount of weight for a hedgehog. 29 oz is over 800 grams... that is a large hedgehog.
> ...


you'll want to get an accurate weigh of her as mentioned weight is important to knowing if something is wrong with your hedgehog


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2011)

*Re: opposite of obese: pic*


















That's my runner Celeste she is always walking/running her legs fully erect and she doesn't sink in that much.

I would start weighing her immediately in grams if possible to monitor her, hedgehogs can seem perfectly fine and have health and malnutrition issues.

I would get a kitten cat food for her as suggested by many and I will bet she'll eat more and avoid the hedgehog food as time goes one, most hedgehogs do once introduced to a good cat food once they taste it.

Oh and twinkie on stilts describes Celeste perfectly


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

*Re: opposite of obese: pic*

She looks like she may have the more sleek body shape, but she is underweight.

Couple of questions, how old is she again? Under a year?

Couple of thoughts. If she is a very active hedgehog (ie runs constantly at night) then add in a higher fat kibble. I mentioned in the other thread that adding in Royal Canin Baby Cat has worked wonders for some with thin hedgehogs. She may also do fine with just a regular cat instead of low fat cat food too. You may have to back off on the higher fat foods as she may become over weight as time goes on.

Also get yourself a scale and start weighing her daily. Once you add in the higher fat kibble you should start to see her gain weight. If she is losing weight, get her in to see a veterinarian for examination. There could be an underlying health problem and not just her burning calories from being overly active.

I've had a couple that if I didn't give them a lot of mealworms (we are talking 10 a night) and the higher calorie kibble they would look like her very quickly. These were very active hedgehogs that would run for over 7 hrs each night.


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

Sorry, this is off topic, but I just love, "twinkie on stilts"!! :lol:


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2011)

Rainy said:


> Sorry, this is off topic, but I just love, "twinkie on stilts"!! :lol:


My Celeste is pure white aside from her head area and the skirt of her quills which are banded brown so she's a she is a chocolate drizzled twinkie on stilts from now on


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2011)

I just wanted to add though I am not sure this points more towards the food issue or not, but aside from when they are really young babies they tend to not poop where they eat which you mention yours does. It might be nothing, but Hedgehogs have been know in some owners opinions to express their distaste with their poop being placed around something or on it and making a mess.


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