# Weight/size question....



## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

hopefully i'm putting this in the right section...anywho...my friend and I got sister hedgies and hers(Ella) is much larger than my Kamo. She eats over 60 kibbles a night(idk if that's normal or not enough or...) She is 4 1/2 months old and I'm just curious how much she should weigh, only because she is SO much smaller than Ella. If I took her in to a vet do you think they would just weigh her for me at no charge? Or would I have to make an apt? Thanks!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

You can see from this thread about different hedgies & their size that there can be a big difference. It's just like with us - you can be perfectly healthy at 5 foot or 7 foot. 100 lbs or more!
Even with my 2 hedgies, my boy Cholla is about 100 grams smaller than my girl Zoey.
It's more important that you know what your hedgie personally weighs & monitor it for fluctuations. Compare her only to herself (like we should all do for ourselves.  )
Although the vet MAY weigh her for you, of course, the best thing to do would be to get your own kitchen scale at some point. The reason is so that you can weigh her regularly & keep track of her weight. Fluctuations in her weight may help you determine if she's sick. 
For me, keeping track of my hedgie's weight helped me to realize that Cholla ran so much & started losing weight. So I have to do things to help him keep his weight up, like extra mealies. He doesn't have any grams to spare. 

So - long story short - don't worry that Kamo is smaller than Ella. But get a scale when you are able to , so you can monitor her weight for health reasons.  

You're a good hedgie-mama.


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

that all makes sense. I was just a tad concerned that she was so small cuz I can feel her little hip bones! but I guess she's just a petite little girl =] nothing like her personality though...she thinks she's a football player haha. any recommendations on a good brand for a decent price?

Thanks =] I love her so much I could just BURST!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I was going to tell you also that looking at her, she has tbe same body shape as my Cholla. If her sides draw in like this )(, than that's a concern. 
I don't have a specific brand to recommend, but I have a digital kitchen scale. You can change it from oz to grams. And you have the ability to put a bowl on it & make it go bck to zero. I like putting the bowl on it so the hedgie dosn't sqirm or run away.
You will also want to keep track of her weight & try to weigh her @ about the same time every time to be most accurate. It doesn't have to be an expensive scale.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I posted about something similar a while back.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7988&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=kashi+weight&start=10

That's the thread I started. If you look, you will notice that Kashi has the same body shape as your Kamo  She's fine, but if you're concerned about her weight then you could try giving her a few extra mealies (as suggested by Kalandra, Immortalia and Nancy on my thread)


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

i thought about giving her something to put just a bit of weight on, but she won't eat mealies or crickets....just apples and chicken and only a couple at a time.....so I'm not sure what to try! Any other suggestions? =]


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## KamoLover (Mar 17, 2011)

What about a vitamin? Does anyone here use vitamins? And if so which ones? (Kamo is 4.5 months old)


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

KamoLover said:


> What about a vitamin? Does anyone here use vitamins? And if so which ones? (Kamo is 4.5 months old)


I don't use vitamins... I don't feel it's necessary... but this is my view on even people taking vitamins >_> lol I'm sure with a varied diet hedgies probably don't need vitamins... but I'm sure there are some people on here who give vitamins, so you should probably see who else responds


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I don't think many people on here give any sort of vitamins. If she won't eat mealies though, and you're trying to keep her weight stable or get it up, I would suggest finding a cat food with a bit higher fat in it, maybe something between 15-20%. You can just add it to whatever mix she's on now, and continue to keep an eye on her weight. There's a lot of runner-type hogs on here that have a skinnier body shape and need higher fat foods to keep a stable/safe weight.


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