# help! hedgehog not eating.



## Thymian (Feb 22, 2013)

Hi. I've had my male Hedgehog for about 2 years now and he was 6 months old when i got him so he's not old. he's always been healthy if a bit grumpy. until about a week ago when i noticed he wasn't eating much, at first i thought he was just being fussy so i got some wax worms which he has been eating. but as the days have gone by he's still not really eating, i realised the kitten food i was giving him now had milk in it so i thought he had an upset tummy so i bought new cat food but still not eating. i've offered him wet cat food and morrio worms but aside from a few wax worms he's hardly eaten all week. he's drinking fine but i think he's a bit constipated to. he's a bit lethargic but still pottering around ok. he's also got a red patch on his face, below his eyes. i'm worried, is there anything else i can try or should i just go to the vet?
thank you.


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## fionas_mommy (Oct 27, 2012)

Not the most experienced so hopefully someone can help you better but try syringe feeding him if he's not eating at all and I would DEFINITELY take him to the vet as soon as you can. Inactivity is a little worrisome.


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## amylynnbales (Jan 27, 2013)

You need to take him to the vet. If he's not eating, you may need to syringe feed him to get food in him, a week is a long time for a small animal not to eat much. How do you know he's not eating? Some people will count kibble or weigh out the food to see when somethings amiss. The lethargy worries me too. What type of food are you currently feeding him (brand wise?)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

What temperature is his cage? Do you have a lighting schedule for him? What does the red patch look like? Is it scaly or rough, does it look sore, does it look like he did it himself by scratching, or does it look like a bug bite or rash of some sort? As amylynnbales asked, what kind of kitten food were you giving him? What kind of food did you get to replace it?

If he hasn't been eating much in a week, I'd start syringe-feeding him today and get him to a vet as soon as you can. For syringe feeding you can get a 1-ml syringe from a pharmacy section of a store, found with the diabetics supplies. You can also ask at the counter and they may give you one or a few for free. For syringe feeding, you can either use pate/minced-style canned cat food (mash up well & thin a bit with water so it goes through the syringe easily), grind his kibble up into dust and mix with water, or use baby food. You can also grind his kibble up and add to the baby food to make sure he's getting the necessary nutrients/vitamins if you want. For baby food, most popular flavors with hedgehogs are chicken, turkey, sweet potato, peas, and carrots. Whatever you use, make sure it goes through the syringe into a bowl first so you don't get it clogged & suddenly have it go through and a bunch hit him in the face. Try to get 20-24 mL into him. You'll probably have to do several feeding sessions throughout the day. The general rule of thumb is to wait the number of hours for the number of ml he ate. So if he eats 4 ml, you wait 4 hours, then feed again.


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