New 8 week old Violet

[emilykeudell]

My new hedgehog Violet has been with us a week now. She is so sweet and I love everything about her! I have a few questions though. She's my first!

1.) Green poops! Sticky slimy green poops for the last day now. I am starting to change her food, but am doing it very very very slowly. Like five or so new kibbles a day. Is this normal? Should I stop and just stick with the old food? I wanted her to have variety. Her old food in wellness indoor cat and her new food is orijen. Also she eats freeze- dried bugs. meal worms and crickets.

2.) She is so itchy this week! So like the whole time I've had her. When she is out she's like walk... scratch, walk... scratch. When she itches one or two of her tiniest quills will sometimes fall out. I know the weather is also very dry, im even super itchy! Her breeder said mites can come in bedding, I'm using Good Mews litter. Could they come in that? or is she starting to Quill? I put a little oil on her last night that the breeder suggested but not sure if I used enough. She was still a little itchy today.

3.) She sleeps SO much lately. Is this normal baby Hedgie behavior? im sure it is but wanted some opinions.

4.) We turn the heat down low at night, But I have a heat lamp with a 150 Watt ceramic bulb on her. Its about a Half foot to a foot away from her, if she is in the warmer sleeping spot of her cage. She has a cooler spot she can go to also. Does all this sound ok?

Lots of questions! I love my baby and just wanted to see what you guys thought.
Thanks!
Emily + Violet

 

[akane]

She is probably quilling but watch for overly dry, flaky skin and patches that have lost quills without new ones coming in. That could mean it's mites instead. All types of bedding can contribute to dry skin which is one benefit of using fleece but the quills generally won't fall out if it's just dry skin from the environment.

All hedgehogs have a slightly different schedule. I have 2 that are up and running the second the sun goes down and will come out during the day if you are filling their bowls with fresh food. I also have some that you never see. We drag them out to check them over frequently and watch their food and water intake but for the most part you never see them out and about. They just sleep. I gave up putting cinni in the exercise pen because she just sits there or finds a hiding place in a tube or something and goes back to sleep.

You should have a thermometer or 2 or 3 depending how big your cage is to check the temp of the whole thing. It is best to get a thermostat for your light. You can get them in the reptile section and they will turn the light on when it's too cold and off when it's too hot. You don't really want a temp gradient across the cage. It's better to get the whole cage one ideal temp.

 

[smhufflepuff]

My new hedgehog Violet has been with us a week now. She is so sweet and I love everything about her! I have a few questions though. She's my first!

Welcome to you and Violet

1.) Green poops! Sticky slimy green poops for the last day now. I am starting to change her food, but am doing it very very very slowly. Like five or so new kibbles a day. Is this normal? Should I stop and just stick with the old food? I wanted her to have variety. Her old food in wellness indoor cat and her new food is orijen. Also she eats freeze- dried bugs. meal worms and crickets.

To some extent, green poops can be normal in this situation. The stress of moving from one home to the next where everything (sights, sounds, smells, schedules) has changed is stressful. Some react better or worse to that stress. Mean greenies are a good indicator of stress level.

Good job with the very slow approach to changing food. For now, I'd pause at whatever level you're at. For example, IF you're at 10 Orijen and 40 Wellness. Stay with that for at least a week before upping the Orijen content. You might even want to back down on the new food so it's 5 Orijen and 45 Wellness. Please note, there was the big IF in that sentence... you'll need to apply the concept to how things are going for Violet, not just all the sudden go "oh, 5 and 45... done!"

Another thing to consider is that you'll want to end up with at least two foods in Violet's mix when you're done. So if you like Wellness and Orijen, you'll want 50% of each when all is said and done. Many people like to have 3 kibbles in the blend... though, for now, don't worry about that. Get her through the mean greenie phase, then worry about this kind of stuff.

I'm not a big fan of the freeze dried bugs - can cause some tummy/gut issues. I'd pause on bugs for awhile (unless she'd been having them without issue at her former home), then, when you re-start, move toward the live ones.

2.) She is so itchy this week! So like the whole time I've had her. When she is out she's like walk... scratch, walk... scratch. When she itches one or two of her tiniest quills will sometimes fall out. I know the weather is also very dry, im even super itchy! Her breeder said mites can come in bedding, I'm using Good Mews litter. Could they come in that? or is she starting to Quill? I put a little oil on her last night that the breeder suggested but not sure if I used enough. She was still a little itchy today.

There's a good chance, since you're describing just the tiniest of the quills coming out, that her scratching is a combination of dry skin and quilling. Here's what I'd do: bathe her just once in an oatmeal bath. Either take a sock, dump some oatmeal in it, and swish it around about an inch or so of warm water and let her walk around in it. Use your hand to pour it over her back. Do not her get her face/ears wet. Then dry her in a towel. You can put a couple drops of flaxseed oil on her skin.

Mites are another possibility and a reason that people recommend staying away from using anything other than fleece for bedding and paper towels for the litter box. Breeders will use particulate bedding (eg, aspen or the like) for their hedgies so handfuls can be scooped out and replaced. But, in all other situations, I'd recommend fleece.

3.) She sleeps SO much lately. Is this normal baby Hedgie behavior? im sure it is but wanted some opinions.

Babies do several things very well: eat, run, sleep, and poop. When my Satin was a baby, she fell asleep in my hands with her body on one hand and her little head faceplanted in my other hand.

One danger, particularly in winter, is hibernation. You'll want to ensure that she's actually sleeping and not attempting hibernation. You can check this out by picking her up and feeling her belly. If she uncurls and is nice and warm, you're okay. If her belly is at all chilly or she cannot seem to uncurl, then she's not sleeping... she's attempting hibernation and that is dangerous. Put her on your belly... directly on your belly, under your shirt... and let her warm up. Make sure to keep her home warmer too.

4.) We turn the heat down low at night, But I have a heat lamp with a 150 Watt ceramic bulb on her. Its about a Half foot to a foot away from her, if she is in the warmer sleeping spot of her cage. She has a cooler spot she can go to also. Does all this sound ok?

A 150w CHE is great. You'll need to ensure that it has two other parts to work the way you need it to:
1. a lamp (ie, the disk shaped thing that you screw it into that has a reflector dish) that's rated for use with CHE's. The bigger the diameter, the better. 10" seems to work the best at spreading out the heat.
2. a thermostat to turn the CHE off when it is too hot and on when it is too cold.

Here's what I mean by each:
lamp: http://www.bigappleherp.com/Zoo-Med-Brooder-Fixtures?sc=2&category=22
thermostat: http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000-Thermostat

Many people (including those working at pet stores) get the terms "thermostat" and "rheostat" confused. Or will assure you a rheostat will work just fine instead of a thermostat. That is definitely NOT true. For hedgies, you need a way of keeping the temperature very constant. It's the thermostat, and only the thermostat, that can help regulate it the way you need it to.

 

[Johnsmom]

^ That was very insightful info. Thank you!

I had the exact same issues with John. Thank you for the very clear answers.

 

[smhufflepuff]

I had the exact same issues with John. Thank you for the very clear answers.

Glad we could help

 

[Jamiethomas1103]

What is the ideal temp?

 

[smhufflepuff]

Ideal temp depends on the hedgie. I'd aim for about 76F and take it from there. If hedgie is "splatting" (ie, on belly, legs outstretched in all directions), it's too warm, so decrease by a little. Conversely, if hedgie is in a ball with a chilly belly, increase the temp.