New hedgie, first time owner

Brknwings0313 · Feb 25, 2014

Hello everyone my name is marley, I just bought a pinto hedgehog 2 days ago, he is only 5 weeks old( didn't know this until after I brought him home)! The lady advertised them as 8 weeks, then I asked her his bday when we got home and she said January 20th! He is sleeping a lot and didn't eat the first two days he's been here, last night I put at shirt I had on all day over top his cage, and this morning he uncurls in my hand and took some yogurt from a syringe! I ended up finding a breeder who I called to ask for help because I was worried about his food and drink intake! So he is on a yogurt and 1/4 Gatorade 3/4 water diet for a couple days then transitioning slowly to cat food! So far so good, he's eaten 4ml 3x today of yogurt and I have seen him drinking a few times! My question for you all is how do I transition him to cat food! I do not think he was every weened from his mom either properly! What are things I can do to make his transition at his new home easier for him? Any information and advise is appreciated!

Raindog · Feb 25, 2014

Wow! That is crazy. Good that he is eating. I'm not really sure what to tell you. Hopefully one of the breeders, or super smart people on here will chime in.

I think you can start by offering him small amounts of wet baby cat cat food. I think baby cat is the kind that is real mushy, like a paste.
The shirt is a good idea, you can let him cuddle up in that.

Please keep us updated.

akane · Feb 25, 2014

Hoglets start eating solid food on their own within a few weeks. Although they aren't usually separated from their mom until 6-8weeks and then sold at 8-10weeks. 5 week olds should be perfectly capable of eating any properly balanced cat food. If you want to start with softer food get canned pate type which includes most of the wellness and the Taste of the Wild brands. You can also just moisten regular cat kibble. Make sure the kibble is 30-35% protein and less than 15% fat. Otherwise the higher quality the better and the less grain the better just like with cats. Hedgies are mostly carnivores and will not benefit much from the grain, fillers, and veggies added to kibble. Keep giving probiotics. If you want to stop with the dairy (animals are lactose intollerant and some do not tolerate even yogurt) you can buy bene bac in tubes or powdered but the flavored tubes are better because they generally like the taste. You just squeeze a little out the end and let them gobble it up. It will help populate the bacteria necessary to eat solid food and in turn block the bad bacteria that might cause diarrhea from finding space to grow.

Brknwings0313 · Feb 25, 2014

As far as I can tell he is digesting the yogurt pretty well good shaped brown poops! We woke up to him this morning in his bowl of moistned kitten food! So I believe he is starting to relax some more with me and is feeling more at home, I put him in my sweatshirt pocket for a couple hours today and he was super chill, he was not rolled up but just relaxing and sleeping in my pocket! No huffing either!

smhufflepuff · Feb 28, 2014

Yippee for eating and pooping!

Some nice small kibbles like Royal Canin Baby Cat or Kitten work well with the little ones. They're not the best formulations over the long term, but good for wee babies with their small size and relatively high fat & calories. RC is also easy to find in most pet stores. Other small kibbles, of better quality, include Fromm and Now! <-- the exclamation point is part of the name.

What kibbles does he have now?

Brknwings0313 · Feb 28, 2014

When I got him they were feeding him purina kitten chow, once he is down to a 1/2 bag I plan on changing him to a more healthy one! We bought him a larger habitat today! He loves it!