New older hedgie question

[Kelzor]

I recently got a new hedgie(about a month ago), but she is full grown. She's had a rough past, and I'm trying my best to give her a proper home with also learning as I go. She's not very social and covers up her face at the smallest sounds. I've taken her to a vet and she's free of mites. Skin and fur are clean and healthy. Still has all her teeth and hasn't lost many quills, only 3 since I've got her.

The past two days she's been overly grumpy, and hasn't wanted any of her treats(worms). She will sniff and lick them but walk away. Is this normal? How am I suppose to get an older hedgie to be more socialable? any help would be awesome!
Thanks!

 

[Sugargliderlove]

take her out everyday for about an hour or so. thats what i have to do with my hedgie Sonic. when I got him he was 2 years old. now he is 2 1/2.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Yep; just be consistent with her. She just moved from everything she knew (however bad it was) to something completely different. She'll need you to be consistent with your schedule of when you take her out, clean out her food & water dishes and restock food, turn the lights on and off, etc...

In terms of not wanting any treats - is that something new... like she used to eat them and has now stopped? Or has she never really taken to eating them at your place? Or ever as far as you know? Is she still doing okay with eating her regular kibble?

 

[Kelzor]

Thank you both for your replies! I feel like I'm getting nervous about making sure she has a great life due to a hectic one she had before.

Since I've gotten her she's LOVED the worms. That's why it's alarming that she isn't wanting them. The owner before was feeding her temptations cat treats, but they are filled with sugar! She ate them but wasn't as happy as when she was eatin the worms.

I would sit her on my belly and watch tv with her, while petting her. At first he would puff a little bit but got used to it. But like I said before, there past few days she's been overly cranky.

 

[Kelzor]

And she was on cat food, and we bought her normal hedgehog food and mixed it in but she wanted nothing to do with it. So we bought her some high quality cat food and she's eating that and still pooping a good amount.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Regarding the food, she may be a wise hedgie. Many of the official "this is hedgehog food" stuff you can get at stores isn't all that good for them. Depending on the brand of hedgehog food, it can range from "not the best, but I can include it along with another high quality cat kibble" (I'm thinking of something like Spike's Delight) to "if you feed your hedgehog this, your hedgehog will starve to death (unless she chokes on it first)." So, definitely glad to hear she's eating some high quality kibble and doing a wonderful job of pooping

Good call on stopping the temptations cat treats. Glad she was of similar mind too!

Hmm... I wonder what's gone on with the mealies then... I wonder if there's something wrong with them. I'd be tempted to toss out the ones you have and get another container.

As for the extra cranky, there are lots of possiblities: it's possible she's noticing that things have changed and they're not going back to the old way. She might be testing you to make sure you're not going to give her up too. It could have to do with different heating, humidity, and lighting schedules between where she was a month ago and now -- for example, since it's colder out now, the heaters may be working more... which compounds dry skin issues (a definite problem for hedgies) -- take a look at her skin to see if it's dry.

If there's nothing really obvious as to why she's grumpy, check out all the basics in her environment: heating, lighting, food, water, cage cleanliness, etc... And give her a good look over for things like dry skin, quill loss, nails that have grown a wee bit too long, skin irritations, etc...

 

[Kelzor]

Thank you again so much! I will go by a checklist tonight and make sure all is well! When I got her, she has extremely dry skin, but I read to put a little bit of olive oil on her back in the bath and her skin is looking 150% better!
Here's a picture of my lil girl!
Thanks again ^-^

 

[akane]

She may have backed off on the worms because she's finally getting good food and doesn't need them. She might have been starving for good nutrition before so wanted the worms badly.