Sleeping under his tent/ few questions.

[Mabdelrasoul]

Hi y'all. I just got a 4 month old male hedgehog. He keeps hissing at me, and crawls in to a ball. I'm guessing he's scared? Also he won't eat his food or water idk what's wrong with him. He won't even come out to play on his own. Also . I bought him a tent with a nice warm fleece I side, but he never sleeps in it . He burrows himself under the tent. Go doesn't even use it. Why is this? Plz answer all my questions. I appreciate it. I'm really worried

 

[smhufflepuff]

"Just got" as in today? Yesterday? Last week? Moving from everything he once new to a brand new house with new sights and sounds and smells and... well... new everything can be pretty scary for a little hedgie boy. He'll need some time to adjust. Some things you can do are to make sure he has all he needs in his house (food, water, warmth, light during the day, a place to hide, wheel to run in) and some quiet time.

Some hedgies will not eat or drink unless they are alone and it is dark. I have one now who is like that. How long has he gone without eating or drinking? You can put some of his kibbles under his tent with him for now if he hasn't had anything... the basic idea here is to work with him... even if being under the tent is silly, the most imporant thing is to make sure he's eating. Then we'll figure out under vs inside the tent

What kind of food does he have? And what's his drinking water set-up? Dish? Bottle?

Tell us a bit more about his home... like does he have a wheel? How do you keep his temperature just right?

And how about you? First hedgie?

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

For him 3 days ago.he hasn't ate or drank in about 2 days.he has I think car food. W.e the lady gave me. It's solid food.he used to have a flat dish for water and food. Bit I notices he keeps tipping it over so I changed it to a bowl. But I feel that's why he won't eat or drink so I switched it back to the flat dish to see what happens. He has a wheel but he won't use it. And temp in my room is sitting at 77 78. But I just purchased a lamp and ceramic heated black bulb with a thermastat for him cause my dad won't allow me to keep the heat on all day everyday. And yes first hedgehog.

Ps. I put him on my bed to walk around and he came by my rib cage and is just laying they with his head on my pillow. But any sudden move I make he hisses and shakes. Why is this . O and I changed his tent to a wood house. Plz give me any advice needed

 

[smhufflepuff]

If he hasn't had any food or water in two days he's probably pretty ill. You should be looking at syringe feeding him some food and water. You can find an oral syringe in most any pet supply store. Though the fact that he has tipped over the bowl makes me think that maybe he has had a little of his food. And that is a good thing. Please count the number of cat kibbles you put in his cage and then how many are left in order to make sure how many he is (or is not) eating.

Is he pooping and peeing?

I am glad you have a lamp, black ceramic heat emitter, and thermostat for him. That will help make sure he is at a constant temperature. 77F is probably good. Mine tend to like it around 76F. I believe there was a survey done on another hedgehog board and results showed the hedgies, on average, did best at 75F.

Yes, it makes sense that he hisses and shakes if you make a sudden move. Hedgehogs are prey animals. To them, most other animals are predators... Even you who just wants to give him love! It may take him weeks or months to understand that you are not scary. Sometimes it happens sooner... sometimes longer.

The best thing you can do is move slowly and carefully around him. At first, his instincts will usually kick in to protect him when he senses something moving in his environment. Or if he hears a noise. And the only way he can protect himself is to curl up into a ball, stick out his quills, and make a noise that sounds as if he is a scary monster "hiss, hiss, hiss!" Of course, that defense isn't very effective because you can still pick him up... quills and all.

Over time, if you are calm and gentle, he will learn that it is safe to come out of that hissy shaking ball. To me, it is one of the most wonderful things when you see a very scared hedgie finally stop being scared and peek out from inside their hedgieball and look around at you... even if it only lasts a second or two the first time!

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

Thanks for the reply!! Well six a.m this morning I woke up to noise from my cage. It was my hedgehog playing lol. I took him out the cage to play and he actually allowed me to hold him without him hissing . I figured u know what since he's letting me hold him n play with him I might as well give him a bath and I did. He was ok with the bath doesn't freak out. But wanted out. So I dried him n right after he peed on me 3 times! Why did he pee on me? And I counted his food. He only at 4 peices. I'm on my way back from work now. I will check n see if he ate.



Ps. Can u plz give me a mix of high grade cat food that will be good for my hedgehog. Only because the breeder won't answer my emails to what food she fed him. So I will introduce a new mix to his precious food gradually . Thanks . I want nothing but the best for my hedgi.

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

So seems like he might of drank a bit of water. But no food. Woke up this morning and he was playing on the wheel. (First time!!) but when I tried to hold him he wasn't as friendly. He hissed and crawled in to a ball. Don't know why thi is. Well I'm on my way to buy meal worms . Ill see if he eats those

 

[smhufflepuff]

I'm glad he, at least, had something to eat! 4 pieces is better than nothing. I hope he likes his mealworms.

It is odd that his breeder will not tell you what foods he was on. There are many quality cat foods out there. I would recommend Halo Spot's Stew and Blue Buffalo as my top two choices -- the pieces are nice and small. Other quality brands are Fromm, Innova, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, Solid Gold Katz-n-Flocken, and Wellness -- the pieces are a bit bigger. So I think the smaller ones might be a bit better for a 4 month old hedgie.

Since he is still not eating much, you might also want to try some wet cat food too. Blue Buffalo has been a big hit with my hedgies. I had one that really loved to eat the green peas that came in the Halo Spot's Stew canned cat food.

I'm glad you had a good interaction with him at 6am! I hope it continues. Sorry he was hissy later.

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

Thanks for the reply. So turns out those four peices were hidin in the aspen . I didn't get meal worms. I called vet they said to try nutri -cal . So I bought the one for ferrets . I fed him it so lets see way happens. I also picked up some halo and natures balance nd mixed it with some wet food. Lets see if he eats it ton. Also bought apple banana strawberry mix baby food to try tonight. Ill try anything for him to eat. I hope he gets better.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Oh yes, Nature's Balance, that's a good brand too! I hope he eats it.

It sounded like he's been drinking and peeing. Has he pooped?

I haven't tried Nutri-cal before. I've used the feline version of Hills A&D. I'm going to guess they're probably similar -- high calorie food that has a thick toothpaste kind of consistency? Did he eat it on his own or did you have to feed him with an oral syringe?

If you don't already have one, I'd suggest getting a small scale that measure in grams -- like a small kitchen scale. I'd weigh him daily and chart his weight so you can see how things are progressing for him in a very objective way.

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

Yes it's like a paste. I force fed him threw a toddler syringe of wellness grain free mix of salmon turkey and chicken wet food with some water. He ate about 8ml threw the whole day. He seems like he's gettin better. He also ate 5 solid kibble . I counted this morning when I woke up. I will start weighing him today. Thanks u!!!!!!!!

 

[smhufflepuff]

I'm so happy he's starting to eat the kibble on his own! That's great

You're doing such a good job with him... he's lucky that you are there to feed him when he couldn't manage it on his own.

Have you named him yet?

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

Thank u!!!!! Yes his name is Oreo!
One question I bought a 100watt ceramic heat emitter for Oreo cause my room is about 69 70 degrees . I have it directly on the top of his cage with a thermostat at 77 degrees. But I just feel it isn't warm enough IDk y!!!! The thermostat is awesome but I mean is it accurate enough to know that is 77 in the cage? I feel he's still cold because my room thermometer is readin 70 degrees but yet the thermostat has shut off because it says the cage is 77 . I was thinking about buying another heat emitter what do u think?

 

[smhufflepuff]

Depends on the size of his cage. I have two cages... two different sizes. On one of them, I just have one Ceramic Heat Emitter (plus lamp and thermostat); on the other, I have two CHE's (and lamps and thermostat) because it's bigger and I need to be sure that the heat reaches both ends. I use 100's and 150's. I put the lamps directly on top of the cages too... they're wire-top cages with plastic bottoms.

You can get a thermometer for the cage itself in order to know for sure. They sell little ones in the reptile section of most pet stores that you can stick directly to the inside wall of Oreo's cage. That way you'll know if it's the right temperature at the exact level where he lives. Though, I suppose, the real test would be to check when the temperature of your room drops the most... like around 4am. Brrr!

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

Lol ya I have the same cage . I'm Guna buy another one just incase!!!! Thank u so much. U honestly kept me going n stay positive !! Ily for that . Haha

 

[smhufflepuff]

You bet Keep letting us know how Oreo's doing!

 

[Mabdelrasoul]

I sure will

 

[smhufflepuff]

How's Oreo looking this week?