New Hedgehog owner..needs advice!!

[Gogetenks48]

Hello fellow Hedgehog owners!! I purchased my first Hedgie two days ago. I love him and I think he is amazing. His name is Willhem Gogetenks Chandler the 1st. The night I brought him home he seemed fine. But for the last 24 hours he has had diherrea and sleeps allot. I'll wake him up to try and spend some time with him and he just winds up pooping on me :/ I haven't feed him anything but the recommended brand of cat food,a few meal worms and some water. He seems to want to less and less to do with me

The research I've done would indicate that he is just stressed out...but how can I know for sure? Any advice?

Thanks so much in advance...I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say!!

I really love this little guy and I want to know what I can do to make him happier...

[hedgielover]

2 days is not enough time to know what is normal for him. If you keep watching him and handling him you'll get to know each other and then be able to tell when he is not himself.

You are right that he is probably just stressed out right now but there's always a chance that something else is going on too. An environment change can cause green poop but usually not diarrhea. What exactly do you mean by diarrhea, is the poop formed, soft or liquid? Did you change his food immediately when you got him? If yes what was he eating before and what is he eating now?

Do you know how old he is? If he is a baby it is normal for them to poop a lot.

Sometimes hedgehogs will poop when they wake up, if you wake him up in the evening to handle him then he's pooping on you because he's on you when he needs to poop. If you are litter training him you could try putting him in his littler box when he starts to get squirmy, hopefully he will then poop in his litter box and not on you. However often the reality with a small pet is that you just get pooped on sometimes.

[Skittles]

Are you feeding any of the food he was on before you got him? Or did you do a complete switch over? It is always reccomended that you do gradual food changes to help hem adjust to this change. If you did a complete food change introduce a bit of the old food (the food he ate before you took him home) back in and gradually lessen the amount until it's just the food you want to feed him. How old is he? If he is a baby they do sleep alot, even mine that is over a year old I find still sleeps alot. (which I attribute to the fact she is very lazy)

[Gogetenks48]

I am feeding him the same food that he was given previously. His poop is not formed...or like... in solid pieces. But is is not like liquid either. Its it is light brown and soft...slightly runny. He got up early this morning...ate...drank some water...dug around in his litter box for a bit...ran in his wheel and went back to his hideaway...he was up for maybe like 10-15 minutes tops.

Im sure he is fine...Im just new at this this whole "owning a hedgie" thing...I will be sure to keep and eye on him and just continue to handle him once a day...

and thanks for the idea of when I wake him up at night to play with him...to put him in his litter box for a bit...I will have to start doing that...


Thanks again guys...it means allot to me!!

[hedgielover]

If it's not full on liquid it's not serious diarrhea but still something to keep an eye on. Most likely the poop will be formed again once he settles in and is not so stressed. Since you are still feeding him the same food then a change in food didn't cause this. Sometimes when you change food quickly to a food that is higher in protein the poop will be softer for a while but that is not the case here then. You could try giving some plain canned pumpkin or butternut squash baby food to help firm up his poops.

[moxieberry]

What kind of food, exactly? The place you got him from might not have been feeding him something that's good quality, so the poop problem might just be from being on crap food in general.

[lemonpiggy]

hedge hogs are nocturnal and wake up at night he probably does most eating at night same with playing on his wheel over all the do poop a lot i recommend you make sure you dont just jump a new food on him because it would be a unfamiliar smell. make sure you mix it with his old food and slowly give him mor new food because that also may cause him to have tummy problems like diareah

[elizakait]

Plain canned pumpkin seriously helped my little guy's poop problem. Maybe that will help? As far as him pooping on you, I've just learned to live with it. However, if you can sew, you should make him a snuggle sack. When I want bonding time without the poop I just put him in his snuggle sack and sit him in my lap while I do homework.