Hedgie did not eat last night

[Abster]

My bf and I got our hedgehog Leo almost 2 months ago (he is 4 months old) and he is usually a good eater. Every night we can hear him running on his wheel, drinking his water, and eating his kibble. This morning I looked at his food bowl and it was untouched. I measured to make sure, and he did in fact not eat. I took him out of his hut a while ago and he behaved normally and ate a couple mealworms. We also did not hear him run around as much on his wheel last night. I'm curious as to why he didn't eat the kibble last night. We haven't changed the food brand. If anyone has any advice, let me know! Thank you.

[nikki]

What's the temperature in his cage, not the room temp but the actual cage temp? Do you have a heating set up? Is he on a light schedule?

[Abster]

Cage temp is moderated by a special outlet that controls the ceramic heat emitter. Temp is always between 76 and 81. Lights on at 7am, off at 7pm.

[nikki]

I would keep an eye on him for the next 24 hours and if he doesn't eat in that time I'd make a vet appointment. If he doesn't eat in the next 24 hours you will have to start syringe feeding him.

[Abster]

I don't think that'll be necessary...he has gone a week without eating before and is in perfect health. But I will definitely keep an eye on him! 🙂

[nikki]

Going a week without eating is very dangerous for them. After 48-72 hours fatty liver disease can start and each time they stop eating it gets progressively worse. Once they develop signs of it there is really nothing they can do to treat it.

[Abster]

It happened when he was brand new and just getting used to his new home with us, it's common and we were warned it would probably happen. But anyway, he started eating again the day after we brought him to the vet, who said he was fine. He was just being picky lol