[allisonh]

Okay, so I have been having trouble with my little girl with hibernating, and she has stopped! Hooray! Things seem to be looking up for her! Now I have a new problem. She has not been eating like she used to unless I feed it to her when she is out of her cage. She eats probably about 1- 1 1/2 tsp. of purina one each day. She used to eat 3-4 tsp. She also has not been "going" regularly. I have tried pumpkin which worked for a while and now she won't eat it. I have had some success with baby food sweet potatoes and that is what I am feeding her now every other night as a treat. I make sure she is drinking too. She sure sleeps a lot during the night- I check on her often. She stays snuggled next to the heat disc in her already 80 degree cage. The lighting is fine too. Is this normal hedgie behavior? She just used to be so much more active and eat and poop more before she tried to hibernate. The vet hasn't really given me any good ideas.

 

[Hedgieonboard]

Im not sure what to try for the long term but you could always fill the bathtub with an inch of water and let her run around while getting a bath. Usually that makes them go. Hope you and the vet find the answer and that your hedgie feels better soon

 

[allisonh]

Do you think that 1-2 tsp. of food is enough each day? I mean, she is pretty chubby!

 

[chaos_emerald]

Sounds similar to what I've been going through. My hedgie tried to hibernate in late January-early February, I had to treat her with two antibiotics for a URI for a month, and once everything seemed to clear up she fluctuated for awhile, between eating a lot and eating too little, and running a lot/ a little...
and now she seems to have settled down. She seems to be running a lot, her wheel is usually filthy, but she doesn't eat as much as she used to before the hibernation attempt.
I can't offer anything but to say that eventually she settled down to a routine again (I think. It's been the same for about a week. Once it's gone on two weeks I'll feel more certain). It just changed.
I'd be curious to see what other have to say about it.
I wish I could offer more advice. But also I've been noticing some other similar posts so I wonder if it might not be seasonal... but that's seriously going out on a limb.

 

[allisonh]

Thanks! I hope that my girl goes back to her normal routine also. How long has it been since yours had a hibernation attempt that she started to go back to her normal routine? My hedgie, Munchkin, started her attempt around the middle of March and tried various times to hibernate. She has not tried now for about 3 weeks and seems to be comfortable at her temp. now. After she attempted it she ate fine, but now she has not been eating a lot, or wheeling. I wake her up in the middle of the night and she gets mad at me, but it makes her eat instead of sleeping the whole night. She seems perfectly fine otherwise. I wish my vet had more to offer.

 

[chaos_emerald]

It's taken about a month to get to back to a different, but steady routine. After the month of antibiotics.
My vet isn't sure what's going on either. I'm just keeping an eye on her, and making sure she's not losing any weight. I've started giving her kitten food to help her maintain weight. Mine is getting older, 2 years now, so I don't know if they start eating less as they age, or eating less in the Spring, cause her activity is defintely increasing.
I'm as baffled as you.
It's interesting that the hibernation attempts have led to similar situations with our hedgehogs, though.

 

[allisonh]

Thanks for the ideas! I got some purina one kitten food and a kitchen scale. My plan is to weigh her every other day to see if she is losing weight. She has lost 7 grams in a week since my last vet visit. That doesn't seem like a lot to me yet so I am holding off on the kitten food unless it keeps decreasing. One good thing, she has been pooping (on me lol) every morning before I go to work. Not in her wheel tho. I hope she is using it to run on! Geesh! I

 

[Immortalia]

Just remember that a single tube of poop can add or take off 20-30g. So be sure to always weigh at the same time, either before poop, or after poop.

I tend to weigh before poop, as it's usually approximately the same, plus, it means I can wake him up at the same time to weigh. At least it's something that I can somewhat control.

 

[allisonh]

She seems to be doing better already actually. All of a sudden she started to eat more and have more of an appetite. Belly ache maybe? I am weighing her in the evenings at the same time every other day. It has been pretty consistent. I think I am only going to weigh her once a week now. I did notice a 50gram drop after she pooped 2 times! Geesh! I am still noticing her not being very active by herself at night, but I hope that that too will begin to change in time.