[Jess]

My hedgehogs don't seem to drink much at all!
They are fairly new to me, so i need to know if this is normal. I have a mom (about 3 or 4 months old and a baby-5 weeks old) There is always poo and pee in the cage in the morning and sometimes when we play with them we actually get to witness them peeing and pooing. But i have never seen them drink. Sometimes i put the water bowl right in front of them but they always avoid it. And the water in the bowl doesn't seem to be any lower in the morning. I change it every morning so it is hard to tell if they are drinking or not.
Is a few sips each night enough for them?
If they are peeing and pooing is that a signal that everything is fine?
Thanks,
Jess

 

[leannem]

I'm still fairly new to the hedgehog thing... just got Harley last week but for the first few days we had him, and still even now, he doesn't drink much. I didn't actually see him drinking at all for the first 4 days or so. I did give him the option of using a bottle or a dish though, he seems to use both. Maybe try putting a bottle in as well? It's easier to tell if they've been drinking with a bottle too. just make a little mark where the top of the water comes to when it's on the cage and see if it's gone down in the morning

 

[LizardGirl]

It's harder to tell if water is being drank or evaporated from the bowl, if the cage is kept at the correct temp. Hedgies, like humans, may drink more the higher temp they are kept at. What food they are on also could be a factor in how thirsty they get.

 

[Jess]

Yes,definitely the food is a factor. Because the baby just started to come out of the nest a week or so ago (at about 4 weeks) i put a bowl of small pieces of kibble out and a bowl of kibble soaked in water out. I noticed that the kibble soaked in water is a huge hit! Perhaps that is why they are not drinking so much...there is quite a bit of water in the kibble---it absorbs a lot! I am trying to put out less of the soaked kibble and more of the dry kibble as the baby gets older because i know they need the dry kibble to keep their teeth healthy.
Jess

 

[johnm]

My family purchased a baby hedgehog a week ago. Everything has been fine except I can't tell if Sonic is drinking his water. He was but after his first bath yesterday he seems afraid of water. His bath went well I thought and his nails got trimmed with no problems. But he didn't drink last night and didn't use his wheel. Can anyone tell me how much water is normal for him to drink. Does water temp matter? I have a bottle but I put a bowl in tonight just to see if it's better.

 

[LizardGirl]

Putting in a dish as well is a good idea. Was Sonic drinking out of a water bottle before? He may not know how to use it.

 

[johnm]

I had him drink from the bottle while in my hand, then once in cage placed him under it and he drank. I saw him drinking a couple of times over next few days, so he knew where it was and how to get the water. Now I have a bowl a few inches away but the bottle is still there. His behavior is a little different since his first bath. I figured that he would just forget and go on like before. maybe I'm just overly worried about dehydration. If it's still the same tomorrow, then what?

 

[LizardGirl]

So, he knows the water is there and is licking it, but the water level is not going down? Perhaps the bottle isn't working? I would keep the dish in at the very least a few days, and make sure he knows how to use it as well. If it doesn't seem like he's drinking anything, you should probably see a vet, and you'll need to start syringing water. Hedgie health can deteriorate very quickly when they are dehydrated.

 

[johnm]

Actually, the water bottle leaks a little. Sonic's aspen shavings are always wet underneath. When I put him at the water bowl, he scurries away from it. I don't know why, but I think maybe he was never bathed before we got him, and his is now afraid of the water after his first bath. I will use a syringe tomorrow if he doesn't drink tonight. he eats fine, but he always burrows under his igloo hut.

 

[hedgieluver]

as for the bottle leaking,put like a tupperware lid or sumin to catch the water, so it doesnt get the bedding wet!!!!

 

[Immortalia]

You might want to think about picking up some children's pedialyte, to help with the dehydration if he's really not drinking.

How was his bath experience? Was he stressing and freaking out? Did he sniff a bunch of water? Even so, it shouldn't scare them away from the water.

Try to gently pinch his skin, and let go, taking notice of how quickly his skin "bounces back" to how it normally is. The slower it returns to normal, the more dehydrated the hedgie is. If it's already slow, I'd syringe immediately, without waiting till tomorrow.

 

[johnm]

We're getting a new bottle tomorrow. I spent an hour getting Sonic to drink from the bottle while in my hand. i'm wondering now if he lost track of it and couldn't find it. Is that possible? Why can't the shavings get wet? After he was back in there he found the bottle and drank on his own. This is separate but I bought Yesterdays News and a pan to try litter training but he tried to eat it so I took it out. Can he ingest that or is it harmful? Are shavings in the litter pan good enough? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[dorasdaddy]

If the bottle is leaking then you have no idea how much if any that he is drinking in a night. Also the wet bedding can lead to mold and mildew.