[bean.the.hedgie]

Hi all! I've had my hedgehog, Bean, for almost 4 years now, and I think he's 5-5.5 years old. He was veryyy overweight when I got him (~600g), so in 2019 I put him on a lower fat cat food to help him lose weight. Unfortunately, he lost too much weight while on this food because he also had trouble eating the pellets (even though I crushed them up) and got down to 270ish grams. According to the vet, he had mild gingivitis, so I decided to put him on a blend of two wet dog foods (Chicken Soup for the Soul Mature Chicken, Turkey & Duck recipe and Wellness Chicken & Sweet Potato formula). He's been eating this mix for probably 2ish years and got back to 350ish grams in 2020 (which is unfortunately the last time I weighed him before today--I'm a full-time college student, so my parents take care of him while I'm away at school). He's not a big fan of mealworms, so this mix is basically the only thing he eats.

I've noticed for a while that he looks a little thin, but for a long time I just attributed this to his age. However, I decided to weigh him today and it came out to only 290 g, which seems quite low... He loves his food and I think he eats a good amount, and I would say he's an on-and-off wheel runner. He's by no means skin-and-bones and has always seemed to be in good health (aside from some dry skin issues several years ago which have been resolved), but to be safe I would greatly appreciate opinions on his weight! I've attached pictures below.

Edit: Evidently I posted another thread about his weight awhile back that I just stumbled upon, and it reminded me that one vet I visited said his target weight was ~320-330g... (Weight loss... Should I be concerned?). Some members on that threat recommended testing for parasites and whatnot, but, like I said, he did eventually get back to the mid 300s after I made the switch to wet food.
Also, I just realized that his weight might have dropped a little extra in the past week because he had to stay at my friend's house for a few days while I was out of town, which probably stressed him out. I'll weigh him again after he's been back home for a few more days and see if it's stabilized at all. I apologize if this post has been all over the place--he's been around for a while, so there seems to be a lot to discuss 😅

For reference, here's a photo from 2018 when he was quite large:

And here are some taken recently:

Also, here is his long-term weight log:

 

[bean.the.hedgie]

Very strange update... I actually had a big scare with Bean today because he was sleeping out in the open right on top of his Kaytee bedding (which I've never seen him do before, as the other half of his cage is covered in fleece and he normally sleeps under that). However, I soon realized that the heat lamp on his favorite side of the cage broke and he was probably just warmer on the other side. Since I had to order a new heat lamp online, I covered the Kaytee bedding side of the cage with a blanket and moved my working heat lamp to the other side. I figured everything was fine and dandy, but to add to the drama, I just stumbled upon him eating/chewing the kaytee bedding! I'm not sure if he was swallowing it or not, but I literally had to pull a chunk of it out of his mouth. Any idea why he would do this? I'm wondering if he was maybe going to anoint with it, but that's also not a typical behavior for him. Should I take him to the vet? I've never seen him do this in the past, and I'm worried about a possible impaction...

 

[NorbertLover27]

Yes you should take him to the vet as soon as possible!