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I'm staring to get a little worried about Puff, my hedgehog I've had for about 2 months now. Ever since I made her cage a little bigger and got my second hedgie on Saturday, she's been eating a lot less. They are in separate cages, but I'm wondering if she can smell/hear Chloe and is not eating because of this?
When I first got her she was only eating 10-15 kibbles a night + mealies and freeze dried crickets, but during the past month she's been eating anywhere from 20-50 kibbles a night, depending on how many live insects she eats that night. The last 3 nights though she's only eaten 3 kibbles, 9 kibbles and 4 kibbles so I've fed her extra mealworms, live crickets and syringed some wet hill's diet a/d food. She engulfed the wet/live food no problem, and even will gobble up freeze-dried crickets, but just isn't interested in the her dry kibble it seems. She's running like crazy on her wheel, and seems otherwise healthy, except for a little bit of a runny nose but nothing major. Chloe (my 7 week old hedgie) has a runny nose too...her's is a little more drippy....is there a connection?? I just thought Chloe's nose was runny because she's only been here a few days and is still adjusting, it's also clear mucous.
Puff's poop has always been a dark brown/almost black and is often dried up by the time I scoop it in the morning. It looks about the same, but I've noticed lately that it's really shiny. Like there's almost a shiny layer on top, does that make sense? Her pee is also very yellow, so I syringed her some pedialyte electrolyte solution (unflavoured) just is case she's a little dehydrated.
My question is what could be causing this sudden change and do I need to take her to the vet as soon as possible or can I keep feeding wet food and monitor? I would take her to a vet right away except she's so impossible without people besides me that I'm worried a proper examination will require sedation which is dangerous
I don't want to risk her health if this isn't that serious, but at the same time don't want to risk it by not taking her.
The only other thing I can think of is that the past 5 days or so Puff has been losing quills like crazy. She was still quilling when I got her, but now she's past that age, she's over 6 months I think and this increase in quill loss happened all of a sudden. I treated her with 2 drops of dog revolution last night....could mites cause a decrease in appetite? If so, will she resume eating once the revolution kills them off?
Any advice is appreciated!!!! I'm just so worried and unsure of what to do!!!
When I first got her she was only eating 10-15 kibbles a night + mealies and freeze dried crickets, but during the past month she's been eating anywhere from 20-50 kibbles a night, depending on how many live insects she eats that night. The last 3 nights though she's only eaten 3 kibbles, 9 kibbles and 4 kibbles so I've fed her extra mealworms, live crickets and syringed some wet hill's diet a/d food. She engulfed the wet/live food no problem, and even will gobble up freeze-dried crickets, but just isn't interested in the her dry kibble it seems. She's running like crazy on her wheel, and seems otherwise healthy, except for a little bit of a runny nose but nothing major. Chloe (my 7 week old hedgie) has a runny nose too...her's is a little more drippy....is there a connection?? I just thought Chloe's nose was runny because she's only been here a few days and is still adjusting, it's also clear mucous.
Puff's poop has always been a dark brown/almost black and is often dried up by the time I scoop it in the morning. It looks about the same, but I've noticed lately that it's really shiny. Like there's almost a shiny layer on top, does that make sense? Her pee is also very yellow, so I syringed her some pedialyte electrolyte solution (unflavoured) just is case she's a little dehydrated.
My question is what could be causing this sudden change and do I need to take her to the vet as soon as possible or can I keep feeding wet food and monitor? I would take her to a vet right away except she's so impossible without people besides me that I'm worried a proper examination will require sedation which is dangerous
I don't want to risk her health if this isn't that serious, but at the same time don't want to risk it by not taking her. The only other thing I can think of is that the past 5 days or so Puff has been losing quills like crazy. She was still quilling when I got her, but now she's past that age, she's over 6 months I think and this increase in quill loss happened all of a sudden. I treated her with 2 drops of dog revolution last night....could mites cause a decrease in appetite? If so, will she resume eating once the revolution kills them off?
Any advice is appreciated!!!! I'm just so worried and unsure of what to do!!!
