[dribean]

I just got my hedgie from a pet store on thursday night- which was november 6. he's acclimated just fine and he's WONDERFUL with being handled. He's absolutely a dream and I couldn't have asked for a better hedgie =3

My problem is, though, he seems to not be eating much. He ate 6 mealworms the night I got him, and 4 more the next day and he pooped green, so I assumed it has to do with change of diet. He's 4 or 5 months old and I have no way of finding out what the breeder was feeding the babies originally so I kinda have to stick with waiting for his system to get used to the change. Since that friday night, though, he seems to not have eaten anything except tuesday during the day he ate some peas- I counted them when I put them in before work and when I came home, he ate 8 peas. And he's pooped a few times today after that.

Though, it doesn't appear that he's eaten any of the dry food and no matter what I've done- warmed it, put a bit of water on and warmed it, tried some juice and warmed it, he just wants nothing to do with it. I don't know if maybe he doesn't understand that it's food?

My other problem is that I don't think he's peed since I've gotten him. I keep check on his cage and I know he hasn't peed while I've had him out because my bed hasn't gotten wet or stained while I watch him and his ball is always dry when I take him out of it. I have him on pelleted bedding, though, so there is a decent change that the bedding soaks it up and dries before I get a chance to check it after I wake up or after I'm home from work. And he has been drinking- I watch him drink a few times a day and that's only while I'm home from work- so maybe he drinks more during the day.

But if there is a chance that he hasn't peed at all in the past week, that means something is wrong, right? I would assume so but I've read around that it's okay for them to fast for a few days randomly, so I wasn't sure if there's something weird like that about their peeing

 

[sebian]

He's probably still getting used to his surroundings. What kind of staple kibble are you using? It took our rescue over two weeks to eat ANYTHING. We had to cave in and buy the food he was used to eating, and even after that it took him a good 3 days before he realized it was food lol.

I have him on pelleted bedding, though, so there is a decent change that the bedding soaks it up and dries before I get a chance to check it after I wake up or after I'm home from work. And he has been drinking- I watch him drink a few times a day and that's only while I'm home from work- so maybe he drinks more during the day.

I'm almost positive he's peed. I use Yesterday's News as litter (not bedding) and I can never ever never tell if my guys pee on it. Like.. never. I would highly suggest you switch him to a light colored liner instead of YN as bedding. Even though it's the least dusty of all the litters I've seen, there's still a chance it could get into his nose and irritate it. Also, I can't imagine that it's that comfy on his little feet. I know my guys get in the litter pan, do their business, and get out as fast as they can. The light color will also make it extremely easy to tell if there's a problem with him (i.e. easy to see blood, green poop, quills, etc.)

If/when you switch him to liners, he'll probably (although this has never happened to me) be a little confused/freaked out for a day or two. But if you do this early on in his life, it'll be better in the long run for him (plus be eco-friendly and make his cage about 400 lbs lighter! :lol: )

Again, he's probably just getting used to his surroundings. Also, don't change his food so often. He's probably confused about that too. If he doesn't eat what you give him, keep trying for a few days. And if that doesn't work, try something else for a few days. It takes them a while sometimes to have it click in their brains that it's food, that's edible, and probably very tasty.

Hope this makes sense/helps. Good luck and welcome and congrats on the little one!!

 

[dribean]

Hey, thanks for the help! I think I'll try some of that- but last night I was keeping a strong eye on him and found out that he's been eating his bedding!

So I took allll the bedding out and laid down a reptile, felt liner thing. He kinda freaked for about an hour- was running all over the tank scratching at the corners of the felt trying to get to where I left some scraps of bedding I couldn't get out and he drank about ten times. Finally I saw him pee! Wooo!!

During his little breakdown, though, he would randomly start sniffing the food (that he had dumped all over his tank >.>) and he didn't seem to like it. He would bite a pellet, chew, then spit it out. He did that to the carrots and the little peas that are mixed in his food, too. The only thing he ate and didn't spit back out was one of the mealworms that he found in the food. He LOVES mealworms, but I don't want to let him think that every time he's hungry he gets mealworms.

/sigh I just gotta be patient, I guess, I'm just really worried

 

[sebian]

Yes patience is key! Just keep trying and remember, the more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your hedgie will be. I'm glad everything worked out with the liner-- I know one of my guys was eating the YN out of the litter pan when he was a baby, so we opted to take it out for a few months. Now that he's older, her just likes chucking it around his cage. You need to be very very careful with YN though. There's been a few instances of pieces of plastic being found.

Check out this link:http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/yesterdaynews.html

Again, I still use it, but am very very thorough in checking it.

As far as the liners go, I actually just buy a king size fleece blanket that's on sale (the last one I got was like $20) and cut it appropriately. I have three hedgies in the same size (xtra large) cages and I get enough liners to change all of their cages every night for 8 days.

You little one probably got confused between the pellets of the food and the pellets of the YN. What kind of food are you feeding him?

I'm glad he's doing better!