Hedgehog Central banner

My new baby has a potential infection...would appreciate any advice!

909 views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Ria 
#1 ·
Hi there!

This is my first post on here so please be kind! I recently welcomed a new hedgie into my little family and her name is Jade. :) I had another hedgehog previously but sadly he passed away due to WHS. I am ready to get hurt again though lol. Jade is so sweet and is 8 weeks old now. I have only had her for about a week and a half at this point. Last week, Jade started having mucousy green poops which was definitely a cause of concern for me. I waited a couple days to make sure it wasn't just stress related but after seeing it consistently I knew she needed help. I took her to the vet yesterday where they gave me an antibiotic (Metronidazole) for her while the stools are being sent off to the lab. They said she looks great physically. In the mean time, I'm trying to make sure Jade is eating and drinking enough. Her appetite has definitely decreased since this all started and she's not drinking nearly as much water either. She only managed to eat 7 kibbles last night. :(

With all this being said, I think I'm going to start syringe feeding her a bit just to make sure she has something on her tummy with her meds and is not wasting away. As far as water, I have been giving her some water through a smal syringe and have both a water bottle and a water bowl in her cage (she is partial to the water bottle and does not seem to like the bowl at all). Can anyone share experience with syringe feeding and giving water via syringe? How much water should I give her? And as for food should I just crush up the kibbles with some water and put that in a syringe? Should I try other methods before syringe feeding? What else can I do to ensure that she is safe? Anyone have any stories about their young hedgies being sick? I want to try to stick with the kibble mix the breeder gave me because I do not want to cause her more stress than she's already enduring, but I am open to suggestions. I'm an anxious wreck about this and I just want to make sure I'm doing the best I can. Literally any advice about ANYTHING is appreciated! I just want my baby to be okay.
 
See less See more
#2 · (Edited)
Hi there!

This is my first post on here so please be kind! I recently welcomed a new hedgie into my little family and her name is Jade. :) I had another hedgehog previously but sadly he passed away due to WHS. I am ready to get hurt again though lol. Jade is so sweet and is 8 weeks old now. I have only had her for about a week and a half at this point. Last week, Jade started having mucousy green poops which was definitely a cause of concern for me. I waited a couple days to make sure it wasn't just stress related but after seeing it consistently I knew she needed help. I took her to the vet yesterday where they gave me an antibiotic (Metronidazole) for her while the stools are being sent off to the lab. They said she looks great physically. In the mean time, I'm trying to make sure Jade is eating and drinking enough. Her appetite has definitely decreased since this all started and she's not drinking nearly as much water either. She only managed to eat 7 kibbles last night. :(

With all this being said, I think I'm going to start syringe feeding her a bit just to make sure she has something on her tummy with her meds and is not wasting away. As far as water, I have been giving her some water through a smal syringe and have both a water bottle and a water bowl in her cage (she is partial to the water bottle and does not seem to like the bowl at all). Can anyone share experience with syringe feeding and giving water via syringe? How much water should I give her? And as for food should I just crush up the kibbles with some water and put that in a syringe? Should I try other methods before syringe feeding? What else can I do to ensure that she is safe? Anyone have any stories about their young hedgies being sick? I want to try to stick with the kibble mix the breeder gave me because I do not want to cause her more stress than she's already enduring, but I am open to suggestions. I'm an anxious wreck about this and I just want to make sure I'm doing the best I can. Literally any advice about ANYTHING is appreciated! I just want my baby to be okay.
[/
Ive had to syringe feed my girls quite a few times, i use the EmerAid Omnivore intensive care nutrition for debilitated omnivores, i get it from my vet and they love it. Ive never tried to crush up food and water, i think you would have to get it really fine, almost like a powder. I feed my girls 5-10ml 2-3 times a day when they arent eating, but Im not sure if would be the same for crushed food. I attached a picture of what their water intake should be based on their weight. I find my hedgies really like to be syringe fed, even the vet noticed when they fed her after her surgery. My advice on syringe feeding is go slow, and know what to do if she aspirates or chokes. Ive had it happen a few times and it scares the **** out of me! I usually flip her so her head is facing downwards and she can get it out. Dont feed them on their back, it makes it easier for them to choke. Have a napkin near by incase you need to wipe off any food that gets in their nose or on their face. It sounds like you are doing everything right, maybe crank her heat a little more than usual and keep a weight log of her ? One of my girls had a URI and the other has delt with UTIs and uterine tumors. It is scary but they are strong little animals !! very resilient !
95157
 
#4 ·
Ive had to syringe feed my girls quite a few times, i use the EmerAid Omnivore intensive care nutrition for debilitated omnivores, i get it from my vet and they love it. Ive never tried to crush up food and water, i think you would have to get it really fine, almost like a powder. I feed my girls 5-10ml 2-3 times a day when they arent eating, but Im not sure if would be the same for crushed food. I attached a picture of what their water intake should be based on their weight. I find my hedgies really like to be syringe fed, even the vet noticed when they fed her after her surgery. My advice on syringe feeding is go slow, and know what to do if she aspirates or chokes. Ive had it happen a few times and it scares the **** out of me! I usually flip her so her head is facing downwards and she can get it out. Dont feed them on their back, it makes it easier for them to choke. Have a napkin near by incase you need to wipe off any food that gets in their nose or on their face. It sounds like you are doing everything right, maybe crank her heat a little more than usual and keep a weight log of her ? One of my girls had a URI and the other has delt with UTIs and uterine tumors. It is scary but they are strong little animals !! very resilient ! View attachment 95157
Thank you so much for your input!! And for the attached infographic is super helpful. I turned her heat up to 80 and she also has a little heating pad under one part of her cage for optional extra warmth. I will definitely be tracking her weight daily with a food scale. Today she weighed 230 g where as she was 250 g on Tuesday. I took her back to the vet today as there was blood in her stool and she ate a whopping 2 kibbles last night :( They gave me another antibiotic and also sent off another sample to test for bacterial diseases. Good news is she tested negative for parasites or eggs. They also gave me some a/d to feed her by syringe. I was able to feed her 3 mL of this so I'm hopeful! I'm going to leave some out tonight along with her kibble in case she has an appetite as well. I really appreciate the support and kindness! Feels better knowing I'm not alone in dealing with scary sick hedgie stuff. :)
 
#3 ·
If the vet has given you antibiotics you need to wait for those to kick in before you worry too much.

7 bits of biscuits isn't that bad, its low yes but its not as bad as not eating full stop.
But if you still want to syringe feed then its the same as above for crushed biscuits.

My girl had green mucusy poo for the first like 3 weeks of coming home. I changed her food to better food - slowly over a month. Once she had fully transitioned to the new food her poo went normal and her appetite picked up.
Just saying since it might be useful.
 
#5 ·
Hi Ria! I have to say I feel SO much better hearing that your hoglet experienced mucous poops and decreased appetite as well in her new home. Good to know I'm not alone! Last night she only ate 2 kibbles and barely had any water on her own. Today there was blood in her stool so I ended up taking her back. They gave me another antibiotic and are sending another stool sample in for bacteria. I'm feeding her a/d by syringe for the time being and she seems to enjoy that at least a bit more than the kibbles (kibbles are still in her cage if she changes her mind though!). Out of curiosity, what food are you feeding your girl? There are so many different recommendations out there and the vet keeps trying to push Mazuri hedgehog diet but I've heard not so good things about that brand and about hedgehog foods in general. I plan to transition her to a blue buffalo cat food once she will eat on her own again. Again, thanks so much for your reply it helps more than you know! I'm feeling better already :)
 
#6 ·
I use a mix of wainwright, canagan and vets kitchen. I have no idea if you can get those outside the UK though!
I've heard great things about blue buffalo on this forum.
The reason I picked the foods I use is because not one contains any maize, and all the meat ingredients are listed and not unnamed

Mazuri and other hedgehog foods are full or things maize, and other plant based fillers which they really struggle to digest, theres so little meat in them. Which is why good cat foods are better. Low quality cat foods like purina are just as bad as the hedgehog foods.

It is different since you are seeing blood Holly never had anything like that.
She did have an infected to nail bed recently and vet said it takes like 5 days for the antibiotics to really start working and making any real difference so you really need to give those time to kick in.

The A/D is is wet isnt it? So if she does eat any of that on her own it will help a bit with her water intake.

I hope she gets better! If stool tests come up with nothing and antibiotics don't seem to help (after giving them 6-8 days to actually start working) then you may want to ask for an ultrasound to have a look inside and see what's going on.
 
#7 ·
I use a mix of wainwright, canagan and vets kitchen. I have no idea if you can get those outside the UK though!
I've heard great things about blue buffalo on this forum.
The reason I picked the foods I use is because not one contains any maize, and all the meat ingredients are listed and not unnamed

Mazuri and other hedgehog foods are full or things maize, and other plant based fillers which they really struggle to digest, theres so little meat in them. Which is why good cat foods are better. Low quality cat foods like purina are just as bad as the hedgehog foods.

It is different since you are seeing blood Holly never had anything like that.
She did have an infected to nail bed recently and vet said it takes like 5 days for the antibiotics to really start working and making any real difference so you really need to give those time to kick in.

The A/D is is wet isnt it? So if she does eat any of that on her own it will help a bit with her water intake.

I hope she gets better! If stool tests come up with nothing and antibiotics don't seem to help (after giving them 6-8 days to actually start working) then you may want to ask for an ultrasound to have a look inside and see what's going on.
Thank you for the info! Good to know. I definitely won’t be putting her on Mazuri and I think she likes the blue buffalo anyways. I have great news though! She’s been eating and drinking on her own as of last night so the antibiotics seem to be kicking in just fine. I could not be happier!! I can’t wait to help her finally settle in after this crazy introductory period. <3
 
#8 ·
That's great news! I'm sooo glad she is eating! Sounds like she will be making a nice full recovery! I'm sure you will bond well during her getting better as well as after!

Yea definitely stick with the blue buffalo or something like thay stay away from hedgehog foods for sure.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top