I feel as if I am letting Paco down...I am trying to add another food to his mix, but he is not going for any of that...Right now, he is only eating Fromm's Salmon a La Veg...I am thinking of adding a kibble or two of the Fromm's duck that I am feeding my cats to add a bit of extra fat in there. He also wont touch any bugs or any other human food...I have tried over half of the dry food list that is posted here with no luck. I know that it is important to feed more than one food, but what if he wont eat any of it. Since he is only eating one food type, can I up the protein/fat levels? I have also noticed not much poop on his wheel the last couple of nights. But there has been poop in the cage. Is it normal for them not to wheel as much certain nights. He has also lost a bit of weight...he was continually gaining until yesterday. When I weighed him he was 359 (376 a couple days before) But this morning when I weighed him he was 375, and 368 this evening. Is it normal for the weight to fluctuate this much. I am calling the vet tomorrow to get him checked out, he has been doing so well until the last couple days. Now I should mention that it was a couple of days ago that I tried to add another food, he pretty much when on a hunger strike. I am also going to place a bit of wet food in tonight to help out just in case...When I got him, both the previous owner and the vet that I went to said that he does have dry skin but no mites, but I am thinking that he may have mites. I have added a couple drops of flax seed oil in his food every three days or so, plus a couple drops on his back. He has had some quill loss, and more huffy/jumpy than he normally is...argh....I am just at a loss for now as to what I can do differently.
Need Suggestions Please....
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Weights can fluctuate between time of day and pre or post poop. :lol: They can loose 25g's with a good poop, more if they pee too so if you are weighing one day before he does his business, and the next day after, that can account for the change.
Whenever I have a concern about someones weight I weight morning and evening at the same time. The weight will not be the same but if the lows and highs all remain close then s/he isn't loosing weight. When the lows keep getting lower and the highs keep getting lower, then there is a concern.
He may be a fussy boy. Try mixing the new food in with a bit of the old so the flavours mingle. That usually helps.
Mine are more active some nights than others and same with food intake. Usually it is just random but on occasion a bunch of them will decide not to be active, or not to eat much. Then another night, everyone will pig out. :lol:
Is he scratching? Usually with mites they scratch frantically and often.
Whenever I have a concern about someones weight I weight morning and evening at the same time. The weight will not be the same but if the lows and highs all remain close then s/he isn't loosing weight. When the lows keep getting lower and the highs keep getting lower, then there is a concern.
He may be a fussy boy. Try mixing the new food in with a bit of the old so the flavours mingle. That usually helps.
Mine are more active some nights than others and same with food intake. Usually it is just random but on occasion a bunch of them will decide not to be active, or not to eat much. Then another night, everyone will pig out. :lol:
Is he scratching? Usually with mites they scratch frantically and often.
I did not take in to consideration about bowel movements and weight...I will start weighing him same time morning and night. I have counted out the different foods and kept them in a zip lock baggie...he would still pick out the fromms....he does need to put on a bit more weight...so I am not concerned about the 15% fat...I just don't want to add something to much and then have huge fight on my hands to take him off of it...as for scratching...he seems to only scratch when we put him back in the cage after him being out for play time. We place him in his cage, he scratches for a about 15 seconds or so and then he does about 4 figure 8's around everything in his cage, stops for a drink and goes back in to his igloo until later in the evening. When we check on him in the morning, he has anywhere from 5-10 quills in his hedgie bag...is that a normal amount for a loss? I have looked at each quill, and they have a small ball at the end...that is a good sign if I remember from reading that somewhere.
So I called the vet...I can get in on Thursday...I have noticed him scratching more this morning since I weighed him. Just wondering what I can do in the mean time to help with the scratching. I have put a couple drops of flaxseed oil on him this morning. Any suggestions?
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My little girl is quite a picky eater also. She won't touch mealworm's,fruit,veggies,baby food,etc. She does love eggs and oatmeal though. I just stir the egg and micro it for 40 seconds or give her a little oatmeal (not instant). She also stopped eating one of the two foods in her mix. I found a brand called spot stew 16% fat and very small kibble. She LOVES it. Good luck!
This is kind of out there... Perhaps your hedgie is a non-mixer kind of hedgie. I am thinking of humans, who like to eat their peas and then their carrots, not peas and carrots mixed. You may want to try feeding a smaller portion of regular kibble separate, from other types, like a kids bowl, that has the dividers. Who knows?
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I was just wondering (may be a stupid question)
When you feed them Oatmeal do you cook it first? or give it to them right out of the box?
Just wondering because my Shelby also will not eat fruits, veggies, mealies or baby food. :|
When you feed them Oatmeal do you cook it first? or give it to them right out of the box?
Just wondering because my Shelby also will not eat fruits, veggies, mealies or baby food. :|
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I cook the oatmeal first then let it cool down until it is just a little bit warm. She seems to like things better when they are a little warm.
vex will pick all the wellness out of his food and just leave the rest. This makes it really hard to wean him off of it. One thing i did that seemed to help was blend up the wellness and mix the blended food with the rest of it. This let him taste the wellness and still eat the other food. (It hasn't been working 1005, but Vex is a stubborn one.)
Thank You everyone for all the help...I am thinking that I have a hedgie who does not like treats or a variance in kibble...His weight is around 369-372. I know he can gain a few more grams...he has a long body. I am heading to the vet on Thurs, and we will see what he says.
Thanx again.
Thanx again.
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