[Reiko711]

Hello all,
So i just received my first hedgie on thursday night she is a 8 week old girl who was shipped to me and i have a couple questions/concerns if anyone could help...Firstly she has not been eating or drinking at all from what i can tell and its been 3 nights...She seems very active and happy at night and she even allows me to hold her and comes unballed right away but is not eating...i've been counting her kibble and its all there...last night was the first time i got her to eat anything and all she ate was 3 mealies and 2 pieces of kibble that i had to put directly in front her face or she would just sniff and walk over it...i dont know if this is due to the stress of the flight or if its a big concern i chalked it up to stress at first but now it seems like she should be eating and shes not...any ideas to help would be great if not im going to schedule her a vet appointment in the morning and see what they can tell me....also her cage is 2 sterilite bins attatched by a PVC pipe one bin has her bedding food/water etc and has a heat emitter to keep warm in it and her other bin is just her wheel...she keeps sleeping behind her wheel at night and it gets down to 68ish in here at night...will she go to her warming bin if she feels more comfortable there? or should i move the heat emitter to the bin with her wheel? any help would be greatly appreciated...thank you very much

 

[LarryT]

Did the breeder send food with the hedgie?
I dont use the heat emitter so i dont know about it but i think using it in a plastic bin may be a fire hazard?

 

[Reiko711]

yes the breeder sent a weeks worth of food and that is what i have been giving her but she has not been eating it at all

 

[Immortalia]

Technically, both bins would need an emitter, as 68 is much too cold and can easily make her go into fatal hibernation. Both bins need to be at the right temperature for her. When she sleeps, she needs the warmth, and when she's wheeling, she needs the warmth as well.

Since it's been 3 days, I'd take her to the vets. Make sure everything is ok, that the flight didn't cause any "real" damage. And to pick up some syringes and hills ad. Because if she's refusing to eat, you are going to have to syringe feed her and make sure she eats. Otherwise, she'll grow weaker and weaker.

Right now, crush or use a blender to crush up her kibbles, make sure it's really fine and small. Add some hot water and let it sit and soak up the water and get soft. Then, try offering it to her first(make sure it's no longer hot, warm is good, test the temp with a finger at least before you feed). If she won't eat it, then you'll need to syringe it(baby syringes can be bought at the baby section of any store with a pharmaceutical section. You might even want to mix in some pedialyte as well, for she must be dehydrated with the lack of drinking as well.

3 days is a long time to go without food, and since she's new to you, it would've been better to have already been prepared with the food.

Right now, I'd say most important is the pedialyte. And while you're out getting that, get a bottle of vanilla or strawberry flavored ensure as well. You don't want her getting weak and dehydrated.

 

[Immortalia]

I dont use the heat emitter so i dont know about it but i think using it in a plastic bin may be a fire hazard?

It depends on where they have the emitter placed. As long as it's not too close, it should be fine(fire hazard wise). [someone please correct me if I'm wrong!]

But another reason people with plastic bins don't use emitters is because of the lack of ventilation. The emitter will cause more humidity and trapped air inside the bin.

Technically, those using bins should use space heaters to keep the temp, unless they've drilled A LOT of holes throughout the plastic bins.

Plastic bins are a lot of glass aquariums...But plastic bins are preferred by far over glass tanks. You can always drill holes in the plastic bins for ventilation, and it's much lighter and easier to clean.

 

[Reiko711]

yes i have holes drilled all around the sterilite container and also it is high enough that i can leave the lid off for extra ventilation....i just went out and bought some pedialyte, syringe, and a friend of mine who works at a vet is going to get me some hill ad tonight since petco told me that you can only get it from a vet....so im going to see how she does tonight and make an appointment for the vet in the morning thanks for the info and if you can think of anything else or have any other pointers that could be helpful please go ahead and post

 

[Nancy]

Be careful. I have had a 7 week old baby escape from a 13" high bin with no holes in the side and nothing other than food and water dish and hedgie bag. This past week I had a 6 month old escape a 16" high bin. Nothing but food dishes and hedgie bag. :shock: