I recently received a hedgie for Christmas 
but I have some concerns that I wanted to see if anyone could address...
First, her name is Isabella , roughly three months old (according to the gift-giver) and she is albino. Ive been reading everything I can about care in regards to housing, diet, etc...I have a typical cage maybe 3'x2', with a fleece liner (received Isabella in cage with the carefresh bedding but I opted to change it). I have an igloo, a small potty area, a flying saucer wheel, an extendable tube for her to play in, a food bowl of course along with a water bottle. She was fine for the first couple of days but I noticed maybe two nights ago that she seemed a little distant....of course, I haven't had her long so I could just be crazy. HOWEVER, I began to implement a food change, roughly 1/4 new cat food (fancy feast chicken + turkey) with 3/4 the vita fresh hedgehog food that she came with. I will note here that prior to mixing as described, I changed over completely for less than one meal to solely cat food before I remembered it needed to be done slowly. She did have runny, red-colored feces the next morning which I attributed to the quick change of food. However, that was the only time she had loose stool. She has been on the 1/4 new-food, 3/4 old-food mixture since then and again, no poop issues. I tried to get her to eat various types of fruits as treats, including watermelon, strawberries, and bananas... none of which she actually ate (at most she licked a watermelon slice and took a TINY nibble out of a strawberry). I was told by a vet-tech at a local small pet shop I could use cat treats as treats for my hedge, so I tried this and she seemed to LOVE them. I ended up feeding her two of them in one evening (whiskas brand temptations). The next day I noticed the changes that REALLY concerned me when she woke up in the evening and began to vomit. It was a red color though I don't believe it was blood (wasn't really that color...). She didn't vomit much, just enough to scare me.
I also noticed she had lost a few quills and when I handled her later that day a couple more fell out. I read about quilling but I wasnt sure if being sick could accompany the process. I know that stress from being in a new location, along with the food changing fiasco could make her physically ill but again, I just wanted to see if anyone could give me some advice.
Other things Ive noticed (probably just paranoid lol): she makes sounds in her sleep and when she's awake that sound like a scratching noise (?) or maybe like she's chewing on a rock (which I of course looked for after I first tried actual cat litter in her potty area, but then changed to torn up paper). I looked on youtube and other sites for sound-guides and so far I can't really find any description matching the sound she's making. It doesn't seem to be an anger thing, just a noise she is randomly making...
She has also been scratching herself more and more frequently, which I know can be indicative of quilling. I did give her a bath a few days ago, but I made sure to use proper soap and such so as not to dry her skin out. I want to interact with her so she gets to know me better (hoping eventually to be able to hold her without her trying to get away lol) but I also don't want to contribute to her stress
ANY and all thoughts would be appreciated!
-Jordan
but I have some concerns that I wanted to see if anyone could address...First, her name is Isabella , roughly three months old (according to the gift-giver) and she is albino. Ive been reading everything I can about care in regards to housing, diet, etc...I have a typical cage maybe 3'x2', with a fleece liner (received Isabella in cage with the carefresh bedding but I opted to change it). I have an igloo, a small potty area, a flying saucer wheel, an extendable tube for her to play in, a food bowl of course along with a water bottle. She was fine for the first couple of days but I noticed maybe two nights ago that she seemed a little distant....of course, I haven't had her long so I could just be crazy. HOWEVER, I began to implement a food change, roughly 1/4 new cat food (fancy feast chicken + turkey) with 3/4 the vita fresh hedgehog food that she came with. I will note here that prior to mixing as described, I changed over completely for less than one meal to solely cat food before I remembered it needed to be done slowly. She did have runny, red-colored feces the next morning which I attributed to the quick change of food. However, that was the only time she had loose stool. She has been on the 1/4 new-food, 3/4 old-food mixture since then and again, no poop issues. I tried to get her to eat various types of fruits as treats, including watermelon, strawberries, and bananas... none of which she actually ate (at most she licked a watermelon slice and took a TINY nibble out of a strawberry). I was told by a vet-tech at a local small pet shop I could use cat treats as treats for my hedge, so I tried this and she seemed to LOVE them. I ended up feeding her two of them in one evening (whiskas brand temptations). The next day I noticed the changes that REALLY concerned me when she woke up in the evening and began to vomit. It was a red color though I don't believe it was blood (wasn't really that color...). She didn't vomit much, just enough to scare me.
I also noticed she had lost a few quills and when I handled her later that day a couple more fell out. I read about quilling but I wasnt sure if being sick could accompany the process. I know that stress from being in a new location, along with the food changing fiasco could make her physically ill but again, I just wanted to see if anyone could give me some advice.
Other things Ive noticed (probably just paranoid lol): she makes sounds in her sleep and when she's awake that sound like a scratching noise (?) or maybe like she's chewing on a rock (which I of course looked for after I first tried actual cat litter in her potty area, but then changed to torn up paper). I looked on youtube and other sites for sound-guides and so far I can't really find any description matching the sound she's making. It doesn't seem to be an anger thing, just a noise she is randomly making...
She has also been scratching herself more and more frequently, which I know can be indicative of quilling. I did give her a bath a few days ago, but I made sure to use proper soap and such so as not to dry her skin out. I want to interact with her so she gets to know me better (hoping eventually to be able to hold her without her trying to get away lol) but I also don't want to contribute to her stress
ANY and all thoughts would be appreciated!
-Jordan
