Scared new owner, long post

[New kid]

How can you tell if a baby hedgie is sick? I got a 6 week old albino 3 days ago, I was in a position where I had to make a hurried decision or I would have done the reading beforehand, I've been reading frantically since. She sniffles what seems to be constantly and has sneezed once, and twice she has had little blobs of snot that I've wiped off/pulled out her nose. She also semi-snores, grunts constantly, and sounds like she wheezes some of the time.

The woman at the pet store said they sniffle a lot around new people and new places, I'm not sure if this is true, or she assumed it was behaving normally, or it was another bold faced lie by a pet store, and I haven't found any reading on it yet. If it's not better by tomorrow I'm going to the vet for sure, unless I get feedback that this is normal in some instances.

Also, I fed canned kitten food the first meal(I know, I'm still kicking myself) and some pieces of ferret food left over from keeping a friend's ferret a while back but she went for the kitten food, and I'm paranoid I may have poisoned my new baby because she gorged on it after I went to sleep. She's still active when I wake her, even if only to find a good sleeping spot. She was comfortable with being held from day 1, which I also worry could be a sign of sickness, but I may be working myself into a panic. She sleeps on me as readily as anywhere, provided I don't move and wake her, and she hardly puffs at me, she only ever did when woke up or startled or stroking near her visor sometimes, and rarely even does that now. Again, not sure if that's a trust issue or health.

I looked up the vendor in town for the Chicken Soup brand and will be heading there tomorrow, as they're closed this weekend. I'm just really worried here, with the apparent sinus problem and her not eating after the first night. I've been letting her roam the apartment freely, I've always thought the more room for an animal the better, but please let me know if I'm wrong in doing this. Perhaps the carpet is messing with her?

[Vincent]

Free-range hedgehogs usually don't work. They like to seek out very warm, quiet spots, which might involve crawling under a stove or into a furnace duct, and there are lots of horror stories about owners finding them a day or two later. What they eat should also be closely monitored, as something she finds on the floor could potentially be bad for her. I appreciate your intentions, but if you'd like some room for her, there are some great tutorials on setting up a Sterilite bin home on here. You can add as many bins as you want, all while keeping your hedgehog in the safety of a controlled environment. Also, as a free-range hedgie, she's much more likely to catch a draft (which can be a death sentence if they decide to hibernate).

Definitely buy some Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, but I don't think that canned kitten food should poison her or anything. It's not good for her -- too high in fat, and I don't usually like the ingredients of wet cat food -- but aside from an upset stomach and maybe some green poops, it won't hurt her. You did your best, and the sooner you get her on good cat food, the better.

Take her to see an exotics vet right away. A respiratory infection needs to be caught in its early stages if you want any chance at stopping it, and sneezing/wheezing are some of the telltale signs. Hedgies shouldn't snore and sniffle constantly, and their noses should be wet but not snotty. Make sure you take her to a vet who deals with exotics, though; most vets will spend a few days covering ALL exotic animals, and have to rely on old textbook information. They'll tell you to feed her hedgehog food, and give you some pretty bad answers. I hope you have one near you.

I don't think that her comfort level with you is something to worry about, though. Some hedgehogs are grumpy their entire lives, and there are some instances of hedgehogs being perky and loveable from day one. If she huffs and pops when she's woken up, and isn't being constantly listless, I think you just got lucky and found a very sweet hedgie. :)

[New kid]

Thank you for being understanding, and I will get something for her. She can't fit under the stove or refrigerator, and I've never even seen a furnace here in Texas, I wouldn't have let her run around if there was anything I thought she could get stuck or squished by. On the bins though, is there a certain color hedgehogs in general may like above others? I would probably go with clear by default so it would be easier to see her, but is there a chance it will mess with her vision? I haven't seen anything yet comparing bins to cages either...I could build a cage easy enough (non-toxic coated chicken wire isn't that expensive). I really am starting from no knowledge base here with my first hedgehog, the diet is all I have a firm understanding of so far.

[FiaSpice]

You don't know all the small place an hedgie can stuck him/herself intoo. If the head passes, everything can. Most people here have clear bin and it's perfect, I don't think it mess with their vision since it's not the best of all animals. I don't think chicken wire would be a good thing but other people nows better than me for DIY cages. The kitten food is not dramatic, at 6 week it's still a baby who is growing. I fed Litchi kitten food for a until 11 weeks. Be sure to get a scale and monitor the weight. A trip to the vet will not hurt (jus to be sure it's not URI) and you'll get a full first check-up and know that your hedgie is healthy.

[Vincent]

Hedgehogs are sneaky little buggers, and can squeeze into places you wouldn't even imagine. I swear they're secretly made of Jell-O or something. :laugh:

Go with clear bins, as colored ones would be too dark and wouldn't let her see anything outside of the bin. Hedgehogs don't have a fantastic sense of sight, so I doubt that the slight cloudiness of the plastic would cause any problems. :)

I'd stray away from chicken wire. Some hedgehogs like to climb, and it would be easy enough to crawl up. She could hurt herself if she fell or got a leg caught in the wire. My wire cages (with vertical and horizontal bars) have a plastic lip on the bottom so that my boys can't climb them.

Once you get her a nice new home, though, she'll need a wheel (just in case you didn't already know that). Hedgies do like to run around, and I don't imagine it's a big issue right now as a free-range hedgie. Try to get one with a solid running surface so that she can't get her toes or legs stuck in the spokes. I've had a lot of success with Super Pet Comfort Wheels, and other people have Silent Spinners. There are also a few people on this forum who make bucket wheels; I'm sure I could find you a guide on how to make them yourself, if you're interested. You need to have an 11" or 12" diameter on these wheels, though, as your hedgehog will grow up pretty quickly.

Also (you've probably read this already), you might be interested in using liners with your hedgehog instead of wood shavings in her new home. Shavings and other bedding are dusty, and can cause sneezing and irritated noses. Liners are another thing you can make yourself (if you're handy with a sewing machine, or even if you're not), or you can order them from people on the internet. Nancy (a user on this forum) makes lovely liners. Buy some fleece blankets from Wal-Mart or wherever else you can find them, and cut them to the size of your cage/bin/whatever. I usually layer two or three together, as my boys are pretty messy, but they're very absorbant and they pay for themselves. Just wash them in a non-scented detergent and reuse them! Make sure they're fleece, though; fabric that frays can catch your hedgie's toes, so if you use cotton or another fabric like that, make sure that the edges are all sewed and finished.

[LunaMidnight]

She was comfortable with being held from day 1, which I also worry could be a sign of sickness, but I may be working myself into a panic. She sleeps on me as readily as anywhere, provided I don't move and wake her, and she hardly puffs at me, she only ever did when woke up or startled or stroking near her visor sometimes, and rarely even does that now.

That's exactly like my albino baby. She is such a friendly girl. :)

You should take your hog to the vet though. My girl just had the sneezes (no snot or anything, just alot of sneezing) and I figured it was because of her bedding so now she has fleece liners. She got .5 CC of Clavamox every 12 hours and the sneezing was gone in about 3 days. You still need to give them all the medicine the vet tells you to give them even if they stop sneezing though just to make sure they're completely better. Just like people have to do with their medicine sometimes.

[New kid]

Thank you all for the friendly welcome and well wishes! I took her to the vet today even though she wasn't sneezing anymore and $64 later I'm happy to report that she has a clean bill of health(from a vet that specializes in exotcs). The vet was absolutely amazed that she didn't quill up once, even when they took her temperature(and that was a little rough to stand by and watch). He even asked to take her in the back to show the other employees since they never see one that's not a ball of quills. He didn't think it was a good idea to prescribe her anything since she had no fever and no signs of repiratory irritation today, and we came to the conclusion that it was the pine shavings she was in for 2 weeks at the pet store that got her that way. She still sleeps more than anything, doesn't seem to want to play at all yet(except for attacking my wallet chain twice and let me tell you, that was so adorable I could hardly stand it), but she appears to love human contact, she'll crawl out from her fleece blanket to go to sleep on me. And this blanket is folded twice, so 4 layers on top and bottom, I can't be warmer than that. She still won't eat the cat food I got though, I'm afraid I'm going to have to break down and give her the canned kitten food again just so she'll eat and slowly transition to csftcls.

[OnAnAmbulance]

Glad to hear about the clean bill of health!

You can try to mix the solid food with the kitten food if it's a mushy food, or crush up the kitten food (if it's solid) onto the new food so at least it smells the same.

[Vincent]

Most hedgehogs who don't like CSFTCLS will like Royal Canin Lite 37. It's sold at a lot of pet stores, so you might want to keep your eyes open for a small bag. I feed my hedgies 5 cat foods mixed together, and they'll usually pick one that they absolutely won't eat. Make the transition slowly; like OnAnAmbulance suggested, try mixing the kitten food and the CSFTCLS together so that it smells the same. I add new foods to my hedgehog's diets very slowly, usually over a course of 10-20 days. I've heard of cases where it took months to switch completely, so I think you're just going to have to be patient! :)

She sounds like an absolute sweetheart. I'd love to see pictures, if you have a camera handy! You're extremely lucky to have found yourself a hedgie that likes humans so much.

Have you decided on the type of cage you're getting (if you're getting one)?

[hemi_mygirl]

Sounds like you've got things under control here. The pine shavings could have definately caused her runny nose, and I'm glad you put her on liners. They're alot less trouble than shavings.

Make sure she continues eating and drinking. The kitten food won't hurt her, but it's always best to have her on a lower-fat food, like everyone else said.

Make sure to take lots of pictures. :)