New babies

[TXMaple]

My hedgie, Maple, had some hoglets yesterday. This is somewhat of a surprise to me, as I've only had her a little over a month now. Long story short, the pet store obviously didn't keep the males and females seperated and now I have several more hedgies than anticipated.
I just wanted to post a thread to make sure I'm doing everything right. Around 10am yesterday, I heard squeeking coming from underneith the shirt she usually sleeps in and found it odd. I had to go out for a bit, and when I came back about an hour later, I still heard squeeking. I moved the shirt slightly and she puffed up and hissed, but I thought the squeeking might be because she was stuck....I lifted the shirt a little higher because she had somehow managed to get inside a fold of it, and three babies presented themselves. I quickly put the shirt down, filled her bowl with cat food, a couple of freeze dried crickets and mealworms, made sure her water was full, took her wheel out (I read that you're suppose to) and put towels over her cage. I'm a little concerned because it's been close to 24 hours and she has not eaten the mealworms, crickets, or the grapes i put in there last night, which are by far her favorite foods. I don't think any water is missing either. Is it normal for her to not eat or drink for a while after she has her babies, or is she maybe full from eating one or two of them? I knwo she hasn't eaten them all because I'm hearing chirping as I type this. I don't know if she had more than three, because i didn't want to disturb her. I haven't seen her since about 5am yesterday morning when she was happily perched on her wheel. I'm going to pick up some cottage cheese or sour cream today to make sure I keep her calcuim up since she is such a young mother - 4 months. Is there anything further I should be doing/not doing?

[HedgieHaven]

Your doing great. I only remove toys and wheel from my cages. I have never had to put a towel over the cage. As for her eating she will pick back up eating in a few days. Mine never left their babies for 2 days (that I see in person) Both my females had their babies in the corner next to their food. So you might move her food just a little closer to her shirt so she feels safe to leave her hoglets for a short time. For extra protein and things I use RC babycat 32 in my mom's mix then when the hoglets start eating small bites are already there. Mom goes back on reg. mix when I ween hoglets out of her cage. Good luck and keep us posted.

[illinidairychic]

You probably won't catch her up unless you can pin point the time she quickly sneaks away from the nest. My females all prefer different times to get up, a few actually will great me in the morning when I do waterbottles. Just let her be for now and she'll be fine. As long as she's staying with the babies and not rejecting them there is little to worry about right at this moment. Mothers tend to decrease food intake right before during and after birth. She will be eating more though as the hoglets grow. You may want to mix a little kitten food in with her diet to help keep weight on her while she is producing milk. Try not to introduce too many new foods at once though, you could upset her stomach if you are offering new things she's never had before. I had a 4 month old Pet store hog I recently purchased because I knew she was pregnant and didn't want her left there. She did great with her babies but I don't think she's going to get very big. It appears the strain of babies early on has stunted her growth a bit.