Poop and wheel problem

[Mouser'sMommie]

My little Stewie has a new habit I find to be quite disgusting. Instead of hanging his butt off his wheel to do his business, or even just doing his business while he's running his nightly marathons, he now seems to be pressing his bum up against the back of his wheel to go potty. This is making a mess like nothing I have ever seen in the year and a half I have had him. He's never pee'd in his wheel before, and now he's just going everywhere, and it is just awful.
Not to mention the smell: his poop reeks!! Like makes me gag it smells so bad. Last night I was laying in bed in the next room and all of a sudden this foul odor was in the room and I went and looked and here he'd pooped and pee'd all over the back of his wheel and run through it a little. I'm concerned b/c 1) He's never done this before, 2) I don't understand why his poop smells so bad, and 3) I'm worried about the pee dripping back on top of his quills as his wheel spins.

How can I get my hoggie back to going potty in his litter??

[razzle]

Hmmm...I'm not sure what to tell you since my little one has always done what Stewie is doing now! He makes a MESS! We are forever doing foot baths. The only thing that comes to mind is...perhaps he is pressing his bum up against the wheel because he is having a hard time going. Maybe he needs a little fiber - like grapenuts - in his diet. It's worth a shot.

But the foul odor - have you changed his food at all? Different treats? It's got to be something he's eating that is making it smell so bad. Is the poo runny/green or funky looking in any way?

[Steph]

Dietary concerns are usually the first cause of an excessive feces odor. ALL hedgie poo smells at first but it should lose it's potentcy pretty quickly, I have had hedgies stink me out of the car and hedgie room but usually it's a change in food.

Has he had any new snacks?

What kind of food are you feeding him?

Is there blood in his stool?

Is his stool green or tarry and black?

Has there been any changes in his environment? (e.g. new animal, move to a new room, new cage, etc...) Anything that causes stress can potentially cause green or smelly poop.

As for the wheel, I have a few who just INSIST on pooping in the nastiest places (top of the bin anyone??). Here are a couple of things you can try...

A. Put his litter box under the wheel so he'll be enticed to poop in it

B. Take a tissue and move his most recent poop to a corner apart from the wheel. See if you can turn that in to his poop corner. You can use a litterbox or not.

[Nancy]

I find that quite often when the poop is going to the back of the wheel it is because of the angle. Try tilting it more toward the front and see if that helps.

If his poop has changed in smell and you haven't changed anything in his diet then a vet visit is in order. Our Kesia's poo went just gag you rank in smell and was very mucousy and she had an intestinal infection. 10 days of metrondiazinole (sp?) and she was back to normal.
:)

[Pringlesmom]

My heart goes out to these poop stories. I don't think anything is wrong with Stewie. It is probably, like everyone said, something with food, but let us know if you find out anything else. Pringle was NEVER EVER potty trained. He pooped all over his wheel to the point that I didn't think it was a white wheel in the morning. Scoops is so much better. I put a plate with Carefresh under his wheel and he was using it as a litter pan, but he was getting the Carefresh all over his liners and making a big mess, so I ripped up some paper towels and he is still going on them (and some on the wheel), but in the morning I find the soiled papers all over his cage. Bottom line- you can never win. :neener:

[Mouser'sMommie]

Thanks for all your input! Stewie eats CSFCLS mixed w/ Royal Canine Slim 38. I "adopted" him about a year and a half ago and he was never potty trained; his whole cage is lined w/ newspapers and Carefresh. He has had green poo before, but only once every so often, and even then I only saw that it was that color b/c of the green poo prints in his wheel.... As for treats, I am not good with them. I don't give them (wormies) much except when he has a bath and gets his nails trimmed. I try to buy baby food jars of chicken for him but even then I'm not sure how much to give him at a time. (I'm a vegetarian so I don't have meat in the house) Any more thoughts?

[PrettyHate]

For a while all that Murdoc would eat was canned food. I had him on Wellness canned food and OMG- the smell!!! I could smell a single poop when I was walking up the stairs into my room. It got so bad somenights that I couldnt even sleep in there. Night that I did sleep in my room I would end up getting out of bed around 1am to clean his wheel and remove any stray poops to help cut down on the smell. In short, smelly hedgie poop is THE WORST!

As for treats, I am not good with them. I don't give them (wormies) much except when he has a bath and gets his nails trimmed. I try to buy baby food jars of chicken for him but even then I'm not sure how much to give him at a time. (I'm a vegetarian so I don't have meat in the house)

Usually about a tsp at a time is a good amount :)

[paris26]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a sample in to your vet to run a fecal. Sometimes clostridium (bacterial overgrowth) will cause stinky poops. It would rule out anything healthwise for causing the yucky odors

[PrettyHate]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a sample in to your vet to run a fecal. Sometimes clostridium (bacterial overgrowth) will cause stinky poops. It would rule out anything healthwise for causing the yucky odors

Good point. While the change from Wellness canned food to Wysong and Science Diet AD did help bring the smell down some, his poops still werent great. I thought it was maybe because of the soft food etc. However, his poops went from bad to worse, and soon were VERY soft and had almost a sweet (not a good sweet either!) smell to them. I took a sample in for the vet and the results came back as positive for clostridium.

[Tobin81]

I have had this problem too I find it really disgusting. I spend a few minutes everyday cleaning their wheels, and checking thier feet. Its kind of annoying but what can ya do??? :dunno: