The Chicken Smoothie Hedgehog Society ♥

[Boomer]

I'm glad she's okay! I had to take Jack to the vet on Monday because he's been a little wobbly when he walks. The vet did an x-ray, fecal sample (she was thrilled when he went to the bathroom), two injections in his back legs (one for saline and vitamin B and one for Ivermectin). His x-ray was clear of cancer, his fecal sample showed mites (his tail brushed over it when he was walking), and he might have a vitamin deficiency. I ordered him hedgehog food and I'm really hoping he'll be fine once he gets his new food. <3

[Dia.]

I highly recommend doing some research on ivermectin. I let my vet know that I did not want her treated with it due to what I have read. It's an old drug so it's what vets turn to because it's familiar, but using revolution for mites is so, so much safer from what I've seen. (It worked SUPER fast for Thea too)
Have you ever considered high quality cat food/cat food mix instead of hedgehog food? All the hedgehog foods I have seen look like they have very, very poor nutritional value.

Do you know why he's wobbling?

[Boomer]

I've heard good and bad on the Ivermectin and I've kept an eye on him for the last few days to make sure it wouldn't affect him. The vet I went to has worked with exotics and zoo animals before, so I felt okay with the Ivermectin. She was very concerned about making sure she dosed it right so he wouldn't get sick from it.

As for the hedgehog food, I ordered it from a site that specializes in exotics and I looked over what it has. It seems like a good food, plus I have the option to order an insectivore diet if he doesn't like this food for whatever reason.

The wobbling I thought could've been Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome and I was fearing that Jack would have it, but so many things mirror the wobbling (including the vitamin deficiency), I didn't want to assume anything and let him get worse from something I could totally fix. Just from the saline and vitamin B shot alone, his wobbling isn't as bad as it was three days ago.

[Dia.]

Good! I've heard it's just so easy to overdose and sometimes they have bad reactions. Since I just got my little girl and I'm not familiar with the vet, I didn't want to risk it!

I'm currently feeding earthborn feline vantage(the breeder food) and I've started slowly adding in some solid gold winged tiger. She seems to enjoy both, but I'm trying to make the earthborn a very small part of her diet because the ingredients don't seem like they're the best quality. :/ She also gets a few mealies a night when its play time and i LOVE watching her little nose go crazy when she smells them and sees them wiggling!

Is it possible he might have gotten a little cold and that could have caused the wobbling too? When I pet sit a hedgehog that didn't come with any heat source, she tried to hibernate and was pretty wobbly.
I hope it's not WHS! That's my fear too <3 Good to hear he's improving!

[Boomer]

He has attempted to hibernate a couple times (over a four year span, not all at once), he never got wobbly, just cool and wouldn't unball until he warmed up.

He loves his mealworms! With his food, I've figured out that he does better when it's crushed up a little. The new food I ordered has smaller pieces, so hopefully he can eat those without an issue.

I hope that your little hedgie doesn't get WHS! It's such a sad disease to watch. I've read that the normal age to develop it is about 18-24 months, but of course any hedgie younger or older can get it too. When he was 18-24 months, I hoped that he wouldn't get it and that he'd live to be an old man. With him almost being 4 years old, I totally expect him to slow down a little and I'm still hoping that it's something as simple as a new diet to get him back to normal. <3

[Ancunín]

^yea i was super surprised when rupert started wobbling, he was about 5 months old! Also, ruperts initial wobbling was because he contracted a wittle lung infection! Fortunatley, Rupert being the weirdest little hog, he was litterally in LOVE with the antibiotics! Welp sorry for the random story xD

[Dia.]

(ignore that little block... i had to run a plug in to make the video play to gif capture it xD)

For a little hog who wanted nothing to do with mealies the first time she tried them, she sure loves them now!

[Dia.]

We entered a competition to win an extra wheel and some other awesome things <3

[Ancunín]

Aww how cute!! Your girl sure is a cutie <3

[Jazi]

So.

Apparently I’m getting a hedgehog.

I have a regular customer I frequently talk dogs with- he recently lost his mastiff that he used to compete in comp OB with and he waxes poetry about how much he loved that dog, and he appreciates seeing the same bond between Creed (my doberman) and I- who has a young son that decided he doesn’t want his hedgehog anymore.

The shiny new toy is not so shiny and new anymore and thus is less interesting. He’s using this to teach his son that animals are not exchangeable toys to swap with others when you get bored, and he wants this little creature to have an actually decent home, so he asked me today if I’d take her in.

He’s giving me all of her supplies and the baby herself for free. I have permission from the folks who run the house, so within a little bit there should be a spikey baby. I fully intend to review what he gives me and upgrade as needed, but he’s a pretty dedicated guy from the sounds of all of our conversations about our animals, so we’ll see.

I’ve been keeping myself from getting one officially because roughly $700 start up cost (supplies+hog) is rough when I’d prefer to spend that on the cost of the medical requirements, and I couldn’t justify spending close to $1k when there are other things I prioritize more than purchasing a new animal (car repairs, boyfriend flirtations, etc).

“Hedgie” and supplies should be here relatively soon, and I’ll update then.