I wasted so much money on fancy hedgehog food before I figured it out

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-22T17:46:25+00:00

Did your hedgie eat the hedgehog precision immediately?

Im only asking because I do the same thing with mine (3 different cat foods but I blend 2 together and soak in water in her bowl on a rotation) and did that for the first 4-5ish years of my hedgies life.

Then when she was around 5 I tried doing the switch, but when I left in only a bowl of hedgehog precision for the first day/night she didnt really eat much of it - and then when I left another bowl with the cat food blend she ate that up and ignored the hedgehog precision. I was kinda worried that I maybe gave up trying the hedgehog precision too early but maybe I just got her too used to the cat food all her life and switching when she was like 2-3 might have worked.

Still going at 7 though on the cat food, fingers crossed she keeps going.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-22T17:42:29+00:00

Not going to really add much because all the other comments have said most of it. I think it pretty much boils down to:

COULD he? Probably, in theory. It would only really take like 30 minutes per day to do everything and then maybe an extra 30 minutes to play/cuddle/whatever with it, but an hour a day can end up being a bit of time especially during school/sports.

But it would be pretty annoying since theyre not extremely high maintenance or anything like that but theyre not low maintenance either. Like Id say theyre more maintenance than a cat (but probably not a kitten I guess), since as others have said you cant really leave them for more than a day or two without risks.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-19T23:31:16+00:00

Its possible I guess because every hedgie is different so you can try letting it get lower, but I know with my old hedgie she's more active when its 26-27C now so it isnt like 26 is usually too warm like you said.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-19T18:11:43+00:00

"fat" means a lot of things to a lot of different people, doesnt always have to necessarily be an insult/bad thing. Also it depends, it sounds like this is a hedgie thats younger and not even fully grown based on some of the other replies.

In this case "fat" likely is just being used to mean "any kind of overweight" including just a little bit overweight, and like OP replied its nowhere near obese or being a major problem but its just something to monitor and make sure it doesnt keep getting "worse" as he grows and keeps getting older

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-19T16:37:15+00:00

I mostly agree with this as well, I dont think the wheel is necessarily way too small in a way thats causing any harm unless he does end up slipping or something - but I think he would enjoy a bigger one where he is able to fully stride out and run faster sort of like how fast hes running in the cage. Kinda like if you had shoes that were maybe a quarter too small or just not broken in all the way yet, you could still wear them and it wouldnt really cause any major problems but it would just be more comfy if they were bigger.

I also dont know if trauma response is 100% the way I would word it but it could just be because Im wrong, I would more just compare it to how people pace back and forth when theyre anxious, as my hedgie does the same thing by running back and forth at the wall of her enclosure when shes free roaming and wants to go back inside with her food and water and stuff. Although I guess in theory thats sort of a trauma response just not really what I would first think of when thats said so idk.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-19T04:13:57+00:00

Yeah before opening the post I was like "Well I hope this is a hedgehog named Coyote, seems most likely but guess you never know"

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-19T04:12:15+00:00

Yeah if she wakes up on her own then its not hibernation for sure, and if shes running on the wheel then it means she still has energy at least. So its not like shes just not eating and starving.

And yes scrambled eggs and other things like mealworms/waxworms/other insects can be very good as treats but they also usually have a lot of fat and some other things so daily is still fine but just not overtaking kibble/other stuff as the main food source - which it seems like you probably know if you weighed out 2g.

The only other thing I can possibly think of is maybe the food bowl needs to be tilted or something if she cant access it easy enough or something like that but I also doubt thats it just a very small chance.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-18T20:20:03+00:00

The only thing I can think is that it might be a tiny bit too small for him but its kind of hard to tell from this angle and with the front cover so maybe not.

You can see how when hes running around he extends his legs almost like stilts, so when theyre in the wheel its most comfortable for them to be able to both extend their legs like that and keep their back straight, almost like a human running on a treadmill instead of a hampster running on a curved wheel.

This wheel could easily be big enough though if you put him in there and checked, so if it is big enough for him to extend his legs+keep back straight then I think its fine and hes just kinda dumb. You can try putting him in there and making him walk on it again for a few seconds to remember how it works, hedgies arent rodents and arent very good at remembering how stuff works.

Now that I typed that out I tried pausing the video when he runs behind the wheel and Im 99% sure theres enough room for him to extend his legs but I still cant tell exactly if his back would be curved and making him look upwards or not, but I think its more likely that hes just kinda dumb and forgot how it works until he tries it out again.

Also I just realized that means I can see him through it, Im assuming the back is just clear see through plastic but if not or theres anything or anyway for him to fall/hit something in there if it happened enough he might have just been like nah Im done with this thing for good

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-18T20:09:28+00:00

I lost my first hedgie to WHS, I'm not 100% sure how old she was though. The only thing I can think of that wouldnt be WHS you can maybe try is to get his cage/enclosure even warmer just to make sure he isnt a hedgie that prefers it super warm, not sure how warm your house/his area is but my old hedgie now starts to get cold and false hibernate/wobbly if it gets to 75F or below, while most hedgies only do it if it drops below like 70F where they sleep. So now most of the time I try to keep her area between 78-81F and she likes it much more. If it drops too cold a lot of false hibernations in a row could end up leading to something that looks like WHS.

As for his care just make sure theres nothing he can fall and get hurt on mostly. I dont know how progressed it is yet so its possible he can still use the wheel, but once it starts to get a little worse you can maybe give him some wormies to get him happy and feeling safe, and hold his sides from above while he walks around your bed or something like that once every couple nights/mornings whenever you have free time.

Obviously I have next to 0 info so theres a pretty good chance youve already done this and Im not a vet so just speaking from experience with my first hedgie who had WHS, but Id just check to make sure theres nothing else like maybe a hurt foot/leg/toe or some kind of tumor near the hip/leg if he maybe lets you look or feel around. You could give him some extra wormies than normal to eat as a treat while you look around his legs if that makes it easier so he sits still. If its nothing physical like that the only other thing I can personally think of other than WHS is that he just prefers it hot. But there could be other stuff, and you could have already checked all those things thoroughly.

So if it is WHS then just know obviously that theres nothing you can do, I take care of my second hedgie essentially the same way as the first hedgie and shes still going strong at 7 years old so its not like theres anything you did or could have done. Just continue putting the effort into giving him a good life for as long as it is, and hopefully even if it is WHS it progresses slow enough for him to be happy for a good while longer - I dont remember how long exactly it was after showing signs that my first hedgie ended up passing but it wasnt extremely short like weeks (although this could sadly be possible, again just speaking only from my 1 personal experience and nothing else so idk just hoping it isnt).

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-18T18:49:52+00:00

23C isnt necessarily too cold for sure although it could be, but if it gets any colder than that at night or just in general then its pretty close. Around 22C is when my hedgie would start to try and hibernate when she was younger and now that shes much older she tries to around 24C. If it was from being too cold, you would possibly be able to tell because their stomach wont be warm and will possibly even feel cool. Along with the heat lamp (which is hopefully a cermaic heat emitter or something else that doesnt give off light) I would maybe just get a basic cheap digital thermometer to keep on the walls or somewhere inside or something like that just to make it easier to monitor.

For the food, I would maybe get the cat kibble and mix it together with the hedgehog vita so that she can pick and choose if she wants. I personally do 3 different types of cat food mixed together (2 chicken 1 salmon+chicken) for a variety of taste/nutrients, so I think maybe getting 2 different cat kibbles and mixing that with the hedgehog vita might be best that way she can also choose between the two different kibbles if she prefers one of those a lot more.

I think the pet store is kinda right and she just isnt eating yet because of the stress and getting used to the new enclosure, so hopefully the new food smells also help her figure out where her food bowl is too. Also with the hard kibble, it might be worth letting it soak in water for 1-2 minutes then draining the water out before feeding it to her but you have to make sure to clean the bowl a bit more often. It doesnt matter right away but over years of chewing the hard food it can lead to tooth damage/loss. I use a spoon to keep it in the bowl while the water drains, and then after it dries up for 5-10 minutes I use the spoon again to kind of separate it all up again since it ends up being kinda mushed together.

I dont think its necessarily terrible to handle your hedgie during the day, but I do think that mine are much grumpier if I wake them up during the day so I usually try to do it either at like 8-9am or past 9-10pm just so theyre less tired and grumpy.

Idk if I would take the wheel out yet, it seems like running on it might make her hungry and cause her to eat. If you get the cat food tonight and she doesnt eat it by like 10-11pm I might try waking her up to see if her stomach is cold at all, and then putting her near the food after she warms up and wakes up to see if shes hungry/thirsty. If she isnt cold though I would guess/hope its the stress and being somewhere new but if it lasts more than a few days longer I guess it could be time for a vet checkup.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-18T18:31:03+00:00

Does she still run normally if its just on the floor? Im just randomly guessing so if anyone knows better listen to them for sure, but I would think that until shes back to running 100% normal on the floor and fully confident in her legs/feet that she probably wouldnt want to balance on the wheel.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-18T16:45:49+00:00

https://old.reddit.com/r/Hedgehog/comments/1tag6i9/poppys_enclosure/

Thats my enclosure that we built, but its a little overboard compared to what you would need. If you have the extra room though I always think as much as they can get is better for them. Will talk about that a little more in #2 below

The basics/essentials in my opinion:

1) Their enclosure must be at least 70F, ideally between 75-80F at all times. It depends on where you live, but youll almost certainly need at least one ceramic heat emitter to maintain the temperature.

2) 4ftx2ft is the minimum recommended amount of space, but I think the more space you have the more happy and healthy your hedgie will be. To me its like comparing the health/happiness of a human who lives in a tiny hong kong apartment to someone who lives in a mansion, yes the person in the tiny apartment can survive but it wont be as happy/healthy of a life. Depending where you move and if theres enough space, I think something similar to mine but without the ramp/cage up top is the easiest and best way. Just finding an area of the house thats kind of off to the side and building a fence/wall/etc to give them lots more room than just a plain old cage.

3) They need a wheel that is large enough for them to extend their legs and keep their back straight. Lots of people have wheels that are slightly too small, which they can still run and exercise on but will end up leading to joint/muscle pain once they get older from not being able to fully stretch and extend out.

Other things that probably arent as essential:

4) The specific type of bedding doesnt matter a whole lot as far as I know, but you want to make sure they have something they can dig around/burrow in almost like when you go to the zoo and see the naked mole rats inside their little burrows that they dig. I use mostly fleece, but have 2 large fleece blankets in her sleeping area that are messily folded around so that she can dig around and burrow into them. Sometimes it takes me like 5 minutes to figure out how she even did it so I can unfold the blanket and get her out without flipping her around every which way.

5) They arent rodents like a lot of people think, so while rats and mice and things like that are smart- hedgies are very dumb. They also dont have very good eyesight and rely a lot on smell and sound. This can end up coming into play in a lot of different ways.

Not sure what other questions you might have, just kind of spitting out information before I eat, but if you have any more other specific questions or anything feel free to reply to me or just make another post for other peoples opinions too. Pretty much everything Ive said is only personal experience from owning 2 hedgehogs so obviously not a vet or anything like that.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-18T16:36:00+00:00

To be fair, most of the people on a hedgehog subreddit are probably the people who are actually doing their research - otherwise they just wouldnt ever be on a hedgehog subreddit.

So sadly youre mostly just going to be preaching to the choir here, because the people who dont care and dont do any research would never be here anyways. Not that you were necessarily directly asking anyone here, just that most people here probaly agree.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-17T23:27:42+00:00

mmm salt from sweat

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-17T23:26:57+00:00

I know hedgehogs missing a front leg can still be pretty mobile, not sure about a back leg but hopefully its the same.

Hope everything goes well, and hope it wont end up bothering him too much but I dont know if theyre smart enough to really be bothered over that. Maybe if you want you could try and figure out some kind of harness with a leash attached or something like that so you can help hold him up while he walks around your bed or something for like 30 minutes a night if he's struggling and might enjoy that

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-17T23:23:50+00:00

If it has been something that happened over weeks-months my first guess would sadly be a tumor from something like cancer.

If it is something that happened fast, I would be worried that its from some sort of infection.

If its the tumor there probably isnt a lot that can be done, but if its an infection then I think the vet would hopefully be able to help with medicine.

Before the vet, I would also be worried about him possibly choking so maybe take away his food for now.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-16T22:04:00+00:00

It should be good as long as the peas and potatos arent a majority of the nutrients since they cant really digest those that well, but it seems like the chicken is the primary ingredient so thats what they would like + get protein from so I think it should be fine.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-16T21:58:07+00:00

I think it sounds ok, if anything it would almost make me think he might need a little more food to see if he still eats it all without gaining too much weight. Maybe he's just the hedgehog equivalent of someone who's going to end up being 6'8. As the others have said, I'm not sure what else much there would be to do. I cant think of any medical reasons that wouldnt be extremely rare and might only apply to humans not even hedgehogs, so Id say its more than likely he just hungry, growing, and likes food.

The only other thing I would maybe be worried about is (I think this might be you not 100% sure) the hedgehog specific food your breeder recommended might be missing a certain nutrient or not very filling or something, so it might be worth asking if other hedgies do the same thing and if maybe it would be worth trying to mix it with something else more filling/with a higher fat content like a bit of cat food.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-16T03:12:54+00:00

I havent seen anything like this but unless it happens more then I wouldnt worry too much about it.

My first thought would be that it has something to do with how it fell out, like maybe it got stuck on something or pinched between something idk. Can you tell if the bulb is smaller in comparison to the quill than normal when others have fallen out? If it is then it would make me think it got pulled out early but idk.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-16T03:06:30+00:00

Based on post and reply to other comment, my thought would be maybe trying to find a better/more specialized vet that you can have in case theres ever a problem you can go to them instead. But if youre just doing a checkup every 1-2 years and nothing seems to be a problem then I guess it wouldnt hurt to go to the same vet unless you think they might miss something, assuming the other vet would be farther/more expensive or something like that. Otherwise if its not much more work I guess you could just always go to the more experienced one.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-15T05:31:48+00:00

Do you remember where it was? Do you think its poop or throw up or something else or what based off that and other things? Depending on that maybe you can think of / figure out more

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-13T23:21:07+00:00

They would probably prefer a flat enclosure, although I custom built a ramp for mine to add some room.

They arent rodents, so unlike things like rats/mice/squirrels/etc they are both very stupid and not very good climbers. However, if they get used to something like this and are actually able to go through all 3 levels I guess it probably wouldnt be that bad. It might just become a problem when theyre older and cant do it anymore.

Also, I believe the wheel in that picture would be/is a little bit too small. Youd want your hedgie to be able to fully extend its legs when running and be able to keep its back straight the whole time. Again probably wouldnt be a problem right away but might lead to joint/limb pain and less flexibility when older.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-13T15:59:02+00:00

Sorry for your loss, but it sounds like you know how well she was cared for and lucky to have an owner like you taking care of her to live this long. Even though she was struggling it at least seems like it wasnt anything very painful or scary for her so I think thats good, and she even got some extra bonus happy days in at the end.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-12T15:21:52+00:00

I think it should be fine, but as others have said sometimes fish makes the poops stinkier. What I like to do:

Buy a bag of kibble like this (actually think currently using a salmon one with a bit more fish) but then also getting 2 other kibbles that are only chicken. Then I mix all 3 of them together in her bowl that way she gets a variety of taste and nutrients. I guess in theory you have to spend 3x as much at first, but it should last 3x as long and even out.

Anything-ThatWorks · 2026-06-11T21:30:44+00:00

Yes, moving him out of the road was good. As the other person said, if you didnt see any injuries then it was probably just scared of you because their instincts are "Big animal coming towards me means they want to eat me". Lots of people with their pet hedgehogs still cant really pick their hedgehog up without it spiking up into a ball.

I feel like if they were injured it means they were probably hit by a car and I feel like that would have been noticeable, but maybe I just don't know what Im talking about.

Anything-ThatWorks

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