How To Convince Your Parents To Get A Hedgehog

One of the most difficult times for hedgehog owners comes if a new mother hedgehog rejects some or all of her babies, or otherwise tin can't manage to provide for all of them. Unfortunately, it is adequately common for hedgehogs to swallow their babies and/or decline them, especially if information technology is a first litter or if the mother was disturbed (mother hedgehogs need considerable peace and quiet). Many hedgehog owners are bothered quite desperately by these actions on the part of the hedgehog, every bit they are extremely foreign concepts to humans, but they are (sadly) perfectly natural and normal among hedgehogs.

Before deciding to mitt feed, try returning rejected babies to the nest (using a spoon to avoid getting your scent on them), or if possible by fostering with some other mother who is nursing (rub the babies in bedding from that female parent's muzzle to have them smell familiar). Many breeders will purposely breed 2 females at the aforementioned time for this purpose, though I caution that fostering does non always work.

All that having been said, what do you practise if y'all determine you need to hand feed infant hedgehogs? The get-go thing is to convince yourself that sleep is an undesirable luxury, every bit you will exist feeding the babies every 2-3 hours (yes, that means night and mean solar day) for about 3+ weeks. If you're still up to trying, what do you feed them, and how?

I'll address the easy part beginning - how. For this, among the best items are plastic syringes (without needles), eye-droppers, or plastic pipettes (the type with the suction bulb at the end). The idea is to exist able to provide a minute but reasonably available stream of 'milk' to the baby in a controlled fashion.

Adjacent is the question of what to feed them. Generally, the rule about fugitive or limiting cows' milk for adult hedgehogs besides applies to babies, and maybe even more than and so. That having been said, I accept heard of one little tyke who wouldn't beverage anything else, and at last word was doing but fine.

Hedgehog in Hands Caring for the immature is simple enough as long as you have a adept milk to feed them. I have discovered that sheep'south milk is the closest in limerick to grunter milk and acts as an excellent substitute when mixed with raw egg. It may for the first few days cause swelling of the anus, but as soon as they start teething (3 weeks) you tin add mashed banana for fibre and their problems clear upwards. It's a very high protein diet but ane must watch for a vitamin B deficiency which can be caused by too much raw egg. I had my two hoglets suckling on a syringe for the first week and 1/2 until their teeth erupted (this takes three days for a full set to emerge!!) then simply outset using a saucer and they will naturally feed from it themselves.

Using milk replacer is also a good substitute. I do need to caution, however, about the use of raw eggs, as they can cause issues of their own, this, yet, may be i state of affairs where angle those rules is worthwhile.

Milk replacer can be found in our RX department.

Please make VERY certain that yous follow the steps to induce them to defecate subsequently - not doing so will certainly cause bloating and lead to tragedy.

1 matter to lookout man out for in feeding baby hedgehogs, is that after each feeding yous must stimulate them to defecate and urinate, otherwise their bladder and bowel will swell up and tin can even burst. To practise this, simply stroke forth their tummy towards the anus, which simulates a mother licking and grooming her babies. You can likewise do this with a warm damp tissue or cloth. The thought isn't to squeeze annihilation out, just to stimulate the baby to practise information technology'southward business.

Remember that mitt raising baby hedgehogs is very hard, and if you try and see with tragedy, remember that you gave them much more than of a chance than they would accept had without you. Whatever happens, don't give upwardly and decide that hedgehogs are bad, or that it's not worth having hoglets - it's but hedgehog nature, and next time may well be nix brusk of magical.

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