Small baby from Latvia

Hello everyone!
My name is Aljona, I'm from Latvia. Less than a week ago I got a tiny albino hedgie girl, Kukusja. Since I'm a newbie and hedgehogs are not common pets here, I would greatly appreciate your advice.
In fact I have many questions and I have described my situation in hedgehogcentral forums. Is it allowed to copy my initial post here so that I don't have to retype it all?
Wanted to post some pictures, but I'm not allowed

You should be ok to post pictures - will ask Lou to have a look for you.

Please copy your post - we will try to help you all we can xx

Here is my post:


Hello everyone!

First of all I'd like to thank you for this great website, it has tons of valuable information and is loaded with love to our quilled friends:)

My story in short. I've been dreaming of owning a hedgehog for some three years, gathering info on the internet thus gradually preparing myself for arrival of the new family member. My plan was to get a hog from some reputable breeder in Europe as long as there are almost no hedgehogs in my country so far. But things suddenly changed last Wednesday. People who supply local pet shops with animals (they bring them from some cheap pet market in Poland) this time brought a tiny hedgehog baby among other creatures. I just couldn't stand the sight of a hedgie being placed in a small plastic box with nothing but corn cob litter in it. In fact I had no choice and I brought it home. I know it's not a good idea to buy pets this way, that it only encourages these people to bring more and more of them to be sold in pet shops, but....as I've said I felt I had no choice.
Now I would like to ask some questions. I have read a lot, but that's just theory and I want to be sure I don't do the baby no harm.
First, is it possible to approx. determine the age based on weight? My suspicion is that she's very young, maybe even too young to be separated from her mother. On the day I got her (20th Feb) she was 46gr, today 71 gr already. She's not thin at all, but really tiny. Also she has difficulty to chew her kibble, so I have to crush it to really small pieces to make it possible for her to eat.
I have studied the list of recommended dry foods on this website, unfortunately we have only Royal Canine here. Is it ok to feed it to such a small baby and if so, what formulas would you advise to use best?
What else should I feed her if she's really that young? She seems to be rather conservative about food, in the first days she refused to try anything but her kibble, but then I have successfully persuaded her to try mealworms (now she accepts them willingly) and a bit of apple. What else should I try and what are the tips of encouraging a hedgehog to try something unfamiliar?
I'm very much concerned about her movements. I know about WHS and it scares me a lot. I have watched some videos of affected hedgehogs on youtube, but it didn't help as long as I have no experience to tell what is normal and what is not. Could she possibly be a bit unsteady because of being very young? There's one more thing that I have noticed - she has long deformed inner claws on her hindlegs. I tried to trim them a bit - but just a bit so far in order not to scare her. But they still catch as she walks on the sofa. Maybe this makes her gait a bit strange...Then there's one more thing that has crossed my mind. Do hedgies have rickets? I doubt she was fed quality food there, so maybe possibly that is the cause of unsteadiness? If so, what can I do to help her? Is it possible to post a video to this forum so that you could see her walking?
The baby is very outgoing, moreover, she follows me everywhere and even cries to be picked up. As soon as I take her in my lap she stops crying. Never thought hedgehogs could behave like that. From time to time she would lick and chew my hands. It doesn't hurt at all, but the question is, should I allow her to so or show her I don't like it. I can't understand the reason of this behaviour, and I understand her jaws will become stronger as she gets bigger, so I can't figure out how to react.
I'm sorry for posting so many questions, but I only want to do the best for my little girl. Thank you in advance for your answers.

email me the pictures .. as there shouldnt be a reason why you cant post them [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and i will post them ...

hello and welcome
i only have one hog and when i got him at 8weeks he weighed 208g better to speak to mums that have bred babies for feeding advice. hope all works out

Hey ok 46g is very small for a young baby to be rehomed here in the uk we ten to wait until 7 weeks and baby of a fair weight 130g .. so she is no where near that ..if she is having difficulty would say that is is probably under 5 weeks ... guess only as havent seen pictures .. you could give her chicken .. very small pieces and make a soup out of it so she can lap the goodness .. all her food will need to be chopped and i suggest chicken thigh and breast as its good in protein ...maybe liquidize it with some some water carrots peas ...

has she got teeth ?

Lou, I've emailed you her pictures.
Yes, she has teeth and is even able to chew crushed cat kibble. I've been advised to feed her Royal Canin Babycat, do you think it's a good idea?
She refuses to try almost anything except kibble But I have persuaded her to try mealworms at least and now she accepts them willingly. What else should I try?

chicken .. mince meat ... carrots , peas sweetcorn ... all chopped very small i have the pictures uploadng now ...

Thank you, Lou!
I have tried most of those things, but she refuses to even try What are the tips to encourage her to try something new?
My most recent post from hedgehogcentral:

Some more questions. I weigh her every day and in average she has gained about 8 grams daily, but yesterday the gain has been only 2 grams. There's no obvious change in appetite, stools and general appearance. Is it normal or do I have a reason to worry? Could it possibly be because she started to eat mealworms? Btw, what amount of mealworms is appropriate for such a small baby?
Provided she is fed RC Babycat what else would be necessary? Any vitamins, supplements? My idea is to get her accustomed to a variety of foods while she's still young (only recommended foods, of course), but she's a bit conservative about that. Do I have to insist somehow or let her eat just what she finds attractive?
I have read several times that a hedgie should be given only cooked meat, but I haven't found the reason why. Could you explain?

I would like to post a link to the video of her walking, but I'm not allowed. Unfortunately it's not of very good quality, but I hope you'll be able to figure something out. I'm still pretty scared of WHS...

can you not upload the video to youtube then post the link then we can give you some advice when see it .

It says I'm not allowed to post external links here since I'm a new member.
I emailed the link to you, would you please post it here

Hi Aljona, you will get lots of great advice on here Welcome to the forum xx

Welcome to the forum and Lou and Helen are great for information and all the other members too. I had just read your post on Hedgehogcentral but prefer this site so glad you are on here. I live in USA and this group is the best. Your little beanie looks way young to been sold, I am glad such a caring person got her. Lisa

Welcome to the forum in jake aka gaga xx

Welcome kukusja x

A teeny tiny baby but with the right food there is no reason why she will not be healthy as she gets onto a good diet.

If you can get Goats Milk you can offer her some of this to boost her up a little which will help her.

Often with mass breeders and pet shops they will only be fed on dry biscuits - keep crushing her biscuits and add some dried mealworms to it as well.

It is best to concentrate on adding one food at a time - chicken thigh is a good meat for tempting hedgehogs to eat - if you can get one, put it in a pan of water and just simmer it on the stove until it is cooked - remove the skin and bones and chop it into small pieces - I would personally put it in the same dish as her biscuits so that she has to root through her bowl to get to her crushed biscuits - it can take several days for them to accept a new food - so just keep trying.

I will find out why raw meat is bad for them - all meat should be cooked before feeding to her.

She could be unsteady on her feet due to being young and lack of nutrients in her diet - WHS does not usually occur in hedgehogs so young so I do not think she will have this - more to do with the fact she is small.

She will gradually put on weight with a better balance diet - as long as she is gaining weight and not loosing weight you are going in the right direction with her.

You will find that you will form a very strong bond with her and her with you - she is looking on you as her mum - with plenty of love, patience and quality diet I am sure she will continue to improve and you will notice a difference in her strength

welcome to the forum. beautiful pictures...she is tiny...she is a young un...

I have the video will see i i can upload to my youtube so we can all see how she is walkkng

Bless her, she looks like a right little sweetheart. I'm sure you'll be onto a winner with her and like everybody else here I'm sure, I'm really glad she found you xx

xoxox

My husband is trying to get the link to work ... will post it as soon as we have got it right .

Thank you everybody for the nice words! This is a really friendly forum, and I'm so very glad I have found you! I promise to keep posting pictures and news and most of all - questions, I have a lot of them and I really need your advice.
News for today. In the morning her weight was 81 grams, which makes a 9 gram gain for the last day. I'm very happy about that I have left some tiny pieces of pear and carrot in her food dish for the night, and in the morning I found the bowl almost empty - all that was left was a bit of kibble and a piece of carrot, pear was gone completely. The stool is ideal. And - what makes me soooo happy - it seems like she walks steadier today!!! I hope so much it is really so, and not just an illusion because I want it so much.... And still I would like all the experienced people watch the video when it becomes available, just to make sure there's nothing bad indeed.
Could hand chewing be associated with hunger? I have noticed that if I wake her up after a long sleep she is more likely to do this, but if I let her eat first, she doesn't make any attempt.
She still keeps following me, I guess she takes me for her mom Which suits me just fine
And yes, I give her 4 middle-sized live mealworms 2 times a day, is it ok? Or should I give more?

hand chewing is due to smells on your hand, you want to discourage this behavior or you will have a nippy hedgehog, a quick blow of air will let her know not to do it, you can give a few more mealworms to her she is tiny so she can get some fat from them but not too many xx

I try to always wash my hands before handling her, first to clean them and also to warm them up so that she feels more comfortable. But I'll try to make her understand it's not a good thing to do

use unscented soap, it may be the soap you use and yes thats a good idea, you dont want to have a nipping hog xx

No, not really The soap I use has no particular scent to me, but maybe it smells delicious to her, who knows Because what she's doing really looks more like chewing than biting. I'll try to use something different.