New Owner - Hedgehog with Runny Poop

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Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
5
Hey, I just got my little guy about three days ago. His name is Pip and he's only two months old. I know he was weaned fairly recently, so that should be taken into account. When I picked him up from the Breeder, he had diarrhea. She said that he had been giving pro-biotics, and that he should get better soon. Well, it's day three and he's still having really bad diarrhea. It makes handling him very stressful because he's just a little guy and they have to poop all the time. I gave him a foot bath yesterday, but he honestly needs one again! I think he's otherwise okay. He runs in his wheel and eats his food. His belly feels warm to the touch and the thermometer in his cage reads about 80. I'm a little concerned that he's not drinking as much as he should, but he downed some water from his bottle for about 5 minutes straight last night after I held him in a blanket, so I think he makes up for it every now and then. Should I be concerned about this? He has a check-up/wellness guaranteed visit with the vet on Thursday. I'm a little disappointed with the breeder, because he cost a lot of money. A few other explanations have run through my head:

1) Stress (new home, new smells, new sounds - strange girl who picks him up and an even stranger dog who runs around all the time)
2) His diet - he's on Spike Ultra from the breeder, which I've heard might be too rich. He was weaned fairly recently.
 
Stress would be more apt to cause the mean greenies... green poop... instead of diarrhea. You could do one of two things here: bring him back and get a refund. Or keep him and help him through whatever he has.

If you keep him, I'd do the following: get a sample of his poop and bring that to the vet so they can analyze it. Watch out for dehydration. It can be very serious. The vet can give him subQ fluids. At home, you can help too: Get an oral syringe and slowly give him drops of water. Medicinally, you can give him the antidirrheal medicine they make for dogs (found in pet supply stores). It's a white liquid. Administer a few drop via oral syringe. Dietarily, give him some unseasoned pumpkin or squash (baby food works well). If he eats it on his own, great. If not, oral syringe.

But, really, if the diarrhea is as you describe, this little guy should see a vet.

Agreed, spikes may not be the best choice for him. I'd be thinking about small sized kibbles... Fromm or Spot's Stew, or Blue Buffalo grain free are all nice sizes. But you'll need to help him through this first.
 
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