Weight question

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Raindog

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
355
Location
Chicagoland area
Miss Luna has been doing great. But she had not gained her weight back. She is, and has been for a while, between 295 - 315g depending. I would love for her range to be a little higher. At 295g she looks thin but her sides are not really caving in, at 315g she is more twinkie shaped. Is this healthy for her? I am afraid if she gets sick again she doesn't have a lot of cushion before she gets into dangerous low weight.
 
I like the twinkie. A slightly pudgy twinkie, even. Sides-in does make me worry a bit for the exact reason you cite... that it's fine to be thin, but the first health problem with associated weight drop becomes dangerous.

Depending on how well she handles different foods, I'd be looking to see if I could up the calorie content a bit. Will she eat waxworms? They'll help put on the grams a bit better than mealworms. And mealworms will help add grams a bit better than no mealies.

What's her current kibble and treat situation look like?
 
Luna is eating Fromm Chicken and Veg. She loves wax and mealworms and she also likes Stella and Chewy's Turkey dinner wet cat food for treats. However I usually handle her around 10pm and she would get treats then but then she wouldn't eat as much of her cat food through the night. I'm not sure what kind of a schedule to try to get her on. I could play with her earlier but she is usually pretty crabby.
 
Sounds like she's moderating her own weight by eating less kibble when she has her treats.

Nice choice of kibble - the 19% fat sounds like a good idea for her. Will she eat others or does that throw her belly into an upset disaster area? I looked at Fromm's other selections and saw the duck a la veg moves up to 20% and a few more calories. But I don't think it would constitute a significant difference. I like how Fromm has the nice, small bags.

Perhaps you might be able to do something small with the treats... like leaving a waxie or a couple mealies in her home overnight.

Either way, I'm glad she's made it through the previous episode and is holding steady.

One thing you could consider doing is to get a can or two of high-calorie food and keep it on hand in case she starts dropping weight. And, of course, some oral syringes. Just let them sit in a cool place and check the expiration date every so often. With luck, you'll never need to use them. But for a couple of bucks, they'll buy you a little reassurance... And will certainly help out if she does drop some grams. I've syringe fed: http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-ad-caninefeline-critical-care-canned.html. I just got a can or two at a time from my vet. There's another good one of a similar type, but I'm not recalling the name. Seems most vets stock either one or the other.
 
Sorry for the late reply but I have been sick.

So about leaving the worms in her house, you mean the live ones? Should I put them in her bug bowl, I have one they are not supposed to be able to crawl out of? In her food bowl with her kibble, or what? I do not want the worms to crawl out of her house, especially the waxies yecchhh.

The past week I have been putting a small handful of kibble from her bowl under her blanket so she can have a snack during the day. She has been holding well at 310g and just today she was 313g.
 
Yippee for 310g and 313g!

Haha... I'm picturing this rogue waxie that breaks our of Luna's cage and goes venturing about the house.

I used to only leave the mealies (yep, live ones) in one of those special dishes that they can't get out of - an Exo Terra Mealworm Feeder. Then I ran into Miss Bella who loves mealies, but can't quite seem to get to get the hang of that thing.

Then I discovered that they didn't leave... oh dear... I'm completely blanking on the name of these things... Um... If you put mealies in a small dish that's white, ceramic, and typically used to make and serve creme brulee, the hedgies have no problems accessing the mealies and the mealies don't climb out. I use the regular size of the (feeling stupid here) small, white, ceramic, creme broulee dishes for their water - they're about 2" in diameter and 1" high. And tiny ones for their mealies/treats - they're about 1" in diameter and 1/2" high. I think the mealies have a difficult time climbing vertically over that distance. I also put a little bit of hedgie-safe food in there for the mealies to snack on, so they have an incentive to stick around.

The word "crucible" keeps coming into my head, but that is definitely not it. So does "cruet," but that's getting even further away... argh!

Anyway, yes, you can leave live mealies in either your official "bug" dish or a "not-crucible" (Please let someone read this thread and type in the right word! This is going to drive me crazy until it's resolved). You can also add some small pieces of food that are good for either hedgie or mealie to the mealie dish.

I sneak fruit & veggies to my hedgies that way. Cut up small pieces of strawberry. Place strawberry in treat dish. Hedgie declines strawberry. Place mealies in treat dish along with strawberry. Mealies eat strawberry. Hedgie eats mealies. Hedgie now has a bit of strawberry. I celebrate minor victory.

Waxies, though, can climb out of the small "not-crucible." I had one roaming around a hedgie cage for a day or so. I thought it was consumed, but then there it was, roaming about between two layers of fleece. I think waxies would need to stay in the official bug dish. Or a taller "not-crucible."
 
Luna was doing so good. She broke 320g! But she must have decided that was too much because she is back to 310g. I've been giving her mealies in the bug dish, she seems to do ok with it since the bugs are missing in the morning and I have not yet found them wandering.

I guess persistence is the key.

The dish is ramekin (I had to look it up.)
 
When I got Luna she was 365g, then she got sick and dropped a lot of weight, her lowest being 280g. She was stuck in the 310 to 315 range for months so we are very happy about this! Hoping we can still get her up to her original weight but I am happy with the 330s.
 
Congrats Miss Luna. I see you checking out your weight. 336!
You're a very beautiful little girl. Be sure to thank your mommy for all her hard work helping you stay happy and healthy.
 
Back
Top