Help needed please

[Cara]

Hello everyone, i have had my little girl for 8 months now & everything has been going very well. This last week her general attitude has changed, she does not like to be handled, is very grumpy & does look more heavy around her bottom area, she wont let me look at the underneath, she is hiding it from me. She is sleeping so much more. I have a Microwaveable Heat Pad as i thought she was trying to hibernate. Her appetite has grown. She is sleeping so much that it is worrying me. She normally loves her wheel but she has spent atleast 20 mins on it in this last week.

We had a visitor a little baby hedgie boy of 8 weeks. Could my girl be pregnant? The breeder told my daughter that he would not be sexually mature until he was a year old. This is not the case as my daughters female hedgie has just had surprise babies. Her hedgie showed no symptoms or anything.

She went to the place she got him from & all they said was congratulations, told her to put a cover over the cage & leave them to it.

I love my little girl so much, if she is pregnant i will feel so bad! I thought i was a responsible owner, i have forked out tons of money to make sure she is healthy & now this.

I am willing to do whatever i need to. I am home all the time. I am reading information here there & everywhere. I am weighing her & she weighs 380 grams, i will keep this up weekly or do you recommend more often. The date she was visited was a month ago.

Advice needed please. Hope you dont think bad of me. I didnt learn about breeding as this is not what i ever wanted to do, she is my spiky princess who i adore. Thank you

 

[smhufflepuff]

Oh dear. While there's no way I (or anyone else) can be certain if she is or is not pregnant. It is possible. Some little hedgie boys are able to father babies at surprisingly young ages... like 8 weeks. Most definitely waaay before one year.

I'd check into some of the breeding/baby articles, like: http://www.hedgehogworld.com/content.php?217-Breeding-Stage-2-28-days-gestation-2-weeks-post-birth and http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2219

A couple quick things to consider as you read: hedgehog gestation is ~35days. Though some give birth early and some late. So consider the day that your girl spent with the boy, mark 35 days on your calendar, plus several days before and several after as the window when she's likely to give birth. I'm not a hedgie breeder myself, so others will be better able to guide you as to when, exactly, you should mark the last possible day and say to yourself "okay, safe, she's not pregnant" if she doesn't give birth by then. I've read estimates in the high 40's or 50... but, again, let others guide you on that.

Since you said the boy visited about a month ago, I'd start doing little things like making sure she has a box to nest in and nesting materials just in case... you'll catch those pieces in the articles

Best of luck to you and your spiky princess!!!!

 

[Hammie]

Oh no.....Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Like Ms. Hufflepuff said, research. I'd also weigh her more often than weekly since you'd be expecting hoglets soon. It may do you no good anyway. Post-birth care is VERY specific for hedgehogs to ensure that moms continue to feed babies, so do all the research you possibly can. Good luck and keep us posted! You may consider taking her to a vet to check that nothing is wrong with her to make her be this way. Also, definitely take measures to make sure she isn't trying to hibernate. If you're fearing this, it's safe to take precautions before weather gets chillier. Again, best of luck!!

 

[Cara]

Thank you so much smhufflepuff & Hammie, i really appreciate your help. I am so grateful for this site to be here

I am expecting the worst as the more i have read the more i have learnt, she has what looks like a bruise on her stomach area, just to the side, which has been said is an indicator. I appreciate the links you put. I will weigh her more often, im counting her food intake & getting in plenty of fruit & veg that she likes. I have upped the amount i normally give her. She is not gorging it down thou, bar the morio worms.

I have an appointment for her on tueday with the vet, he is reading up & phoning other vets for me, when i took her on when we went for our first visit he said he was prepared to learn all he could. Especially as more people are getting them as pets now a days. So im lucky in that respect

I am working out the dates so that should be cleaer for me too!

I have got a nesting box & materials to put in it, even if it is a false alarm it wont hurt her to have it in her cage.

She is definately warm enough, i have a few therometers near/around her (she cant get at them) She has heat pads & when that goes cold i take it out & re heat it, if that fails she has a heat emitter, i bought a new one as i will not be able to go into her cage to get the heat mat when she has the babies. I think i have gone a bit mad on all i bought but i dont mind, i have everything for her for all the just incase moments. I have been & bought pipettes aswell & will talk to my vet about what food the babies will need if my spiky princess doesnt care for them.

I still have a little hope she is not pregnant though but that is dwindling fast.

Thank you so much again, i will keep you posted It was just so good to get it all out of my head too & be around (ish) people who understand how precious these spiky creatures are

 

[Cara]

hello smhufflepuff & Hammie, i thought i would update you, my spiky princess is pregnant, we are on the paying attention to anything she does, im logging everything, She does not know i am keeping such good tabs on her though. Oh meant to say before this we had to get her a bigger nesting box the one she had she didnt like, bless her. So now she has a larger one has settled down & isnt stressed. So it could be any day or if she is stubborn a bit longer. I am calmer now thank you both, i have found a really good supportive person who actually does breed them. I have his telephone number for any questions regarding when she goes into labour *phew* Will be back to post when i can to keep you updated Thank you xx

 

[Hammie]

Oh gosh! Congrats and good luck!!!