How small is too small?

[4hedgies]

I have a 12 week old baby that has had me puzzled ever since he was 2 weeks old. He has a sister that began to leave him in the dust as far as growth at that time. I have had several litters over the years and I knew he was very small for his age. His sister is over 300 grams and very normal in size for 12 weeks. This little guy hovers around 140 grams. The parents of this litter were purchased from a highly respected breeder. I also have read everything I can get my hands on about breeding and have followed the rules religiously. I have had him to the vet two times. His heart is fine. He eats well, runs around the cage and in his wheel. He shows no signs of being weaker than other hedgehogs. He does however have these little nodules at the first joint on his front legs. These bumps are on the top of his front legs. He appears to be perfectly formed in every other way. He just doesn\'t grow. Is there such a thing as dwarfism in hedgehogs? I am convinced if ever a hedgehog was a dwarf, this one is. My vet is wonderful about working with me but I am his only client who sees him with hedgehogs. Sometimes, I know more than he does. That is why I am searching elsewhere for info. We have named this little guy Peter Pan because he may never grow up. Has anyone ever had a tiny, tiny hedgehog?

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 01:49

[dzmeadows]

I have personally owned a dwarf hedgehog, so yes, they definately do exist. Her legs were shorter than a typical hedgehog, and her face never grew out of the baby short and wide appearance. I can\'t remember what her adult weight was, but it was somewhere around 175-200.
She was also the smallest in her litter, she had two siblings that were completely normal, and by 3 weeks or so of age, the size difference was noticeable.
She did pretty well, but suffered from arthritis issues from a young age. I believe she was about 8 months old when she died.
On the other hand, I have also had baby hedgehogs that just failed to thrive whlie they were with the moms.... they were smaller than their siblings, but otherwise completely normal. These usually started growing once they were more dependant on solid foods, and by the time they were 4 months old, they had caught up with their larger siblings in size.
Any chance you can post a picture of him, preferably full body with face visible? I am curious of whether he is showing the same characteristics that my little girl did.
Becca

[Stasi]

Yes! Both Becca and I have had dwarfs. They had a common ancestor that we think was related to some dwarfs. However, that was found after the fact. We didn\'t breed the dwarfs, but did compare the two and found the similarities a little disconcerting. Both of them had noses that were a little...well, lopsided is the term that comes to mind. Also their noses tended to have that short, wide appearance babies have. Their legs were thick and short, with a very wide span at the shoulders, and very narrow at the hip area -- not a malnourished look, just more trim.
Both of them had pretty abbreviated life spans, seemingly suffering from arthritis.

[4hedgies]

Here are pictures. [img size=320]http://www.hedgehogworld.com/components/com_joomlaboard/uploaded/images/DSCA5049.JPG[/img]

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 05:43

See how the joint appears to be swollen? Both front legs are that way.

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 05:49

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 05:50

[4hedgies]

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 05:46

[4hedgies]

[img size=320]http://www.hedgehogworld.com/components/com_joomlaboard/uploaded/images/2dcf7f68424598ed06dae710befc921a.JPG[/img]

[4hedgies]

[img size=320]http://www.hedgehogworld.com/components/com_joomlaboard/uploaded/images/DSCA5055.JPG[/img]

This is as close up a picture as I could get of his face. I hope these pictures are what you were looking for to help with trying to figure out this little guy\'s problem.

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 05:52

[4hedgies]

[img size=320]http://www.hedgehogworld.com/components/com_joomlaboard/uploaded/images/DSCA5052.JPG[/img]
This picture shows the joint pretty well.

[Stasi]

Great job with the pictures! I see what you mean about the joints - and it does look odd. Otherwise, he does seem to have a bit of the \'dwarf look\' to him - but his nose appears longer than I remember in the one I had. Maybe Becca or another breeder will have more input into what his issue is looking at him.
You may have answered this, (forgive me if you did - too much rattling around in my head these days) Does he seem to be in any discomfort? Have you taken him to the vet?

[4hedgies]

Yes, I have had him to the vet twice! My vet however, doesn\'t have extensive knowledge on hedgehogs. He is a great guy and totally willing to learn. There are however, times that I feel I know more than he does about hedgehogs. That is why I decided to look in other forums for answers.

Peter does not appear to be in pain. The vet did say arthiritis was very likely to set in but for now he seems fine! When he is older and this happens, I guess we treat the pain then. My vet also said he could run some tests that would help to determine the exact problem but he didn\'t feel that the expense would be worth it because if he is a dwarf there isn\'t really anything you could do treatment wise.

The vet said Peter\'s heart sound\'s fine so we have that going for us. Did the dwarfs you guys had have good hearts? I truly appreciate any input. Whatever his problems, he will get the best of care here. [img size=320]http://www.hedgehogworld.com/components/com_joomlaboard/uploaded/images/DSCA5063.JPG[/img]

Post edited by: 4hedgies, at: 2006/06/03 18:00