Hedgehog Diet Surprise

[sandrajune]

Hi. First time posting. I purchased my hedgehog from a pet store three months ago.
They told me to feed her Maxx Cat Food and about 12-20 mealworms per week.

Today I visited another pet store that has many exotics.
They informed me that I was very wrong! They told me to feed her:

(pick three daily---one tablespoon each)
tuna
can chicken/turkey
bananas
hard boiled egg
baked potato
radishes
sweet potato
berries
mushrooms

over Brown's ZOO-vital Hedgehog Food

sprinkled with calcium and vitamins

AND 6-10 mealworms per day.

If this is true, I feel just awful! Can anyone tell me if this sounds like an appropriate diet?

Also, is there anything ELSE I'm missing??

Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer me!

[TheFallGuy]

What I've found that works the best for my hedgies is a mixture of cat food. I've talked to a couple of breeders and this is what they use and they have no problem with it.

I use this mixture:

3 cups Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul: Kitten
1 cup Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul: Adult Lite
3 cups Purina Indoor formula
1 cup Pretty Kitty (or special kitty whatever the wal-mart brand is)

This gives me a good protien, fat, fiber ratio. I also supplement the meal with mealworms (or wax worms for Sulis) some fruit or nuts and some oatmeal. My hedgies love it.

From the sounds of the diet they are recommending it will be a soft diet with a lot of moisture which will lead to malodorous poo.

To me that sounds like a lot of food (3 tablespoons of tasty stuff over the hedgehog diet plus 6-12 mealies per day). My hedgies have a hard time doing 2 tablespoons of food with treats and mealies (one large mealie per day). But that could be just my hedgies, one's a baby and the other is over 350 g and fat.

I don't know about the Brown's Zoo-vital, but a lot of 'hedgehog foods' do not meet the nutritional needs of the hedgie.

Plus I don't know about the contents of the Maxx food, or the protien, fat, fiber percentages. Those help in determining if the cat food is adequate.

Best of karma

[bloane]

I don't know much about the Maxx food, but the second diet sounds lousy. :-P
Canned human meats tend to either be salty or have preservatives, and browns' food is pretty low quality. Besides, that is a HUGE amount of food for a single hedgehog in one feeding. I recommend using high quality low fat cat foods, and adding fresh veggies, fruits, and insects on a treat basis.
Becca

[Sarah+Sonic]

I feed felidae, innova cat lite, buffalo blue cat senior, chicken soup cat adult & lite, royal canin MINIs dog, and daily scoop of egg, chicken,turkey,duck,salmon,tuna,albacore,lamb,live r/kidneys, crickets,waxworms, mealworms, with pet botanics supplement

Sarah

[CoquiMom]

I feed a mix of high quality cat foods, Chicken Soup adult and lite, Blue Buffalo Lite, Royal Canin 38. I also give about 15 mealworms and some type of meat baby food.

[sandrajune]

:) Thanks to you all! I have sat here for the past three hours (ok, with a quick break to have dinner) and have read all the archives I could.

I have discovered this:

1. That cat food is the best "base" I can give my girl (I purchased both Chicken Soup and Royal Canin from PetFoodDirect.com two hours ago)

2. That CareFresh is not the best/only bedding I could use.

3. That I have no idea how to litter train a hedgie. (Or that it could even be done)

4. That I want to try vellux and a hedgie bag.

5. That I have A LOT of homework to do in order to do justice to my baby.

Off to read more archives! Peace.

[bloane]

LOL Congrats, and welcome to the obsession. ;)
Becca

[Kerrie]

:) Thanks to you all! I have sat here for the past three hours (ok, with a quick break to have dinner) and have read all the archives I could.

I have discovered this:

1. That cat food is the best "base" I can give my girl (I purchased both Chicken Soup and Royal Canin from PetFoodDirect.com two hours ago)

2. That CareFresh is not the best/only bedding I could use.

3. That I have no idea how to litter train a hedgie. (Or that it could even be done)

4. That I want to try vellux and a hedgie bag.

5. That I have A LOT of homework to do in order to do justice to my baby.

Off to read more archives! Peace.Excellent job!:applause:
Welcome to the forums, and if you have any questions, just ask!:)

[Ginger]

Welcome on Chins and Quills.
To get info about litter train, you can go to this website : http://www.hedgies.com/littertrain.htm by Heather Johnson. GREAT website !

Litter train is not an easy thing. Since I gave my hedgie a bigger home, she poo and pee anywhere but in her litter...

[cayjazz]

Mealworms and waxworms are treats. One or two a day, not 12 or whatever. Some only give one or two a week. You're doing great. Don't freak if your hedgie doesn't eat mealworms or fruits and veggies, it will tell you what he likes to eat. Lots of trial and error. Also, a little tip: If you are going to use vellux or liners or hedge bags, that's separate from where you have your hedgehog poo or pee. I keep a bedding under the wheel, since a good bunch of hedgehog pooping happens there. I'm taking a long way around to say, don't use the same bedding for pooping and sleeping. Put hedgie poop in the area of the cage you want it to use. Some use a litter pan, some just use a corner of the cage or near the wheel. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You're not a failure if your hedgie doesn't litter train. You're doing great. Oh, find what works for you and your needs. Some love vellux, some love aspen. Some like Sterilite (sp) cages, some like wire cages. There is no one set way to raise kids, no one set way to raise a hedgie. You are doing great.