Yay! I'm getting a hedgie...but??

[hedgieluv01]

Yuppie! I'm getting my first hedgehog. I'm soo excited. One week from tomorrow I'll be getting her. Now, my question is about her diet. I don't have her yet, but I like to be prepared. Right now this is what the current owner are feeding her: Brisky's Hedgehog diet, and also Kitten food. She also eats 5-6 giant mealworms a day. Now, what I'm thinking is shouldn't there be some fruit and veggies? or does the hedgehog diet fill in that part? and isn't that A LOT of mealworms? I haven't seen her yet, but I've been hearing that it's more like a few worms a day are good, what do you guys think?

[Tampaquillowner]

Brisky's is not good food. Hedgies really shouldnt be fed Kitten food, but I feed mine a little bit because they are small and they run quite a bit so I feel like they can run off the excess. You need to do a search, there are many many threads about proper diet for them. Mealworms are also very high in fat and should be given sparingly. Mine get them a couple times a week, along with crickets. I feed beef baby food as a treat and any fruits and veggies they will eat. So far my boys dont do fruits or veggies but they like cheerios.

[paris26]

Take a look at this thread that was started several days ago. It basically is asking the same question.
There are some very good links to look at in the thread!

http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69320

[Ododad]

I don't know anything about Brisky's. I use Chicken Soup For The Cat Lovers Soul Lite. Marco and Odo both like eat, and it seems to have everything that they need in it. I tried many different kinds of food before I settled on this. I also mix in some Spikes Delight and some Zoo Fare. I do this for varity but they mostly chomp down on the CSFTCLSL. The only treat that Odo will eat are mealworms and Cherrios. She gets two mealies every other day. Being an insectivore they don't require fruits or veggies as a regular diet, but some hedgies love them as treats. I have heard that corn cannot be digested so I avoid this. Cheerio's for some reason is a big hit too. Odo gets one every other night and chomps it right on down!
Neither of my pogs like fruit for some reason. Odo did one time eat a bit of cooked noodle but that was only once. I haven't found anything including mealies that Marco likes as a treat, but am trying different things every night. Such as, cooked chicken, meat baby food, vanalla yoguart, Gerber baby meat sticks, bannanas, apple's ect. but so far, no go for Marco!

[Ododad]

Congrats on your hedgie, and can't wait to see photo's when you have them to share!

[hedgieluv01]

Thanks you all.. Yeah I was planning on giveing her Chicken soup for the ca lovers soul, i've heard a lot of people say thats what their hedgies eat. I'll definatly get her pics up as soon as i get her :-)

[Sassy]

I feed my hedgies Chicken soup for the cat lovers soul adult light mixed with 8 in 1 hedgehog food, they also get boiled chicken. We offer fresh fruits and veggies as a treat as well and 2-3 mealworms every other day. So far the only fruit they have liked is apples :(... We offer the chicken and urkey baby food but they havent touched it.

[Schmuzzle's Mom]

I also feed Chicken soup along with the Kitten food that she was on when I got her as a baby, as it as a good brand that was close to her needs. I would say I mix about 4 parts chicken soup and 1 part kitten, and I also put a few drops of olive oil on her kibbles cause they seem so hard and she is still small, and also to keep her fatty acids high as a recomendation by her vet as Alberta is very very dry........especially in winter. For treats she gets mealies, crickets, caterpillars, silk worms or snails........I give a variety each night of one or two each of two kinds of bugs.........her vet recommended her diet consist of 1/3 bugs and so far so good with her although all hogs are different. I have also tried yams which she loves but strangely though she gets the hard chicken soup kibble, she wont touch the canned version at all. I also give her finely chopped sunflower seeds and almonds and even a pecan once in a while chopped fine. Tonight I gave her rose hips or shall i say A ROSE HIP after crunching it up and taking out the hard end and any bits i didnt like the looks of and she loved it! :slurp: I still have to try the cheerio.....keep forgetting with all the other exotic treats mentioned here, and some other types of baby food. :) I also have given her tiny bits of bug suet the type you can get for wild birds. This will help with dry skin too.

To keep your baby food fresher longer.......(once opened you must use it right away). I dab bits of blobs all over a cookie sheet and then freeze the little blobs. This way, I can feed a little each time and not have it go bad. I learned this trick on this forum actually, I also did that with the canned cat food and I get my crickets and mealies live and freeze them in the freezer for the same cost effective sollution. Oh yes and the very first treat Muzzles ever got from us was a tiny bit of lettuce and she really loved it. She has also tried tomatoe and annointed like crazy with it. She annoints alot with her yams too.........a good look around halloween.........orange hog. LOL

Hope this gave you some new ideas to try!! You will find alot of good suggestions on this site. It is filled with really really good people. :applause:

[Ododad]

I also feed Chicken soup along with the Kitten food that she was on when I got her as a baby, as it as a good brand that was close to her needs. I would say I mix about 4 parts chicken soup and 1 part kitten, and I also put a few drops of olive oil on her kibbles cause they seem so hard and she is still small, and also to keep her fatty acids high as a recomendation by her vet as Alberta is very very dry........especially in winter. For treats she gets mealies, crickets, caterpillars, silk worms or snails........I give a variety each night of one or two each of two kinds of bugs.........her vet recommended her diet consist of 1/3 bugs and so far so good with her although all hogs are different. I have also tried yams which she loves but strangely though she gets the hard chicken soup kibble, she wont touch the canned version at all. I also give her finely chopped sunflower seeds and almonds and even a pecan once in a while chopped fine. Tonight I gave her rose hips or shall i say A ROSE HIP after crunching it up and taking out the hard end and any bits i didnt like the looks of and she loved it! :slurp: I still have to try the cheerio.....keep forgetting with all the other exotic treats mentioned here, and some other types of baby food. :) I also have given her tiny bits of bug suet the type you can get for wild birds. This will help with dry skin too.

To keep your baby food fresher longer.......(once opened you must use it right away). I dab bits of blobs all over a cookie sheet and then freeze the little blobs. This way, I can feed a little each time and not have it go bad. I learned this trick on this forum actually, I also did that with the canned cat food and I get my crickets and mealies live and freeze them in the freezer for the same cost effective sollution. Oh yes and the very first treat Muzzles ever got from us was a tiny bit of lettuce and she really loved it. She has also tried tomatoe and annointed like crazy with it. She annoints alot with her yams too.........a good look around halloween.........orange hog. LOL

Hope this gave you some new ideas to try!! You will find alot of good suggestions on this site. It is filled with really really good people. :applause:That's a very good post, and I learned some things off of it. Thank you for that.

[DeniMarie]

Homer loves Wellness - I just got him some last night. Check out the "I found a food Momer likes" post. :)