food questions and help needed

[lyndaj]

Hi, I'll try to make a long story short. When I got my first hedgy Frodo three years ago I was able to convert his diet from Nutrience kitten food to Select Diet with Wellness adult cat food added. This worked great for him. When I got my second hedgy Sam, I never managed to get her off of the Nutrience cat food onto anything else other than meal worms of course. Now that both Fro and Sam are gone and I have two brothers who were rescued named Aidan and Samhain (who are approximately four months right now), I wanted to do the best I could for them. I first tried Select Diet in one bowl with a Eukanuba kitten food in the other. Neither of them wanted anything to do with Select Diet. This last week, after reading many posts and other stuff, I decided I would try to vary their diet. Out went the Select Diet. In went Medi-Cal which is Canadian cat food and Chicken Soup for the Kitten Owner's Soul (which is very smelly) :( with the Eukanuba. Ever since I made this change Aidan is eating fine like nothing happened, but Samhain isn't eating much. So I put a bowl of the Eukanuba back in this morning. As he's still a little guy, he's still sleeping. Will check to see how he eats tonight.

I guess I find it strange to be feeding hedgys cat foot rather than hedgy food. I have found a source for Innova and other high grade cat foods. I bought Wellness kitten food the other day which I may introduce slowly. Also, as I live in Canada it is not all that easy to get Select Diet or other good hedgy foods.

Looking forward to your thoughts and comments. My boys appreciate any help, especially Samhain.

[mrgew]

Try some spikes delight you have to order it. But indy protests if its not in his mix, I dont know why but Oda could care less as long as the food dish is full she is a happy hog.

[Nancy]

Royal Canin Slim 38 is available just about anywhere and is a good food. I also just started giving mine First Mate which is available at Petcetera. My gang love it.

You should feed an adult or diet as kitten is too high in fat. Often when a kitten food is in their mix they will eat it exclusively as the high fat content makes it yummier than the others. Medical is a good food just make sure you use the diet or light formula. It also has a formula that helps them loose weight, you don't want it. :)

[mrgew]

I agree with Nancy everyone in my house likes royal canin slim 38.

[paris26]

To be honest with you Lynda, it comes down to personal preference. I know of several people on my hedgehog lists that feed a combination of hedgie and high quality cat foods. On that same list there are people who feed strictly hedgehog foods and strictly cat foods.
Hedgehog nutrition is still a debated topic, so that's where the idea of feeding a variety of foods came into play hoping that what one food didn't supply, others would. I myself prefer a mix of high quality cat foods without any hedgie specific diets.
I would suggest counting out pieces of Eukanuba, Nutrience, Medi-Cal, etc into Samhain's dish and see what he eats. He's probably nibbling on something and that way you can see what he seems to be trying the most of and go from there. Hedgies can be pretty picky so multiple attempts may answer some questions for you.
Good luck and hope my response made some sense.

[LovingHedgieMom]

Hi Lynda;

I've seen your posts on Hedgehog Welfare. I feed my two girl hedgies a mixture of Medi-Cal Preventative and Weight Control formulas and they are doing quite well. My male hedgehog eats Eukanuba Chicken & Rice Adult Cat food right now, with some Medi-Cal Development (kitten) formula mixed in. I'm trying to get him to gain a little bit of weight. I'm hoping to be able to switch him to the same mixture the girls are getting so that I can save a little bit of money on food. But we'll see how that goes.

[Nancy]

If you want to save money on food, buy it in the bigger bags and freeze it. Just make sure when you thaw it out that you spread it out on a towel until it is room temp so it will not create condensation. I used to freeze all of my food. Now I have so many I don't need to. :laugh:

[shirleytx]

I emailed the manufacturer about freezing the food and they said it doesn't freeze. I was hoping to freeze the food mix as I only have 1 hedgie. Any tips for freezing?

[Nancy]

When I freeze I divide the big bag up into about a 1-2 week supply and put it in a ziplock bag. Then I put all the small bags in a larger sealed bag and toss in the freezer.

To thaw, lay it out on a towel until it is room temp and then put into a container. :)

[lyndaj]

Thanks for your help everyone.