picky picky picky

[PoopieWheel]

The only food that my hedgie used to eat, he doesn't seem to be eating a lot of it anymore. It could be because it's winter, I don't know.
So anyway, I added some all bran to his food, and he ate every bit of it, but none of his food. I'm sure if I put the whole box in he would have it gone. It surprized me that he liked it so much! Also, he doesn't like eating in front of me.. i guess he's shy. I have 2 questions:

1. Is there anything I can drizzle over his food so he likes it again? Hopefully something I can leave on for the night, since he doesn't like to eat in front of me (unless it's egg or chicken) I was thinking some of the "gravy" from my cats food. It's not great quality stuff, but I wouldn't use a lot.
2. How much all bran is too much? Can i feed it to him every day?

[kaiteedyd]

This is what I've learned from horses:

There is no such thing as too much bran.

I don't know if that applies to hedgehogs but I don't see the bran hurting. Though I wouldn't want your guy to eat only bran, he really needs his staple diet.

I think a good rule of thumb would be to bran once every two weeks to keep things regular.

[teela1342]

Don't know about bran.

But to encourage him to eat the kibble you could wet it a little with either water or watery chicken broth. Then mix a little baby food cereal flakes in. The wetness makes the flakes stick, so the hedgie can't pick it out. Also maybe try heating it for about 10 seconds in the microwave.

Or try mixing the kibble with a little bit of baby food. Again, the sticky factor makes it harder for hedgie to pick and choose.

[yourmine]

Just a thought...if he'll readily eat food that is softened with water, he might be haveing mouth or teeth problems that causes too much pain for him to eat crunchy stuff. I'd try to get a good look in his mouth if this problem persists.

[PrettyHate]

Just a thought...if he'll readily eat food that is softened with water, he might be haveing mouth or teeth problems that causes too much pain for him to eat crunchy stuff. I'd try to get a good look in his mouth if this problem persists.

I agree. Im having the same problem with Murdoc. I took him to the vet and they gassed him and then had a look inside his mouth to make sure there were no broken teeth, bumps or anything else that might cause him discomfort while eating hard kibbles. Of course there is nothing wrong with my boys mouth, and he is just being a horrible bum!

[teela1342]

Just a thought...if he'll readily eat food that is softened with water, he might be haveing mouth or teeth problems that causes too much pain for him to eat crunchy stuff. I'd try to get a good look in his mouth if this problem persists.


That's smart. I wouldn't have thought of that.