Packaged hedgehog diets?

[selkie]

Does anyone, who as been caring for hedgehogs for a long time, use hedgehog diets in their mix?

I have CFFTCLS mixed with Innova Cat Lite and Spike's Delite. Holly always leaves the hedgehog diet in the bottom of the dish. She eats some of it but clearly prefers the cat foods.

Can I get by adding another cat food and discontinuing the HH food or is she getting something different from the hedgehog food that isn't in the cat foods?

She also gets daily worms and crickets.

[Super Chin]

I wouldn't suggest continuing feeding the commercial hedgehog diet. It really doesn't have anything that cat foods don't, other than fillers and unhealthy ingredients. I would suggest mixing in Wellness, Wysong, Buffalo Blue, Royal Canin Slim 37, or another good cat food, and taking out the Spike's Delight. Make sure to make the change slowly, however, and don't change both food at once. First take out the Spike's Delight (slowly) the slowly add in the new cat food.

As far as the mealworms and crickets:
How many do you give each day? How old/big is Holly? It really isn't a good idea to feed a lot of mealworms or crickets, as hedgehogs can easily become obese. If she is an adult, I would stick to a few mealworms or crickets a couple times a week. You could also try feeding treats other than insects. Some favorites are cookes peas, cooked carrots, unseasoned chicken and turkey, watermelon (no seeds), cottage cheese, yogurt, banana, etc...

Hope this helps! :)

[selkie]

Holly is about 8 months old and I feed her about 4 crickets and maybe 5-6 mealworms probably every other day. She eats about 1 TBSP of dry food daily and I have given her other foods to sample, as we have them available. The only things she seems to really like are baby food sweet potatoes and plain yogurt.
She has turned her nose up at blueberries, strawberries, scrambled eggs, strained chicken and turkey and bananas.
No signs of overweight at this point. She also loves her wheel and uses it nightly.
Thanks for the food advice.

[paris26]

If you use the HH specific diet as a mix, it probably isn't going to hurt her. A lot of breeders and long long time hedgie owners use HH foods in their diets without problems. I personally don't. The brands that are sold by me are complete garbage and I prefer the nutrition and quality ingredients in the cat foods I feed. If your hedgie doesn't seem to be interested in it, why continue to buy it?

[HedgieMomma]

This is why my entire herd no longer has Spike's in their diet, the food is not tasty and the hedgehogs won't eat it. However, they do like Old Mill Kibble hedgehog food. I also use a mix of holistic and natural cat foods as part of their staple diet too.
Good luck,
Michelle