# Venison?



## nanabmcd (Jan 26, 2015)

Is venison too fatty (like beef) for a hedgehog staple, or is it ok? Has anyone here had success with using venison dog food? How about quail?
Thanks!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm pretty sure one of the raw diet people have offered raw venison to their hedgehogs, but I'm not sure about a venison-based kibble. They're not very common, so I'm not sure many of people would've used one. I think it would be okay to offer in a mix, just check the fat content of the food. If it's a higher fat food, mix it with a lower fat one to balance it out. Babies usually do okay with higher fat, but if they're not a runner when they get older, they usually end up needing a lower fat food. Check the protein content & other ingredients too, as usual.

Same thing with quail - I know TongueFlicker has mentioned feeding quail chicks to his hedgehogs, but I'm not sure other than that.


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## FightinFox (Sep 29, 2014)

Usually venison is a very lean meat (raw), but some meat lockers mix it with ground beef to make it more palatable. It just depends on where you get it from. In kibble form I would assume it all depends on what other ingredients the company mixes it with, so you would want to check the ingredients list and nutrient analysis to make sure it's not too high or low in protein/fat/fiber.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I had to look it up but it just seems to be meat of a deer?

If so, I feed it (raw). I buy these sausage shaped raw meat things for dogs or cats and they have all kinds from deer to rabbit and chicken. Mine contain muscle meat, ground bones and organ meat.


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## Royal Rain 42 (Dec 18, 2014)

When I first rescued my hedgehog he was very under weight )( was his looks. As hunters we have Venison often and I got him at the right time of year. I would good some of the trimmings off the sides of our steaks, and even keep some of the left overs from butchering our own. I would cook those up for him to give him a bit more of a boost. It helped him place on weight again at a good rate along with his insects. But in the form of kibble, I have found and heard that most of the "Venison" in some foods is really just a cup of that good stuff, then the rest is beef to mix. Even most butchers will mix venison with pork at or even pork sausage to add flavor. So I would look closely at the brand, ingredients see if you can even find reviews from people who feed it to their dogs or cats.


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