# How do I introduce my picky hedgie to new foods?



## Ariel (Oct 26, 2009)

Sophie is my new baby, she's 7 weeks old, and she's doing very well. I have yet to weigh her, but she has definitely grown since I got her. She is eating, drinking, and pooping normally. She is on Purina One Adult Chicken and Rice cat food. I also have a little thing of mealies for her, which she LOVES! She gets two of those every night. I've offered her so many things, banana, strawberry, plain cooked chicken, plain cooked turkey, cooked carrots, cheerios... She sniffs them, maybe gives a lick and then doesn't eat them! I want to supplement her diet so much and give her treats, but I don't want to give her more mealies simply because they are so fatty. How do I get my picky baby to try new things?!


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## Little Lebowski (Nov 24, 2009)

Little Lebowski is the same way, I've tried strawberries, chicken, turkey etc. but when I took him to my family's dinner on Thanksgiving and he was running around he discovered wet cat food and went crazy for it, so when I got home I tried to give him the same wet cat food in his cage for a treat and he stuck his little nose up at it. Funny! My theory is that he enjoyed it more when he "found" it on his own 

Hope this helps!


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Since it seems like you just got her, I personally wouldn't overwhelm her with so many new treats. Just stick to what she is eating for another few weeks, give her time to settle into her new home, and then you can start giving treats.

Start with one treat(like chicken) and offer that over the course of a week. Sometimes, it takes a few introductions for them to actually realize that it's food.
Then the week after, try a different treat and offer that a few times throughout the week. 

One sly move I use, is that I use tweezers to feed mealies. And when my boy sees those tweezers, his mouth will open and chomp on whatever it's holding, whether it's a mealie or not. :lol: I've gotten him to eat cantaloupe that way. Stab a small bite sized piece, he'll eat it, stab another and offer, and he'll eat. Sneak in a mealie. Then give him another piece of fruit.


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## jopenguin (Jun 29, 2009)

Ender's mealies are in a separate bowl than his food. I know he hits the mealies first, so I put a piece of the new fruit/veggie with the mealies. He scarfs them so fast he doesn't realize he's trying a new food until he eats it. 

If he likes it, he'll eat the stuff I put with his eggs. If not....

Keep trying.


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