# Own Mix



## dark_slasher91 (Nov 7, 2012)

I was thinking of weaning my hedgehogs from Pretty Pets Hedgehog food. I am thinking of mixing Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck, Innova Senior Cat dry food, and Blue Buffalo Longevity for Mature Cats. I started mixing 10% Natural Balance and 90% Pretty Hedgehog food. The mix was a hit. However, I started noticing that they are only eating the Natural Balance and not the crappy hedgehog food. Is that okay? There are some green poop but I don't know if that's due to stress or food change. Also I tried to stop the Natural Balance because of the said green poops but they won't eat the Pretty Pets food anymore. 

I haven't introduced the other two brands because I wanna make sure they are not going to have any reactions to them first. Any thoughts about the green poop? Its not constant. Also any thoughts why they are not eating the Pretty Pets food anymore? Lastly, is that an okay mix for hedgehogs?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I definitely, definitely encourage weaning off Pretty Pets. It is not a good food for hedgehogs at all, so a mix of cat food would be much better for your babies. That's also likely why they're so eager to jump on the Natural Balance. A lot of hedgehogs will do a straight change themselves when going from a hedgehog food to a good quality cat food - if they do it on their own, that's perfectly fine. I'd go ahead and step up the introduction of Natural Balance. You may continue to see green poops for a couple days, but it's not going to damage them, and they'll be fine. If you want to help their systems out with the change, you can get BeneBac for small animals or acidophilus (found in pharmacy section of a grocery store, with the vitamins) to sprinkle on their food. The rest of your planned cat food mix looks fantastic, and I bet they'll love it!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Most hedgehogs will change very quickly from a crappy food to a good one, once they get a taste of it, so if he's ignoring the hedgehog food, you can let him go at his chosen pace and take it out completely. Some probiotic (such as benebac or acidophilus, like Lilysmommy mentioned already) added to the food every day for a week or two will help with the poop issue while his system adjusts to the new food.


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## dark_slasher91 (Nov 7, 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply. I know Pretty Pets sucks and that's why I am going to throw it all away. I am going to try Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo 50:50 ratio today and see how they like it. The poops are starting to get brown and formed again and tons of the Pretty Pets food are left on both bowls. Hope they both like the Blue Buffalo and won't have a bad reaction.


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## dark_slasher91 (Nov 7, 2012)

Okay so far my hedgehogs liked the new mix. However I noticed more fishy smelling food. I figured its because of the Blue Buffalo because it's mainly fish and fish meal. I am going to do some trials and see what happens. Once I determine it is really the Blue Buffalo cat food that causes fishy smelling poop, I am planning on switching to Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. This one is mainly poultry and poultry meals. Pretty much the same as Innova and Natural Balance. Will post more progress report as I get more. 

PS. Both are fatter than ever and more active in the wheels as evidenced by their odometers.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Glad to hear they're enjoying the mix! Yeah, fish food does sometimes lead to stinky poops too. If you're looking for a food that has a meat other than poultry (some people like to get different meat sources in their mix, but that's mostly personal preference), Solid Gold has lamb for the main meat, which I really like.


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## dark_slasher91 (Nov 7, 2012)

Thanks for the heads up Lilysmommy. Yeah I was thinking that there might be too much poultry and not enough variety in my mix.


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## Hogzilla (Nov 15, 2012)

You can always toss the Pretty Pets by a lake or in a park somewhere, or in your yard, for the wildlife to eat. Not great quality, but a treat that would be nice in the colder weather as it is getting harder to find food. I just don't like the thought of it going to waste


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## dark_slasher91 (Nov 7, 2012)

LOL Hogzilla that's exactly what I did. I was thinking it started to get cold in Chicago (but no snow yet, which is odd, usually have some fall by thanksgiving) and there are tons of critters in the city looking for food. I hate rodents but doesn't really like to kill them by starvation. Plus they're a good food source for other predators. So I sow the Crappy Food to my local park and said good riddance.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Ducks adore Pretty Pets. 

I also have Wellness for small dogs mixed into my hog's food. No fish, and the pieces are pretty small, but not too small where they're not interested.


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## dark_slasher91 (Nov 7, 2012)

Just bought Solid Gold cat food today. We'll see how they react to it.


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