# Only eats mealworms.



## Corny (Jul 16, 2018)

Hey,
First post on here so not entirely sure how it works but here's a bit of back story.
This is my first hedgehog I've owned but I've cared for a few domestic previously and a large number of wild ones too. Got him from the local rescue and he's about four and a half years old.
When I got him all he'd eat was dried mealworms like the ones you feed to birds and this is all he's eaten for a long time. I only adopted him a couple weeks ago but I'm struggling to make any progress.
I've tried I/D cat biscuit, Go Cat adult and kitten and still have Harringtons kitten and Royal Canin light to give a shot but he just won't touch any biscuit I feed him.
If I don't put any mealworms in he just chooses not to eat and I tried waiting him out but he just lets himself get really lethargic and stops using his wheel/pooping so I always give in and give him a few mealworms meaning he won't eat any of the biscuit!
I've tried soaking them in case they were too hard but he liked that even less and refused to even eat mealworms that touched the soaked food.
He's survived almost five years on this diet so it wouldn't really bother me but he also has quite a bit of skin issues that my vet believes could benefit from a more nutritional dry feed schedule as well as some prescribed Coatex that I'm yet to get him to try. I'll probably be asking for advice on these issues in the health section later to be honest.
I feel like I'm just going in circles and I suppose what I'm asking is does anyone know a way that might encourage him to try the biscuits at least?
Sorry if this was overly rambley!


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## Yukidama's mama (Apr 4, 2017)

Oh bless him, I'm glad he's found his way to you 

How about trying live mealies? My boy also wouldn't touch cat kibble and the only way I got him to eat it was put the insects (cut up and mashed up) in the food so the mixture actually tasted like insects and weren't just put in them. The cat kibble was soaked in water first using pre boiled water (makes it more smelly), and then mashed, if I just left them unmashed and just soaked pieces he still wouldn't touch them lol. Freeze dried insects aren't so good for hedgies. I'm surprised he hasn't had more issues with constipation if that's the only thing he'll eat ><. If you can try introducing canned or live and try other insects too so he's at least getting more variety that would be great for him. If they like one insect they tend to like most of them . Crickets, superworms and dubia roaches are all good. Wax worms can be hit or miss and are the fattest so need to be fed sparingly.

I'm sure if he likes the dried type he'll love the live or even canned ones. They'll be more juicy and have more flavour. You'll then be able to cut the live ones up and mash together with your kibble. Another owner suggested to me about blending them up, perhaps this would be better so is a liquid and can be spread over the kibble or mixed in with mashed food. You might have to play around with the consistency too. Some prefer it more mushy and some like it more like a thick soup. 

Have you tried any other foods like scrabbled eggs or boiled chicken (both unseasoned). Also baby food goes down well. Whatever he likes, just try adding it to the kibble or mashed mixture.

I agree with the vet. My boy had really dry flaky skin and bald patches when I first got him. When I switched him onto premium quality cat foods is when I noticed a real difference in his skin and quills. I'm not really familiar with those cat brands, are they high quality foods? There is a recommended cat food brand list on here and I also used the volcanoview website to choose and used a mixed of 3-4. You need to offer one at a time and for a while before offering another one. Can take them a few times to decide if they like something. Also never let them go without eating, like you experienced they go into shutdown mode and can get sick very quickly.

Keep us posted, hope he starts eating more foods soon!


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