# Penelope hates treats ?



## AliciaS (Aug 2, 2012)

So, I've had Penelope for a couple of days now, and she seems to hate the mealworms that I've tried to give her for a treat. At first I thought it was because the worms were freeze dried, so my husband and I stopped at the pet store yesterday and bought her some live ones. She seems completely uninterested in them too. Do I just have an odd hedgehog? Do you guys have any specific treats that your hedgies just love?


----------



## talibali (Aug 15, 2009)

I had the same problem with Prim and I have had her for about a month now. She doesn't take treats from me. just put them in the cage and leave them there over night. She should eat them. the only thing Prim has taken from me was last night i had crickets and she loved them. I would just start putting them in the cage then slowly give them to her when she is active. Don't wake her up until she is completely use to you to give her the treats. Does that make sense?


----------



## AliciaS (Aug 2, 2012)

Yes, it does make sense. I try not to bother her at all during the day, but I've tried several different little things during the evening, and she doesn't seem interested in any of it. I've tried freeze dried mealworms, live mealworms, and tiny pieces of green pepper. She is completely uninterested in any of it. Of course, she is still new, so I'm not stressing any of it yet. She is eating her food that the breeder was giving her. She is also drinking, so I guess I should be a happy camper.


----------



## qjtrinh (Jul 4, 2012)

Maybe she'll grow into liking mealworms. 
Mine eats them right off the palm of my hand and chomps them like a champ lol


----------



## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Yep, try leaving treats in her cage overnight. Just offering them during the day, hedgies will oftentimes not be in the mood for trying them right then and there. When they're left in overnight she'll have a chance to go eat them when she wants to.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

You could try crickets (live ones). Put them in the tub or a plastic bin - 12" deep is a good size for them to not get out, if you use the small or medium size. We couldn't get any of our hedgehogs to eat mealworms, until we tried crickets. It's like it triggered some sort of bug-eating instinct. A few of them went cricket-crazy, and some of the others were more leisurely with their pursuit, but when we tried mealworms again the day after, 2/3 of our hedgies ate them after having always ignored mealworms before. It seemed to only really work for the older ones - the babies (6-7 weeks at the time) couldn't quite figure out what to do with the crickets or how to catch them.

Also, watermelon is one of the more popular fruits. So far it's been almost universally liked, whereas for everything else there will be one or two who like it and the others don't. Just don't feed too much or too often - since watermelon is just water and sugar, it can give them the runs. That's basically true for all fruits, because of the higher sugar content, it just depends on which fruit as to how much/how often.


----------



## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

According to Poggles, mealworms straight from the store don't taste good. They have to be fattened up at home with dry oatmeal and fresh carrots before they are plump and delicious. 

He loves to eat the mealworms that I keep for him at home, but if I offer him worms from the store he won't touch them. So, maybe your hedgehog is just picky too. 

Oh, and Poggles doesn't like bell peppers. There are only a very small number of things that he'll eat, so maybe just keep trying new things until you find something she likes.


----------



## AliciaS (Aug 2, 2012)

Thanks everyone. So far I've tried freeze dried mealworms, live mealworms, green peppers, and freeze dried crickets. Nothing.  I'd love to find something she just can't resist. I guess I need to browse the forums to see what treats other people are feeding.


----------



## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

Poggles can't resist Kraft processed cheese slices. I give him teensy tiny pinches at night when I'm training him to be okay with me petting his back (he hates me touching his back). He usually runs like his tail is on fire when I pet his back and freaks out, but because he wants the cheese so badly, he stays put long enough to get a few pinches of cheese. If he runs away, I'll tempt him out again. I'm trying to associate petting his back with his favourite food. So far, it's working pretty well. 

He also likes Halo "Healthsome" cat treats with real chicken. I can only give him two at a time though.


----------



## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

Thistle is also a very picky eater. I can only get her to eat her kibble and some live mealworms (but not all mealworms, apparently some don't meet up to her standards :roll: ). I've tried leaving bits of many different fruits and veggies in her dish at different times, and all she's done was sample a few bites of cucumber and anoint with carrot. I do worry about health issues if she's not getting enough variety in her diet.


----------



## Skittles (Aug 2, 2012)

Skittles hated crickets for a long time (canned ones, cause real ones terrify me) but now she will eat them, in fact I had a hard time getting her to eat any insect. I find her to be very picky, just be paitient, they often come around or you figure out how to get them to like it! lol


----------



## AliciaS (Aug 2, 2012)

Well, I did realize that she ate a freeze dried cricket last night, so I guess that is progress. I was looking at the cat treats this evening when we were out shopping, but I couldn't decide what would be a good brand, so we didn't get anything. I'm excited to keep trying things to see what she ends up liking. This is my first hedgie ever, so I'm kinda shooting in the dark with everything for her.


----------

