# Adding fiber to hedgie's diet: baby cereal or pumpkin?



## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

For the past few days I've been observing Pete while she is pooping (I know, it's a lovely time to observe your hedgehog) and I decided she needs more fiber in her diet. She seems to strain a lot and all the poops come out in small balls instead of long logs... Sorry about the details. 

I am wondering if it would be more efficient to sprinkle oatmeal baby cereal on her food or to give her pumpkin baby food. When I look at baby cereal labels I find they don't have that much fiber and therefore would be useless considering the amount a hedgie would eat, but I've seen people here using it. Any inputs are greatly appreciated! 

Thanks


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

I started grinding up grapenuts cereal and adding it to my boys food for fiber, I've been looking everywhere for pumpkin as I heard it firms up stool (Whiskey was a very messy boy for a while)...A while ago I used pumpkin for my dog who was straining when he went to the bathroom--vet actually suggested getting him more fiber, like giving him Metamucil. But I found the pumpkin worked great. 

I can't find canned pumpkin anywhere now, is pumpkin babyfood essentially the same thing?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I noticed the same thing when I bought baby cereal - if there's so little fibre in a teaspoon of watever, how much can there possible be in a pinch??!! Not to mention, more than once, Snarf refused to touch his food when I used it. :roll: 

Pumpkin is good for both stool softening and firming - I don't know if it could make things worse??

I was getting kinda stressed about it cuz Snarf won't eat kibble higher in fibre - just by chance, he's refused to eat Green P&D & CSFCS - both better sources of fibre.

Someone here suggested that the crunchiness of live mealies helps a lot as it's all fibre, really. Does Pete eat mealies?

We see the vet Saturday and it's on my list of questions...my extensive rather list  ......I will ask then and let you know if I have anything worthwhile to report.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Yes, baby food would be fine, just read the ingredients, it should be only pumpkin or maybe pumpkin and water. Squash would work too.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

HedgehogsAnonymous said:


> I started grinding up grapenuts cereal and adding it to my boys food for fiber, I've been looking everywhere for pumpkin as I heard it firms up stool (Whiskey was a very messy boy for a while)...A while ago I used pumpkin for my dog who was straining when he went to the bathroom--vet actually suggested getting him more fiber, like giving him Metamucil. But I found the pumpkin worked great.
> 
> I can't find canned pumpkin anywhere now, is pumpkin babyfood essentially the same thing?


Yes, babyfood should work fine. The pumpkin in my grocery store is with the pie fillings but I have also seen it with canned fruit. Be careful, tho' Pumpkin Pie Filling & Pumpkin cans look exactly the same but are NOT the same. The benefit to a can of it is you can freeze it in ice cube trays and just defrost what you need - you get more bang for your buck!

Do you want me to send you one? I will if you want.


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> Yes, baby food would be fine, just read the ingredients, it should be only pumpkin or maybe pumpkin and water. Squash would work too.


Ooh great, I'm gonna see if I can find some today.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

@MissC: Pete is too chubby and we've been trying to get her to lose weight. She only gets two mealies every other day. 

I think I'm going to put some oats in the food processor and see if she will eat her food with it. If not I'll try the pumpkin.

Thanks!


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## Kenzi (Aug 29, 2010)

Are you looking for a temporary fix? like tummy issues.. or is this a prolonged diet supplement you are looking for?

What does Pete's usual diet consist of?


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Kenzi said:


> Are you looking for a temporary fix? like tummy issues.. or is this a prolonged diet supplement you are looking for?
> 
> What does Pete's usual diet consist of?


This will be a long term measure.

Her diet is a mix of Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck and Solid Gold Katz-n-Floken. Plus treats: mealies, crickets, a few baby food flavors she likes, Wellness Healthy Indulgence pouches, eggs and chicken.


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## Kenzi (Aug 29, 2010)

I'm not an expert on food, but I think maybe adding a cat food that is higher in fiber would be a better route than supplementing with pumpkin or baby food long term.. 

To me, it would be easier to get advice about a more fibrous cat food, and integrate that, then to scoop out pumpkin and keep it on hand and in adequate condition. (I'd assume it would have to be refrigerated/frozen once opened, and then maybe heated/thawed a bit back to room temp? Plus, I've only seen pumpkin come in large cans, and I'm not sure how long it's considered 'good' after opening.) 

Maybe giving Pete some flax oil on her diet will help with digestion/passing of waste.. I'm not sure about this, but I do notice my Mila's poo is a little softer on her flax days (I add it to her food 3x a week for dry skin).

Good luck!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

@Kenzi: Pete gets a supplement of palm oil 4 times a week, so I won't be adding flaxseed to her diet. But thanks for the suggestion. 

I'll get baby food, the cans are small and will be easy to defrost a little bit.  We just weaned her off Wellness and introduced Solid Gold so adding a new food is not an option at the moment as I would like to wait a few weeks before doing so.


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

someone correct me if i'm wrong, but multi-grain cereal should be good for a hog. as for my boys, we often make patties (chicken breast, a bit of yolk, brown rice sometimes substituted by freshly cooked oats, and sometimes grated carrot). but we haven't had the issue with loose stool, so i can't speak to that.


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

fracturedcircle said:


> someone correct me if i'm wrong, but multi-grain cereal should be good for a hog. as for my boys, we often make patties (chicken breast, a bit of yolk, brown rice sometimes substituted by freshly cooked oats, and sometimes grated carrot). but we haven't had the issue with loose stool, so i can't speak to that.


How do you cook these patties? Sounds interesting 

Hedgies can have rice?


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

fracturedcircle said:


> someone correct me if i'm wrong, but multi-grain cereal should be good for a hog. as for my boys, we often make patties (chicken breast, a bit of yolk, brown rice sometimes substituted by freshly cooked oats, and sometimes grated carrot). but we haven't had the issue with loose stool, so i can't speak to that.


Thank you for your post, I might try a healthy high fiber pattie this week.


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## Kenzi (Aug 29, 2010)

Has pete always had this formed poo? or was it recent change from normal to more formed? 
If it is a recent change, does it coincide with the diet switch? 

Without knowing the answer to my above questions, I'll just state the following anyways..

 I agree, introducing another diet at this point probably isn't a good idea. But if SG is causing the formed poo, then maybe it needs to be addressed. Or if it was always like this, then there might be another underlying health issue. Or it could be that the rich qualities of Wellness helped regulate her system...


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

HedgehogsAnonymous said:


> fracturedcircle said:
> 
> 
> > someone correct me if i'm wrong, but multi-grain cereal should be good for a hog. as for my boys, we often make patties (chicken breast, a bit of yolk, brown rice sometimes substituted by freshly cooked oats, and sometimes grated carrot). but we haven't had the issue with loose stool, so i can't speak to that.
> ...


you mix everything together (but do cook oats beforehand), form smallish balls, and cook them in a steamer for 8-10 mins. i pinch off small pieces from the patties when i feed them to my boys, so don't worry about the size. 

yes, they can have rice. mine get brown rice, but white rice is fine.


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

fracturedcircle said:


> HedgehogsAnonymous said:
> 
> 
> > fracturedcircle said:
> ...


Thats awesome


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

fracturedcircle said:


> you mix everything together (but do cook oats beforehand), form smallish balls, and cook them in a steamer for 8-10 mins. i pinch off small pieces from the patties when i feed them to my boys, so don't worry about the size.
> 
> yes, they can have rice. mine get brown rice, but white rice is fine.


You are a MUCH better hedgie-mama than I am  I haven't actually tried the full-meal-deal approach for Snarf. Of course, I am trying to remember the # 1 rule with him: The more energy/time/money required to implement something, the more likely he is to say 'um...nice try...but no thanks.'


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Kenzi said:


> Has pete always had this formed poo? or was it recent change from normal to more formed?
> If it is a recent change, does it coincide with the diet switch?
> 
> Without knowing the answer to my above questions, I'll just state the following anyways..
> ...


It's not the Solid Gold; her poop has been firm like this since we got her.


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

sorry people, i have a flu and i misread stuff. :shock: if you want to loosen the poop, i suggest this veggie mix called Organic Foursome as a topper. it worked wonders for Sweetie. marvelous poop.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Where do you get Organic Foursome? I looked up and I think Trader Joe's has it but it seems like there are different brands.


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> Where do you get Organic Foursome? I looked up and I think Trader Joe's has it but it seems like there are different brands.


yup, Trader Joe's.  put a little bit of the mix into a cup, add a little water, and microwave to heat it up. definitely helped Sweetie....


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Thank you!


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

MissC said:


> fracturedcircle said:
> 
> 
> > you mix everything together (but do cook oats beforehand), form smallish balls, and cook them in a steamer for 8-10 mins. i pinch off small pieces from the patties when i feed them to my boys, so don't worry about the size.
> ...


thank you.  it took a long time to develop a good set of treats for Sweetie. remember: if the hogs rejects something one day, try it another day. cook it, combine with something else, etc. be inventive. Lance doesn't want *any* treats except for live crickets and waxworms, but he stunned everyone when he started devouring sugar snap peas.

the thing about those patties: you can smear small pieces w/babyfood (Sweetie actually hates all kinds of babyfood, but Harvey likes it) or you can add broth to make a stew.  just keep in mind that store-variety chicken stock often has salt, so it's better to use one you made yourself.

my hogs have great, very stable weights, in case you're wondering.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Snarf-Shmarf...I'm making some for myself...they sound pretty good...mmmm....stew....


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

MissC said:


> Snarf-Shmarf...I'm making some for myself...they sound pretty good...mmmm....stew....


 :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

I finally found some pumpkin puree last night and within seconds of putting some in each cage, I had 3 pumpkin colored hedgehogs haha


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