# Losing weight



## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Posting this on the forum because I thought there might be people with the same "problem".
I want my hedgehog to lose some weight. He isn't severely overweight, he has no problems balling up but he has become too "fluffy" for my liking, there's fat visible around the front legs/belly area. He is a big hog and both his parents were big as well but I'd like to see him lose a little.
It is really hard to find proper cat food here, most of it is either really high in fat or full of crap. He's weaned on kitten food but when I got him at 5 weeks old (I thought he was almost 7 weeks old until I found out his real date of birth later), I transitioned him to adult food (Royal Canin Fit 32), which has 15% fat. When he got a bit older I mixed it with IAMS Adult Light (11% fat), the lowest I could find. I went on a holiday for a few weeks around the age he slowed down growing in length, but he didn't in width so when I came home he'd gain some more. I've recently found another low fat food (10% fat) which has been added to the mix (I've been slowly giving less and less RC Fit 32 for a while so it's out of his mix now). 
I now weigh him every week and he's around 550 grams and 8 months old. My main goal for the past few weeks/months has been to at least try to get him to stay at the same weight while I was searching for low fat cat foods and it seems he didn't gain much (or even any) weight in the last month or so.

About his activity: he is a very active runner, runs all night long if given the chance. Loves to explore my room equally as much as sleeping on my lap.
Is there a way to give him more exercise? I've tried swimming once since I know they use it for rescued wild hedgehogs here, but I wanted to see if he actually liked it or not. He doesn't mind baths and didn't seem to mind the water that much when I let him swim (he didn't try to escape - pushed away my hand and even though he could stand, he decided to swim most of the time).

The biggest problem is: he is a very picky eater. I've done some research and found some tips about veggies and blended mixes with veggies to fill him up with something that's less in fat. Sounds great, but he won't eat it. He eats his kibble and dried meal worms (won't touch living insects) and that's it. I've offered him different things since I got him, from egg to veggies and fruits but he either ignores them totally or just nibbles on it a little bit (he doesn't even anoint with it). I've spend a few hours in the kitchen today making a mix with (low fat) kibble, chicken, egg, veggies and fruits but he barely looked at it. I'm going to warm it up a little and leave it in his cage overnight to see if he tries it, but so far he's never eaten anything else so I really hope this is going to work. If not, I need to find another way!
I've always heard cutting down the kibble is the last thing you should try. His problem isn't overeating; if I would fill his bowl with more than he usually eats, leftovers will be there in the morning. So... what's the best thing to do? Anyone got tips?


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

How much kibble do you feed him? It's better to try options with reducing the fat and increasing exercise, but the amount of kibble should also be in a normal adult range - and if what he's getting is above that, or at the high end of that range, you can lower it a little. Giving him a set amount that's appropriate isn't necessarily the same as "restricting".


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I actually measure it in his bowl, but he eats around 1-1.5 tablespoon. I can start counting his kibble, that might be a good idea.  What's the average number/amount?


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

You're good, counting kibble isn't really necessary. 1-1.5 tablespoons is perfect for an adult, unless they're super skinny and need extra, which isn't the case here. You wouldn't want to go less than 1 tablespoon, but you can measure that much and not more, see if that makes a difference. My best suggestion otherwise would be to try to get him to eat some vegetables. Offer them earlier than when he normally starts eating his kibble; it can fill him up a little more so he eats a little less of the kibble, without it depriving him of anything. Since he's already a runner, there's not really anything else for exercise; the usual suggestions are best for hedgies that don't like the wheel very much, and the wheel is much better.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Thanks  I've been trying ever since I got him to feed him veggies but he's just not interested. I never gave up though, so I keep offering them but so far he either ignores them totally (even if I leave them in his cage overnight) or takes one small nibble and just leaves it (he has done that with broccoli and strawberry). Same goes for fruit. I keep trying new things (and old to see if he has changed his mind). That's why I made the mix, but it turns out he doesn't like that either. I still have my hopes though that he will eat it if I leave it in his cage.
So far he's only interested in things he's not supposed to eat (like my cookies). :lol:


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

My girl Delilah is obsessed with snack foods. She'll go after chip/cracker crumbs and she once poked her head out of her carry-bag when she was in the car with us, grabbed a fry from what we were eating, and pulled it into the bag with her before we could do anything. XD

Sometimes it's just genetic and there's not very much you can do, but keep trying! It's a good thing at least that he uses his wheel as much as he does.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Oh yes he loves his wheel, he runs marathons a night! He is hilarious as well when he sees something I'm eating and he likes the smell, he keeps trying to get close to it no matter what :lol: I hope the new 10% fat kibble will help as well (or at least keeps him from becoming fatter)


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

i told you he was getting fluffy


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

jerseymike1126 said:


> i told you he was getting fluffy


:lol: I think everyone could see that Mike, he just kept getting bigger :lol:

Problem was finding low fat food. He still refuses to eat the 10% food, unfortunately.  On the bright side, after months of trying yesterday he suddenly decided he likes living crickets so he finally eats them now.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

It has been almost 2 months since I opened this thread but I thought I could give a little update. I threw away the 10% fat cat food I mentioned in my last post; he just didn't want to eat it, refused it even if I left it in his bowl (he rather starved himself). So now I'm using RC Light which has 10% fat (and of course the IAMS Adult Light, 11%), and he loved it right away.
When I started adding the RC Light he was somewhere between 555-560 grams and it goes really slow but he's losing weight. Yesterday he weighed 521 grams and he has been in the 520's for at least 3 weeks now. He still eats around 1.5 tablespoon per night, finally enjoys living insects but still doesn't want anything to do with veggies or fruit. I feed him crickets as treats and sometimes a meal worm (not too often since they're high in fat) or a beetle. I'm trying to get my hands on some dubia roaches but so far it seems they're hard to come by here.
He still runs his nightly marathons, so that's a good thing.

I compared some older pics to newer ones (the new ones are from the 10th of December, so he has lost a little more weight since) and I think the difference is pretty clear already.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

He definitely looks thinner!  Great job to both of you!


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

He does, there's still a little more to go but not much I think.


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