# Diet for a pregnant hedgehog?



## Ebony70 (Sep 22, 2013)

Hello all! I'm new here and am doing research for my college assignment, which is to plan a feeding plan for an exotic mammal with certain nutritional needs. As you've probably guessed, I have chosen a pregnant African Pygmy Hedgehog :smile: . Now, I know the basics of their care - occasional tinned meat, mealworms, a staple of dry cat food - but can anyone give me some more detail and rough weights etc. of things they give their hogs please? It may seem a bit odd picking an animal I don't know the exact needs of but as I want to work with exotic small animals I thought hedgies would be a good place to start :3 . 
I am not planning on ever breeding hedgehogs by the way, nor do I even own a hedgehog at this point in time!

Thanks x


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## sonichedghehogbreyer (Jul 23, 2013)

I heard that they can eat cottage cheese.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

You might find the raw diet sticky, and current forum member experimenting with raw diets educational reading.

I am not a breeder, but I think that mums need a higher fat content to produce sufficient milk. At least, I've seen some archival threads about adding in more kitten-food (typically smaller kibble & higher fat) for pregnant hedgehogs.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Most breeders go with the same cat food mix they feed the rest of their herd, as far as I know. They will usually add in a kitten food though, to give mom more fat/calories for growing babies & producing milk. One of the popular ones is Royal Canin Babycat (because it's small enough to easily wean babies onto). Other supplements might be usual treats (again, as far as I know) like mealworms, cooked meat, fruit, veggies, etc. Breeders sometimes offer some cottage cheese or crush up Tums to add to mom's food in order to give her a bit more calcium - but I think only if she show signs of needing it (like shaking a little). 

As far as usual hedgehog diet (which would be the main part of a mama's diet), the current recommended thing is to feed a mix of 2-4 (or more, if the owner wants to - I know some breeders will have up to 5-6 foods in their mix) high quality cat foods. Examples include Natural Balance, Blue Buffalo, Solid Gold, Innova, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, etc. 

Most hedgehogs eat anywhere from 2-5 tablespoons of food. From what I've read, pregnant females tend to eat quite a bit, what with growing babies and such. One of the breeders would have better estimates of amounts though. 

If you check out some of the other stickies at the top of this forum section, the Beginner's Guide for nutrition has info on ingredients & nutritional analysis percentages to shoot for if you need that kind of info. It'd be the same for pregnant hedgies, other than the fat needing to be a bit higher. There's also a list of safe fruits/veggies that hedgehogs can have in the stickies at the top. 

Disclaimer - I'm not a breeder! Just been on the forums for quite a while.  We only have a few breeders, so figured I'd post with what I know. If any of our breeders do contradict something I've said, definitely listen to them over me.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

If you are asking what pregnant hedgies are fed the answer is short, if you are asking what mothers are fed when they give birth the answer gets longer  

Pregnant girls get a higher fat food mixed into their food mix. For example, I add a kitten food. Another option is to just find a regular cat food that is higher in fat, like Wellness CORE. That food is just free fed. The general recommendation is to do this for all hedgies, but it's especially important for preggo girls. 
My hedgies get 2 tbs a night of fresh food, whatever is left the next night is tossed. When girls are pregnant it's important to make sure their food is checked and added to more often. It's not good to leave out food for a super long time (it gets stale) so instead it's good to check and add some more food a few times a day. They should just have as much fresh food available as they want, whenever they want. 

Should I go into feeding moms once they give birth?

I am not a breeder, but I have first hand experience with this, and received all this valuable information from other breeders. I am also collecting this info for my first (planned) breeding this coming spring.


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## Mysteria (Dec 9, 2013)

Thank you guys I'm a newbie got 4 one is pregnant an I'm worried ah isn't active eats a lil poops a lil but stays in hideout.


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