# Hedgehog bread?



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I've been reading up on birds and bird diets and such for fun (and for ideas on how I can improve things for the birds at the pet store I work at), and I've noticed that a really popular thing for bird diets is birdie bread. There's TONS of recipes all over the place, like these - http://www.birdsnways.com/birds/rbreads.htm

Would some kind of "hedgie bread" be okay to make for hedgehogs? I know obviously safe fruits and veggies would be no problem for them, and to leave out the seeds or bird pellets/vitamins. What about the eggs, would it be best to use only the egg and don't crush the shell and include it? And my other big question was the bread itself...I know it's recommended to get as high a fiber as you can in cat food, and the importance of insects for the shell and chitin, etc. But would fiber in this form be safe for hedgies? Would using flour be better than cornmeal or cornbread mixes? I'm not even sure I could talk Lily into trying some of a muffin or something, but I'd be really interested in trying this if no one sees any issues with the idea!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

That is really interesting  I make a human zucchini bread that may be hedgie friendly if I left the sugar and cinnamon out of it. I'm just not sure about the flour so hopefully someone may know because that does seem like a very interesting idea. I use whole wheat flour, zucchini, eggs and a little oil, I'd have to leave out the sugar, cinnamon and salt though I think.

Hopefully there will be some answers, very interested and will be following closely


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

I've been experimenting with making a soft kibble treat using ALL baby foods: rice cereal, chicken, vegetables (usually sweet potatoes or carrots) and then some banana.
I haven't got the proportions right yet, but you could use the rice baby food as your binder in place of the flour. Or maybe oatmeal, if you grind it up. 

I need to use more rice cereal in my mix to make it less of a blob of stuff. I've been breaking it up in pieces and Nara just loves it anyway.

I use 1 jar of baby chicken, 2 Tablespoons of the vegetable, 1 Tablespoon of banana. I need to use probably at least 1 Cup of the rice cereal. I was going to post when I finally got it right. 
I then put it on a baking sheet and bake it for about 20-30 minutes, flipping it over several times, let it cool and then break up the pieces. It makes a soft kibble. 

In a discussion with a breeder, we were talking about an alternative to cat food, thinking that perhaps it's just too hard for them and it may irritate their soft palate too much and cause tumors in the mouth. I think making a bread-like food would be ideal.

Hang in there and let's keep trying!  

ML


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oooh, that sounds good, MomLady! I could see hardness of kibble being the problem...Considering they eat mostly insects/meat/etc. in the wild, which would be softer things, especially some of the softer-bodied insects. I know hardness of kibble has been discussed as a source of mouth problems before too. And using rice cereal is a good idea! I might follow suit and experiment with this if I don't get any definite answers or opinions on the safety of using flour or cornmeal. I feel like cornmeal would at least be safe, since corn is used in pet foods. As far as it goes healthwise...I'm still trying to decide my opinion on that, after a presentation we were given at work. I don't know who to listen to anymore! :roll: :lol: If nothing else, a bread made with cormeal, baby foods/veggies, would at least make a good treat, I think, and a good new way to present veggies or hide veggies for picky hogs.


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## Rainy (Jul 27, 2011)

You guys really need to make a hedgie cookbook. I would buy that. Meatballs and hedgie bread.  My hogs would love me if you did that.

About tumors in the mouth....that's an interesting idea. I can see hard food causing lacerations but I think for cancerous tumors to grow, there needs to be abnormal cells growing. I don't study medicine at all, just throwing ideas out there. Hmmmm.

Let me know when you publish the cook book!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I think this would be a great idea as long as you keep a very close watch on the proportions of ingredients going in to it. Veggies sound so healthy to us humans, but remember that hedgies are made to eat mainly insects and carrion. High percentages of meat and adding insects would be ideal if this is to be used as a sort of staple. And then as mentioned, make sure the pieces aren't too hard.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

That's a really good idea about adding the insects to help out the balance


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah, insects are a very good point, for some reason I didn't even think of that! Hm...I think I'm going to start scouting the birdie bread recipes as a starting point, and start coming up with a hedgie bread recipe. I'll post with whatever I come up with and let you guys know if/when I try it!  And I probably wouldn't be using this as a staple, I still don't feel secure enough in making sure she has all of the right vitamins/minerals/etc. to exclude her kibble, plus I'm not sure how using this kind of thing for a staple would affect her weight, which I'm trying to raise. But it'd be a fun new thing to offer her, and I was thinking the bread part might help with fiber, since Lily's been a bit constipated a couple times since I've been offering Wellness meat every night rather than veggies. That's the only part I can't figure out though, whether to use cornbread mix or flour or something else...


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## Hissy-Fit-Hazel (Jul 15, 2011)

I have one dog who is allergic to wheat so I never use wheat flour....I use Rice flour for all treats. Might work in Hedgie treats too I suppose. Potato flour is also avail in most groceries.


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