# Ferret Food



## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

I just bought my hedgehog today. He was bought from the pet store that I worked at, and all hedgehogs are put on Hagen's living world extrusion ferret food. http://www.petsplus.com.au/pet-shop.asp?id=2025 I bought a small bag of this for him, until I knew what food I should get him.

Is he okay on this, or should I switch him over?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Ferret food is to high in protien for hedgehogs. High protien levels can cause problems with a hedgies kidneys and should be no higher than 30% while that ferret food has 38% protien. Most people here feed high quality, corn free cat food with no more than 30% protien, and no more than 15% fat. Look for foods that have either meat or meat meal as the first ingredients, no corn and no by-products.


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## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

nikki said:


> Ferret food is to high in protien for hedgehogs. High protien levels can cause problems with a hedgies kidneys and should be no higher than 30% while that ferret food has 38% protien. Most people here feed high quality, corn free cat food with no more than 30% protien, and no more than 15% fat. Look for foods that have either meat or meat meal as the first ingredients, no corn and no by-products.


Now should I switch him on the food right away- or ween him off the ferret food? I know with dogs you should be mixing new food with old food and slowly raise the ratio higher from old to new. Is that the same with hedgies, or should I just straight switch him?


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

kaZombie said:


> nikki said:
> 
> 
> > Ferret food is to high in protien for hedgehogs. High protien levels can cause problems with a hedgies kidneys and should be no higher than 30% while that ferret food has 38% protien. Most people here feed high quality, corn free cat food with no more than 30% protien, and no more than 15% fat. Look for foods that have either meat or meat meal as the first ingredients, no corn and no by-products.
> ...


Switch it slow.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Thanks Larry, I really should have mentioned that before...oops...


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## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

So I went out and bought Wellnesses indoor health. Luckily I found a nifty pet store that all it's cat food has no by-products or corn. Neat-o. And they said that if my hedgie doesn't like it I can come back and get an exchange.

Just curious to if any of you have had any experiences with this brand?

Also- the girl at the store was curious as to why cat food and not dog food? She also asked if the taurine in food mattered at all.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2011)

kaZombie said:


> So I went out and bought Wellnesses indoor health. Luckily I found a nifty pet store that all it's cat food has no by-products or corn. Neat-o. And they said that if my hedgie doesn't like it I can come back and get an exchange.
> 
> Just curious to if any of you have had any experiences with this brand?
> 
> Also- the girl at the store was curious as to why cat food and not dog food? She also asked if the taurine in food mattered at all.


It varies with some hedgehogs it causes bloody stool and runny stool and others are fine with it some just its too rich for a common one that hedgies love if blue buffalo.


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## leaveittoweaver (Sep 25, 2010)

kaZombie said:


> So I went out and bought Wellnesses indoor health. Luckily I found a nifty pet store that all it's cat food has no by-products or corn. Neat-o. And they said that if my hedgie doesn't like it I can come back and get an exchange.
> 
> Just curious to if any of you have had any experiences with this brand?
> 
> Also- the girl at the store was curious as to why cat food and not dog food? She also asked if the taurine in food mattered at all.


The main reason for using cat food over dog food is really the kibble size. There are members here who feed dog food though and there are a lot of small bites dog foods out now days with tiny kibbles.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

> It varies with some hedgehogs it causes bloody stool and runny stool and others are fine with it some just its too rich for a common one that hedgies love if blue buffalo.


I may have missed an incident in the past but just wanted to mention that as far as I know Wellness does not cause bloody stool, that would be a whole nother problem. It does frequently cause very soft or runny stool though and many people switched off of it for that reason. There are lots of other great cat food brands though that aren't quite as rich as Wellness.


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## kaZombie (Sep 12, 2011)

LizardGirl said:


> > It varies with some hedgehogs it causes bloody stool and runny stool and others are fine with it some just its too rich for a common one that hedgies love if blue buffalo.
> 
> 
> I may have missed an incident in the past but just wanted to mention that as far as I know Wellness does not cause bloody stool, that would be a whole nother problem. It does frequently cause very soft or runny stool though and many people switched off of it for that reason. There are lots of other great cat food brands though that aren't quite as rich as Wellness.


when you say as rich- what qualities do you mean?


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## muckquenzie (Aug 21, 2011)

I think when "rich" cat food is mentioned it just means that it's got more nutrients and ingredients packed into, it's more concentrated. I have my hedgie on a mix of Solid Gold Katz N Flocken, Purina One Beyond, and Wellness Heathy weight. (she gets 20 of each a night) She does perfecly fine with the wellness, it isnt too rich for her at all. Of course, it isn't her favorite food. She always eats the other two first and in the morning there's always a few wellness kibbles left, but as for runny stool, it isn't a problem for my girl. Either way, it's atill a very good food. Hope this hlps!


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