# How to get an underweight, picky hedgie to gain weight?



## ourico (May 20, 2011)

My boy is 12 weeks (13 tomorrow), and weights 205g. He fluctuates from 195-210g.

He's *very* picky and won't eat anything. The only kibble he'll eat is Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken. The fat is too low 12% and there isn't even a lot of meat in that food. The breeder had him on complete crap.

Contains ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, soybean meal and bone meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), oceanfish meal, turkey by-product meal, phosphoric acid, salt, brewer's dried yeast, animal digest, potassium chloride, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, taurine, l-lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, added color (red 40, blue 2, yellow 5, yellow 6), glyceryl monostearate, l-alanine, manganese sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), niacin, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, citric acid, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity) and sodium selenite

Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 30.0%, Crude Fat (min) 8.0%, Crude Fiber (max) 4.5%, Moisture (max) 12.0%, Calcium (min) 1.0%, Phosphorus (min) 0.8%

I've tried:
Katz n Flocken Lamb - wouldn't touch it
Authority Sensitive Solutions - wouldn't touch it
From Family Kitten - picked out a few, maybe by accident
From Family Adult - wouldn't touch it
Purina One Beyond Chicken - ate it for 2 days then stopped
Blue Buffalo Duck and Potato - had diarrhea for a week 
Blue Buffalo Finicky Feast - will only eat about 6 kibbles of this a day
Chicken Soup Adult - ate around it
Innova Low Fat - will only eat about 6 kibbles of this a day

He won't eat worms of any sort. I've tried giving live, frozen, freeze dried, cut into pieces and mashed. He won't eat them. I've tried putting them in his mouth so he realizes it's food, but he spits it out. He won't eat cricket either unless the the teeny tiny ones. So far the only veggie he will eat is sweet potato.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

Thats unfortunate he's so picky, but as long as his shape is () and not )( its not a incredibly huge issue, I can understand wanting to diversify his diet though.


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

All he'll eat right now is the complete crap the breeder weaned him onto and around 6 kibbles from innova low fat and blue buffalo finicky feast. I don't want him to be on a food with 8% fat and the first ingredients ground yellow corn and corn gluten meal as the first ingredients. And artificial colours...


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## TeddysMommy (Apr 24, 2011)

hmmm.... have you tried baking sweet potatoes and pureeing them to make baby food? he will probably gobble it up! I have a very picky hedgie as well and he will go crazy for Blue Buffalo Basics food  I use the turkey and potatoes formula and he is 5 months and 316 g so i assume its working  Have you tried wet cat food as a treat? He would maybe eat it (only sometimes) I am going to try blue buffalo healthy gourmet tinned food... anyways, back to the dry foods, Try that! Its so good for them & from what it seems they really like it! I think that at Petco or Petsmart they will let you get a refund if they dont like it :mrgreen: it never hurts to try! 

Theres a thread by NoDivision called Worlds Pickiest Hedgehog 2.0 :lol: you should check it out!


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

ourico said:


> All he'll eat right now is the complete crap the breeder weaned him onto and around 6 kibbles from innova low fat and blue buffalo finicky feast. I don't want him to be on a food with 8% fat and the first ingredients ground yellow corn and corn gluten meal as the first ingredients. And artificial colours...


I understand that part however for now be glad your hedgehog is eating and hopefully not a )( while it is junk food it could be worse also the fat content is in the recommended some hedgehogs are smaller in overall size so giving a higher fat may not help but could hurt, not saying it will but it is something to keep in mind.

You could try grinding the crap food up and dusting it over the good food in an attempt to trick you hedgehog i suppose. If he has started to eat those other two slowly reduce the crap and increase the others while monitoring the intake


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

But hes only 3 months... The fat is supposed to be around 20%?


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

ourico said:


> But hes only 3 months... The fat is supposed to be around 20%?


Its a recommended guideline indeed that the extra fat cannot hurt to help them along 

If he is not an insect fan all that can be done is exchanging out foods until your hedgehog likes one they will try.

The 15 to 20% is something recommended but its not law to a healthy young hedgehog 

Have you tried making meat balls like ground turkey, chicken, veal, lamb made into meat balls for them to eat you could go with a slightly higher content fat ground meat and cook them in balls and try that until you can ween your hedgehog off the food, I would try grinding the junk food into dust and sprinkling it on the food and observe when he wakes up if he snubs it add some of the old mix back to ensure he at least eats


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