# Switching a young hog to adult food



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

Hey, it's been a while since I posted!

Quinn has been doing great since her operation. But I've also got a new buddy now! I adopted Alfred a little over a month ago. He's a cute little bug  I'm still working on getting him out of his shell, he's been more shy since he got here than he was at the breeder's (not a huge surprise!). He's also been pretty upset since he lost the great anti liner-diving battle (every other hiding options I offered where turned down in favor of diving under the liner in his wheel area (where he did his business of course, not always hitting the litter), he really loved soaking in his pee I guess) when I extended his liner so I could snap it between the bottom and the wire top of his cage. Now he hides in an igloo, mostly shunning the bags I made.

I had to buy a bag of Royal Canin Babycat because I didn't have enough. The breeder said I should keep him on only that food until at least 3 months. Well, he's at that point now, so I'm wondering about my options.

I still have the bag of kitten food, but if I wanted to keep him on it until I was out, It might take over a year. It's probably too fat to keep as his normal diet for so long! I've been thinking I could donate his left over kitten food to a rescue if I don't use it all (which I assume I won't) anyway.

This is what I've been feeding Quinn for a few months. http://www.pronature.ca/en/cat-products-fish.php?display_language=en She adores it. Idealy I'd like both of my hedgehogs to eat the same food, since they come in big bags and I have to freeze it. I'm just wondering if there's any problem feeding a senior cat food to a young hog? They have a low fat content like a weight loss formula, but I'm wondering if the other stuff that make it good for an old cat might not be good for a young hog.

Also, how do I know when it's time to start introducing the adult food? I don't think he's fully grown yet, he's smaller than Quinn anyway... But is he old enough at 3 months to start with a few kibbles of grown up food every night in his babycat? If the other food isn't fat enough (since he's still growing), I suppose I could keep them mixed, but for how long?

I tried to take a good picture so you'd see him at his current age, all of my good ones are a bit dated and he's smaller in those. Sorry for the blurryness, he's not really cooperative and all I have is my phone, and I have to keep the flash off.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Yes, he can start having an adult diet at 3 months. It's actually better to start earlier than that. Younger hedgehogs can do fine on higher fat diets because they're still growing, but it's best to establish a mix early on instead of using exclusively kitten food. Since he's been only eating kitten food until now, you might have a hard time getting him to eat anything else. Definitely start trying to transition him to a lower fat food. The babycat is fine now, but unless he's a high energy, wheel-crazy hedgehog, the high fat in babycat (24%) is definitely going to be too much. Royal Canin in general isn't a particularly good food anyway.

The Pronature food looks great. Definitely start offering him some, and hopefully he can be convinced to try it. You might have an uphill battle ahead of you, though. High fat food is more appealing (the "yummy" factor) and by the time a hedgehog reaches young adolescence/early adulthood, they're more likely to be set in their ways. Hedgehogs kept too long on a single high fat food will often snub anything else, which can be a big problem later when they're adults - the metabolism slows down, they don't have as much energy requirements because their bodies aren't putting the extra calories toward body growth, but if they continue to eat a high fat diet at that point there's a real risk of obesity.

If he's willing to eat the Pronature, you can transition over the course of about 2 weeks (give or take) by starting with a small amount of the new food and gradually increasing the ratio until you don't use the babycat anymore. If he ignores the new food and only eats the babycat, try grinding them both up into a coarse powder and mixing them together so he doesn't have the option of picking and choosing.


----------



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

****, she told me not to do it before 3 months. Oh well, I'll start introducing it now and hope for the best. Quinn really loves this mix, sometimes she comes running while I'm filling her bowl. Hopefully it'll attract him too, or I'll try the mixing trick. He'll have to eat anyway, I don't think I'll give in to pickiness (he has to eat at some point!), so unless he seems to be reacting negatively to the food he's going to switch like it or not. 

He runs a lot so I'm not too worried about him being on higher fat for up to now, but yeah I don't want to keep him on it too long.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

It's not a matter of not liking it - a lot of times hedgehogs that have been on only kitten food will just _refuse_ anything else. This is similar to the reason that hedgehogs should be on a mix of at least two foods - they're notoriously picky and it's not uncommon for them to go on hunger strikes if the food they're used to isn't available due to a change in the recipe or a recall or whatever else. They can literally starve themselves. If your boy doesn't eat the new food, it's not just something where you wait for him to be hungry enough to give in and eat it. In that kind of situation, your options would be to either let him continue with the babycat while you keep trying different kinds (which he may not ever be willing to eat), or syringe feed him.

Hopefully your boy won't give you too much trouble with it, but that's just the reality. I've dealt with hunger strikes over much less. Archimedes wouldn't eat for three days when we switched from his original large (5") bowl to a smaller one, then started eating again as soon as he had his bowl back. Grimm boycotts kibble for no particular reason and now gets a diet of canned food mixed with meat baby food. Maybe had a period of not eating anything but babycat - she hadn't even had it before, but she just stopped eating and we offered different things we had on hand, and babycat was the only thing she didn't ignore.

I don't know why any breeder would recommend using a single high fat food for so long - it's asking for problems. Our babies are weaned directly onto high(er) fat (18%) mix of 3 different foods, which is the same stuff the mothers eat while nursing. One of the foods in that mix is part of our adult mix and, on its own, is appropriate fat for an adult (13%). It makes for an easy transition to the adult mix, which is 10-12% fat. The babies that go to new homes go with a sample bag of the mama/baby mix and instructions for how to transition them onto an adult diet, and the ones that stay with us as part of our herd are fully transitioned to our adult mix by 8 weeks old, or 10 at the latest. (The exception being runts or naturally small hedgies that need higher fat for longer.)

Young hedgehogs can do fine with a higher fat diet, but it's not at all necessary, and when they're young is when they're generally the most receptive to new things - so that's when a mix of foods should be established, and if they're not put on an adult diet right away, they should have the "stepping stones" in place for a smooth transition.


----------



## Hazesti (Jan 19, 2010)

Ahh, well hopefully he won't do that. I threw a few adult kibbles on top of his food last night. He ate one and part of another. I'll transition smoothly over a couple of weeks, if he doesn't pick them up enough I'll try grinding them a bit since the smaller kibbles are probably easier to eat.

I don't think I broke him just because I waited a little too long to switch his diet... Considering the crap some people feed their pets out of not being informed enough, I don't think my crime is too serious <.<


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

You didn't do anything wrong, you were just following instructions.  I was just explaining why using a single high fat food for so long can be detrimental. Your breeder gave you bad information, but your hedgie is still young and I'm sure you'll be able to convince him to switch. Good luck!


----------

