# which food to use for baby?



## hedgiegirl1214 (Jan 14, 2011)

We picked up our two month old hedgehog last week and was sent home with a two week supply of Iams Kitten food. We are supposed to keep her on it for another month. She eats it just fine, but the smell is pretty strong in my daughter's room. The breeder recommended that we crush the food, so I am wondering if that is why it is so smelly. We use an organic, natural brand of food for our dog, and I'd like to switch to something like that for our hedgie. I understand that it needs to be a gradual change, so I have been left with two questions:

If I do switch her to a new natural kitten food, is it likely to still have a strong smell because it is so high in fat?

Should I just buy some more Iams kitten food and wait to change brands until she is three months old?

I also want to thank everyone who has been answering my daughter's questions. We take this hedgie ownership very seriously and felt a bit lost the first couple of days.

Thanks!


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## Almonds (Jan 15, 2011)

I am in the same boat you are right now, as I recently brought home a baby hedgehog. I found the tread near the top of Diet and Nutrition ("Dry Cat Food List") very helpful about educating me on the nutritional requirements of hedgehogs as it has an approved list of hedgie friendly cat foods.

I posted a similar question about switching over food and the general response I got was as long as his poops were brown and not green showing sign of stress in the digestive tract then you can slowly ween them into food by adding a couple kibbles a day as hedgies can get stressed with immediate change.

Hope this sort of helps! Hopefully more knowledgeable people will post on this feed.


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## hedgiegirl1214 (Jan 14, 2011)

Thanks! I'll look at the cat food list to see what some options are.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I believe that it's recommeded to wait a couple weeks before starting to switch over to a new food. I think it's mostly to allow them to adjust. (Although I would think that after 1 week should be fine, as long as there's normal poops.)
I would take that list to the local pet store & highlight the different ones they actually have. Then you can come up with an idea of what to start adding in. It would also be a good time to ask the pet store if they have any samples & what their return policy is. (Sometimes they just won't eat it.)
You want to have a bit of variety. Like not all chicken, for example. 
At first, you may want to crush the new kibble also, as sometimes it's too big for the little ones.
And yes, slowly adding in the new food helps them to adjust without stressing out their system.
Hope it goes well!


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## Simonny9 (May 20, 2021)

oh, I also just want to potty train) I’m not doing very well yet, but I’ll try to use your advice. Thanks


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