# butter worms



## sic_infested (Jan 8, 2009)

i was just curious if any1 ever tried butter worms? the guy at the pet shop said he had a hedgehog and it loved them... so i grabbed a few and she ate them... now i got her some more since i thought she liked them and she just chewed it and then left it there... any thoughts?


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## hedgieMate (Aug 28, 2008)

All butterworms sold in North America are imported from Chile and they're larvae of the Chilean moth (Chilecomadia moorei) which is considered to be a pest. Butterworms are rich in calcium and originally imported as fish baits but also used as feeder insects for insectivore pets including geckos and reptiles.

We tried butterworms on our hedgie. He wasn't wild about them but ate a few. Then, we found out that all butterworms are irradiated before being shipped out to kill off any bacteria living in their digestive tract as well as to prevent the worms from ever pupating into moths resulting in an infestation! :shock: (btw, this is why you can't breed them at home).

We stopped feeding butterworms immediately when we learned they have been irradiated. It was not worth jeopardizing our hedgie's health before people can decide whether food irradiation is safe or not.


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## sic_infested (Jan 8, 2009)

well thats good to know... thanks... glad the petshop guy knew all that too... lol... i guess i won't be buying these anymore...


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## Racerhedge (Jan 23, 2009)

I was going to try them too but the girl at petland said the extra calcium was really bad for hedgehogs. Makes joints seize up or somethin so I stuck to plain old meal worms.


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## sic_infested (Jan 8, 2009)

yea i gotta change her snacks too... i go to pj's pets and everytime i ask i'm told the same thing... give her superworms and butter worms... and now that i'm reading in here i shouldn't be feeding her ether... once these r gone i'm just gonna stick to meal worms, and wax worms.... unless any1 else can tell me safe bugs for her?


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

sic_infested said:


> once these r gone i'm just gonna stick to meal worms, and wax worms.... unless any1 else can tell me safe bugs for her?


Crickets are usually received well. I just use the canned ones because I can't keep the live ones alive long enough to feed them all (I'm a sucky cricket-keeper apparently).
Grasshoppers are okay, but a lot of hedgies are scared of them because of their size and won't even try them.
Silkworms are also suitable if you want to try those.

Mealies are always a safe bet though.


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

I looked at butterworms too! The irradiated thing did sound a bit sketchy to me though, soooo I bought some silk worms... expensive little buggers in the long run (shipping & silk worm food to keep em alive) - and, of course, she shows no interest whatsoever. I guess if they get to big I can just give them to my iguana owning friend, but still.. ugh. I've tried raspberries, banana, watermelon, carrots, apricot baby food and she really hasn't been interested in any of it. (She actually did lick up a little of the baby food, but still didn't really care all that much.)

She eats plenty of her food, but it kinda makes me a little sad that there's nothing I can give her as a treat except for mealies...


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

My hedgie loves peach baby food, and he likes the chicken & veggies kind too. We tried carrots and I just ended up with an orange hedgie. :lol: 
You can always try giving her some plain cooked chicken, or a little turkey around the holidays. Mine loves turkey.


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## hedgieMate (Aug 28, 2008)

ana said:


> I bought some silk worms... expensive little buggers in the long run (shipping & silk worm food to keep em alive) - and, of course, she shows no interest whatsoever.
> 
> She eats plenty of her food, but it kinda makes me a little sad that there's nothing I can give her as a treat except for mealies...


How old is your hedgie? It's common for young hedgies to be picky and that they won't try new food for a long time, but don't despair; she may get more adventurous as she gets older. 

We have an extremely picky 3-1/2 year-old male hedgie, and we wasted a whole lot of perfectly good food (not to mention $) trying to find anything he liked at the beginning. We probably went through at least 7 or 8 bags of high-quality (read "expensive") dry cat food that ended up in the bowls of our friends' cats. Each can of wet cat food or baby food wasn't that expensive, but if you try two dozen different flavours, they add up to a fair amount of expense. However, the worst part for me was we had to throw away so much otherwise perfectly good food during the first 8 months to one year. 

My advice to those who have very picky eater is: (1) to collect free sample bags or very small therefore inexpensive trial bags of dry cat food from different pet stores to try on your hedgie before actually purchasing a regular-size bag; (2) not to assume your hedgie will eat new food on the first try - make sure to keep offering it from time to time over a long period of time; and (3) not to order a large quantity of processed or live feeder insects assuming your hedgie will love them - go to a reptile shop or large pet store where they carry a wide variety of feeder insects and buy a few "samplers" of each and try them on your hedgie first. It's more expensive that way, I know, but in the long run you'll save money by finding out which insect your hedgie does or doesn't eat.


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

hedgieMate said:


> How old is your hedgie? It's common for young hedgies to be picky and that they won't try new food for a long time, but don't despair; she may get more adventurous as she gets older.
> 
> We have an extremely picky 3-1/2 year-old male hedgie, and we wasted a whole lot of perfectly good food (not to mention $) trying to find anything he liked at the beginning. We probably went through at least 7 or 8 bags of high-quality (read "expensive") dry cat food that ended up in the bowls of our friends' cats. Each can of wet cat food or baby food wasn't that expensive, but if you try two dozen different flavours, they add up to a fair amount of expense. However, the worst part for me was we had to throw away so much otherwise perfectly good food during the first 8 months to one year.
> 
> My advice to those who have very picky eater is: (1) to collect free sample bags or very small therefore inexpensive trial bags of dry cat food from different pet stores to try on your hedgie before actually purchasing a regular-size bag; (2) not to assume your hedgie will eat new food on the first try - make sure to keep offering it from time to time over a long period of time; and (3) not to order a large quantity of processed or live feeder insects assuming your hedgie will love them - go to a reptile shop or large pet store where they carry a wide variety of feeder insects and buy a few "samplers" of each and try them on your hedgie first. It's more expensive that way, I know, but in the long run you'll save money by finding out which insect your hedgie does or doesn't eat.


We're not really sure how old she is... Our guess is 6 months.

We've had no problem with cat foods (she eats wellness & csftcls - both light formulas). I switched her from pretty pet (which she was being fed at the pet store) to cat food and she took to it instantly.

She seems slightly interested in some stuff, but not interested enough to care about eating it. (She's licked a little bit of apricot baby food off of a spoon before, but not much... She self anointed after chewing on a bit of cilantro - but she wasn't really into eating it... She sniffed and licked at some watermelon and banana pieces, but didn't care to actually eat them... She didn't care one bit about hard boiled egg.)

As for the silk worms, if she doesn't come around, it's ok... I can give them to a friend for her lizard. (50 ct. was the smallest amount they offered too.) Unfortunately, in Memphis, it's hard to find feeder insects... At least petco has mealworms.


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