# He freaked out with a super worm! Weird?!



## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

I had a super worm dangling in from of him so he could smell it and it moved and he freaked out, then didn’t want anything to do with it. Keep trying or or get it?


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## Aj.t (Jan 29, 2019)

Since hedgehogs have pretty bad eyesight, something they’re not used to dangling in their face probably will frighten them. Although Christina will take worms from me or near me, I usually let them crawl around near her and she can smell around until she catches it; seeing something small crawling away from them is a lot more enticing than trying to figure out what thing is moving around their face.


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Aj.t said:


> Since hedgehogs have pretty bad eyesight, something they're not used to dangling in their face probably will frighten them. Although Christina will take worms from me or near me, I usually let them crawl around near her and she can smell around until she catches it; seeing something small crawling away from them is a lot more enticing than trying to figure out what thing is moving around their face.


Oops! I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks!


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## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

Let me know how it goes. I saw super worms at the store yesterday but just went with the mealworms since I know I can also feed them to my birds. 

(I also tried apple as you had. Mecki had half a nibble and that was it.)


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Mecki said:


> Let me know how it goes. I saw super worms at the store yesterday but just went with the mealworms since I know I can also feed them to my birds.
> 
> (I also tried apple as you had. Mecki had half a nibble and that was it.)


I tried super worms again last night but no luck. I'll try a few more times before I give up on super worms.
Buddy loves apple but since it has sugar and not great for their teeth, I'm going to mix it up with veggies.


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

So I tried super worms again and Buddy LOVES them!! I put one out on the floor when I took him out this evening and he couldn’t get enough!! So now I’m wondering how many (average size) should I feed him at one time? And I should still give kibble as well right? I figure I’ll give him the worms when I take him out for bonding time and kibble when I put him back in his cage. That’ll be ok right? Thanks!!


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Forgot to say he’s under 3 months old. 😁


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## Aj.t (Jan 29, 2019)

I’m pretty partial to a kibble based diet, simply because I know exactly the nutrients she’s getting and can manage diets a lot easier. With that being said, I offer her plenty of insects regularly. She’s two, and I do reserve her insects for the time she’s out of her house. Those are what they love the best and it’s important to me for her to associate good things with being out of her house. Usually, I stick with various worms, I’m actually gonna try crickets for the first time tonight, and I’ll generally give her one worm at a time until she walks away. Simple as that. Since Buddy is still growing, it should be even easier for you as you don’t have to keep as close of an eye on his fat/calorie consumption! Depending on the insect, she eats 4-10 a night using my best guess (I’m very lax on her insect portion of the diet). Then, when she goes back home, I dish out her kibble and she goes to town! Run on the wheel... get a kibble... run through the litter... wheel...kibble...wheel haha. She’s a funny girl. 

Sorry I got sidetracked. Hopefully this helps 🙂


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Yes that did aj.t, thanks! Buddy ate about 8 and would’ve ate more but I got concerned so I stopped offering them. I put his kibble in but he hadn’t ate any when I came to bed. I’ll check in the morning. 
How can you feed crickets, they jump!?! Lol let me know how it goes! Also, what other worms do you offer?


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Holly gets them dead. I will buy them live and then put them in the freezer to die after their last meal..
This way they cant jump around.

Although live you can grab the cricket by the back legs and feed it by tweezers so you dont get them running around the house !! 

I would say though that with the worms, not to do more than 10 overall as they are fatty, and even for a young hog you don't want them gaining too much too fast.

Its a good idea to monitor the fat and weight while on the fattier diet, this way you can see how much he gains in the week with the fattier diet so it makes it that bit easier to change it to stabilise his weight if its needed.


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## Aj.t (Jan 29, 2019)

There are a few species many pet stores offer. I have yet to try some, but you can offer supers, mealies, giant mealies (they’re not even that big)—all of those are mealworms. They also have waxworms which are suuuuper fatty so like birthday dessert type of thing. I have yet to try horn worms; they’re high in calcium and protein but don’t have an exoskeleton to give a lot of fiber, plus they can get MASSIVE. And they’re bright blue which freaks me outtt. Some stores carry silk worms and others might have feeder earthworms! But there’s also lower fat insects like roaches and crickets. I have yet to find a store around me to sell feeder isopods (rolly pollies)


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Try online reptile shops under clean up crews for the isopods. You'll prob get more luck that way.


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Ria said:


> Holly gets them dead. I will buy them live and then put them in the freezer to die after their last meal..
> This way they cant jump around.
> 
> Although live you can grab the cricket by the back legs and feed it by tweezers so you dont get them running around the house !!
> ...


So no more than 10 super worms at any one feeding? How many crickets at any one time? Are super worms the only fatty worm or they all are? Thanks! &#128522;


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

The only worms that arent really fatty are feeder earth worms, silkworms and horn worms.

I have a mix of
5 medium locusts, 4 medium Dubai roaches and 5 medium brown crickets
Then I do
6 black crickets, 4 woodlice (isopods) and 4 calcium worms.

Roaches and they can have up to 5 a day
All the others there can be fed at like 14 a day
I'd do isopods at 10 a day too
Then fatty worms like mealworms, super worms, morio worms, wax worms are 10 a day

Bare in mind this if your just feeding on type of insects that day.
So like
Monday - 10 super worms
Tuesday - 5 Dubai roaches 
Wednesday - 14 crickets
So on like that.

I dont feed more than 14 insects to holly or they dont get eaten.
You can do 15 some people who have really active hogs and like to have less biscuit in the diet use up to 20 insects. Not all hedgehogs will eat that much though.


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Ria said:


> The only worms that arent really fatty are feeder earth worms, silkworms and horn worms.
> 
> I have a mix of
> 5 medium locusts, 4 medium Dubai roaches and 5 medium brown crickets
> ...


So the numbers you gave me is in addition to kibble the same day right? And the 14 a day is for crickets only, everything else 10 a day?
Would it be ok to keep him on silk worms, meal worms and crickets only (besides kibble of course)? Thanks!!


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Yea its on top of the biscuit just keep an eye how much he is eating though. Because sometimes it may need to be lowered depending on how much he eats.

Crickets, silks worm, locust, earth worms any lower fat insects can be fed 14 a day
Roaches should be kept to 5 even though they are low fat. 
The others like super-worms, mealworms, wax worms the fattier insects should be kept to 10 a day.

Its better to have a bigger verity, but having just crickets, silk worms and meal worms with the biscuit would defiantly be okay.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Morio worms/superworms are (on average) significantly larger than mealworms and waxworms, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to choose 10 mealworms or 10 super worms. Personally, I would recommended up to 10 mealworms or 2-4 large superworms. 

Isopod cultures are typically pretty small; if you were to feed 10 in one go you're likely gonna run out of isopods pretty quickly and will have to replenish them frequently. They are not an ideal feeder to choose on a day where you want to stick to just one insect (IMO). 

For example; Last night Coco had 4 crickets, 4 medium roaches & 8 mealworms. Today she'll have 2 superworms, 2 waxworms, and maybe 4-6 small/medium sized crickets. That's on the lesser side for how much insects she typically eats, but that's just an example of how I'd feed insects. You want to aim for a variety on daily feeding, so your plan of silkworms, mealworms & crickets is fine. You could do a combo of 4-6 crickets, 6-8 mealworms or similar amount of silkworms, or you could do something like 4 crickets, 4 silkworms, 6 mealworms, and so fourth. The combos are really endless, so just find what works best for you. With a kibble fed hedgehog, most prefer to stick to less than 15 insects per day - closer to 10.


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## Mecki (Nov 4, 2017)

Wow. You guys have quite the variety and amount of insects. I can barely get Mecki to eat them. The most mealworms he's eaten at one time is 2.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Thats more mealworms than Holly. She hates them she ate half of one and then spat it out😂 and then refused to touch them after that 

The only worm she seems to eat are calci worms (black soldier fly larvae) and even then its not a guaranteed thing

I havent tried super worms so I don't know about the size difference of these I was going off what I've seen others feed.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

My Coco adores mealies, so they (and crickets - another of her favourites!) make up the bulk of her insects. I don't tend to feed isopods often; because the cultures are very small (the ones I get sent anyway; theres usually only 6-10 adults, and a couple babies) and she's also not the biggest fan of them. I have a leo too, and hamsters who love their live bugs, so we keep a variety of insects on hand - but mealworms, crickets, and waxworms are everyones favourites. 

Yeah, morioworms can be prettyyy big. Which is why I was a little alarmed when I saw it advised to feed up to 10 haha. I wouldn't feed anymore than 4 in one day, and I even feel like that's a lot sometimes - especially if its a big morio worm.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I buy 4 pots of isopods, and then I wait a week for them to grow so that the majority are then adults and then gut load them, pick out all the but ones and put them in to the freezer. And then take out the veg so it doesnt go off and leave them for a another 2-3 days gut load then again and then take out all the large ones. By this point I generally have enough for a month. And then I'll see how much more I can get after that.
They send them as hatchlings so they are majority babies when they come.

Makes sense for the worms though. Never knew that about them before so its good information to have now.

Holly's favourite are roaches, locust and crickets. In order of preference too. She'd probably live off roaches if I let her!!


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

So where I live the only live insects I see regularly are super worms (small & large), meal worms, wax worms, and crickets. So if I mix those they will be ok? I may find a few of the others occasionally for treats but not on a regular basis.


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

What do you use to gut load?


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Yes, that's fine. I keep wax worms to a treat personally, because they are fattier than the others. Theyre super soft; i hate mealworms (they've even bitten me!), but I find wax worms oddly adorable to the point that I lowkey feel bad feeding them to Coco lol. Mealworms, crickets and super worms are fine to stick to if thats all you can get, with the occasional wax worms as a snack. 

Anyways that's not relevant at all haha, so back to your question; You use veggies to gut load. Carrot, you could ever offer lettuce, some also do courgette (zucchini) - it's really up to you. I also offer them apple too; they just get whatever i'm feeding the rabbits. Anything that's safe for your hedgehog, you can feed to the feeder insects.


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## Buddysmom (Apr 20, 2019)

Emc said:


> Yes, that's fine. I keep wax worms to a treat personally, because they are fattier than the others. Theyre super soft; i hate mealworms (they've even bitten me!), but I find wax worms oddly adorable to the point that I lowkey feel bad feeding them to Coco lol. Mealworms, crickets and super worms are fine to stick to if thats all you can get, with the occasional wax worms as a snack.
> 
> Anyways that's not relevant at all haha, so back to your question; You use veggies to gut load. Carrot, you could ever offer lettuce, some also do courgette (zucchini) - it's really up to you. I also offer them apple too; they just get whatever i'm feeding the rabbits. Anything that's safe for your hedgehog, you can feed to the feeder insects.


Awesome, thanks!!


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I've heard that kale goes down really well with worms !! Lettuce doesn't contain much nutrients, kale is similar but it contains more nutrients. I feed more peelings and ends of carrots, and the stems off broccoli, parsnip ends and peelings. It generally depends what veg we had with out dinner.


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