# Very Picky Eater



## HedgieCKC (Feb 18, 2012)

Hello All,

I have a sweet little baby boy hedgie. He is 5 months old and just the friendliest and funniest thing I have ever seen. He is active, alert and has a very healthy appetite. The only problem is, he only wants to eat the dry cat food I give him. I make him a mix of low fat dry Anova cat food and Purina One chicken and rice formula. I measure out just enough of each and he absolutely loves it. He just doesn't have any interest in any other treats or additions. I've tried almost every kind of fruit, several different veggies, mealworms (alive and dried), wet cat food, cooked (unseasoned) chicken and cooked (unseasoned) turkey. Should I keep trying? Do some hedgies not like to try other things? Are there some treats that are just irresistible? Could it just be his age? As I said, he seems happy with the cat food, but I want to make sure his diet is well rounded. Thank you, looking forward to hearing from you!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

He'es not unusual. Many hedgehogs will not touch anything but their kibble. For some, they need repeated tries of something before they will decide to eat it so don't give up. Some babies will eat anything and others nothing but change as they become adults. 

My Peaches was the ultimate in fussy. She would only eat her kibble and it had to be in full sized unbroken pieces. If a corner was broke off, forget it, she would not touch it. Bugs she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Damp food, don't even bother as it was YUCKY! :lol:


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## HedgieCKC (Feb 18, 2012)

Thank you so much for your quick reply, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong! That is so funny that she wouldn't eat broken pieces, it's amazing the personalities these little creatures can have! I'll keep trying, there's got to be something out there that he just can't resist. :lol:


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Archimedes is like this. He finally was willing to eat some watermelon, which was the first thing other than kibble. It took about 5-6 weeks of trying all different things, and that one is still the only success I've had. XD


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## wewerebound (Dec 7, 2011)

My female is very picky, she will only eat her kibble. She doesn't like treats at all.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

You are not alone in your struggle! My boy will only eat meats(chicken, turkey, crab, lobster and shrimp) as well as eggs. He sometimes nibbles a bit on pumpkin, but only if it's been warmed and I feed him by hand with a baby spoon. The only time I can get him to eat fruit is using my mealie tweezers. He knows and recognise the tweezers as mealworm dispenser, so sometimes I'll stab a piece of fruit(like cantelope) after giving a mealie and he eats it before he even realised what he ate lol.


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## HedgieCKC (Feb 18, 2012)

These are all so cute and funny! These hedgehogs sure know how to work their humans! Well I'm glad I'm not alone, and that Charcot isn't the only hedgie who needs a little more convincing to eat extra treats. Thank you guys for posting your stories, it has been so cute to hear about your hedgehogs eating specifications! This is an awesome forum


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

You cannot just try new things. First you have to examine it closely and ponder over it to decide if it is edible. If you decide it is edible, you don't want to eat it at first in front of the human because you don't want them to see you anoint with it. Then you may not want to eat it the next time it shows up, because you want to make your human work a little harder at it. Eventually your stomach just gives in though and you must eat it.


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## jeffs0719 (Dec 20, 2011)

HedgieCKC your little guy looks so cute in the picture btw!

And Immortalla so shneaky! I do the same thing. Lmao


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Kalandra pretty much explained Kashi's reaction to mealworms for the first time :lol:

Unfortunately, I have not been successful with any other treat since then... so mealies and kibbles for Kashi it is -___-


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## HedgieCKC (Feb 18, 2012)

Thank you jeffs0719! I fell in love with his cute little split face! And Kalandra that is so spot on to my hedgies reaction to new things, although he has yet to give in to his stomach!


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## vasogoma (Feb 25, 2012)

First of all, HedgieCKC, your hedgie is adorable 
Now, my memory sucks, so again I am sorry if I already did this question before but I don't remember reading the answer. When should I start giving her treats? Any problem at all if I give worms at the age of 2 months?


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## sublunary (Jan 21, 2012)

I've got a pretty picky eater too. I haven't found a fruit or vegetable he likes yet. I did find that with crickets and superworms he would ignore them when alive or knocked out in the freezer, but squishing them with tweezers so he can smell the bug guts does the trick. So I'd try squashing some mealies and see if that makes a difference.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2012)

I was told by my vet that sometimes you can get them to try new foods by playing on their natural instict to forage for food. She said if i set up and area with a couples hides and dig boxes and then hid some new food in some along with maybe her kibble in another and nothingin some, she might be more inclined to try the new food when she finds it.


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## AtomicHedgie (Jan 20, 2012)

Gimli is also an extremely picky eater. There isn't a whole lot that I haven't tried giving him. He sampled a mealie but judging by the mashed up, half consumed corpse I can only assume he was not impressed. He thought he liked red peppers very briefly. Bananas are the devil. Chicken is horrendous. 

It is so hard to bribe/reward/bribe a hedgie who has no love for treats. lol


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## HedgieCKC (Feb 18, 2012)

So I'm still working with him, Quillzmom I tried the foraging for food approach by hiding some kibble and mealies in a little "rock garden" that I modeled after some of the pictures I had seen on this site. He loved finding the kibble but ignored/avoided/grimaced at the mealies. I'm gonna try a dig box as well; this summer I'm getting him a new, bigger cage and I'm gonna put a dig box in there for him. I did have a little success with a piece of cooked chicken. He took a bite of it and then annointed with it. Maybe we're getting somewhere :lol:


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