# Spike's Delite



## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

Does anyone here feed it? I looked through all of the formulas and if I do decide to feed it, this is the formula I would choose. I highlighted the one ingredient that I don't like and I REALLY don't like it since it's been associated with health problems. But if people have been feeding this stuff for years, there should be a lot of feedback.

Hegehog Pro-Diet

Chicken meal, extruded brown rice, soybean meal, extruded brown rice, fish meal, steam-rolled oat groats, 
extruded whole soymeal, soy hulls, vegetable oil, Brewers yeast, whole dried egg, blood meal, potassium chloride, salt, 
magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A acetate, 
D-activated animal sterol (source of Vitamin D3), DL-Alpha Tocopheryl acetate (source of Vitamin E), 
*Menadione sodum bisulfate complex (source of Vitamin K*), Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, 
niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, folic acid, ferrous sulfate,
zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, maganous oxide, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate,
dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, corn germ meal, dried kelp, dried tomato pomace, vinegar, 
yeast culture, monosodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, ferric sulfate, magnesium oxide, cobalt sulfate, cane sugar,
DL-methionine, ferrous fumarate, sea salt, l-lysine, lecithin, Vitamin E Supplement, potassium iodide, beta carotene, 
zinc methionine complex, hydrochloric acid, yucca schidigera extract, algae meal, diatomaceous earth, 
cobalt choline citrate complex, ferric choline citrate complex, calcium pantothenate, copper choline citrate complex, 
sodium selenite, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, 
iron amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate,
thiamine monoitrate, ferrous carbonate, hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, peppermint, violet leaves, garlic, alfalfa, horseradish, parsely, dandelion, geranium, ginger, juniper (berries), elder flowers, hops, licorice, clover, tocopherol, amylase, cellulose, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase, mixed tocopherols, citric a acid, ascorbic acid, rosemary extract.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Most people here consider it a crappy food, most people here feed a mix of three catfoods, if you check out the diet section there's a list of good cat foods.


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## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

I've done lots of nutrition research for my two dogs and feed them holistic food. I rotate between EVO, Innova Prime, and California Natural grain free after experimenting with a lot of other holistic foods. I'm just wondering if anyone here feeds Spike's Delite. Just the one specific formula that I posted looks good to me. For a cat or dog, yes the ingredients would be junky, but it seems like for a hedgehog, the ingredients are pretty appropriate and so are the protein and fat %. This time I'll bold what I think is GOOD about the food.

*Chicken meal, extruded brown rice*, soybean meal, *extruded brown rice, fish meal*, steam-rolled oat groats, 
extruded whole soymeal, soy hulls, vegetable oil, *Brewers yeast, whole dried egg, blood meal*, potassium chloride, salt, 
magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A acetate, 
D-activated animal sterol (source of Vitamin D3), DL-Alpha Tocopheryl acetate (source of Vitamin E), 
Menadione sodum bisulfate complex (source of Vitamin K), Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, 
niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, folic acid, ferrous sulfate,
zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, maganous oxide, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate,
*dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product*, corn germ meal, *dried kelp, dried tomato pomace, vinegar, 
yeast culture,* monosodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, ferric sulfate, magnesium oxide, cobalt sulfate, cane sugar,
DL-methionine, ferrous fumarate, sea salt, l-lysine, lecithin, Vitamin E Supplement, potassium iodide, beta carotene, 
zinc methionine complex, hydrochloric acid, *yucca schidigera extract, algae meal, diatomaceous earth, *cobalt choline citrate complex, ferric choline citrate complex, calcium pantothenate, copper choline citrate complex, 
sodium selenite, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, 
iron amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate,
thiamine monoitrate, ferrous carbonate, hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate,* peppermint, violet leaves, garlic, alfalfa, horseradish, parsely, dandelion, geranium, ginger, juniper (berries), elder flowers, hops, licorice, clover, tocopherol, amylase, cellulose, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase, mixed tocopherols, citric a acid, ascorbic acid, rosemary extract.*

The stuff that I'm neutral towards, like soy bean hulls and oat groats actually seem like they might be good roughage for a hedgehog. I like that it has digestive enzymes (amylase, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase) and probiotics(dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product). Plus the last ingredients seem like stuff that a hedgehog may forage for. I just can't see how this formula would be junk.

So I'm really interested in people who have fed or are feeding Spike's Delite.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I did feed Lily Spike's Delite for the first several months I had her, but I switched to a mix of cat foods after joining this forum. I know that Spike's Delight is considered the best of the available hedgehog foods, but most of the people on the forum here feed and recommend high quality/holistic cat foods. I can't recall whether I noticed any huge differences in her between Spike's Delight and cat food, I didn't think to really write down any observations or anything like that. I know the breeder I got her from feeds it to all of her hedgehogs & is a distributor for it as well. I agree that I'm a bit iffy on the menadione sodum bisulfate complex, but other than that, the ingredients are nowhere near as bad as pretty much every other hedgehog food that's sold. If you would like to feed it, I'd say still mix it with a good cat food for variety - the main reason that's recommended is because hedgehogs can be extremely picky and don't do well with diet changes. If something happened to where you ran out of or couldn't get an Spike's Delight (especially since it's something you have to order, unless a local breeder distributes it), you may have a hedgehog hunger strike and be forced to syringe-feed, which is stressful for everyone involved.


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

I don't see any real ingredients in that to call it a decent food for hedgehogs. Its all just fillers and enzymes. Honestly, its just crap. You can find mulitple cat foods with quality, real ingredients. Majority of commercial hedgehog foods aren't very good, and like Lilysmommy said, if you run out before you order more, you don't have anything else to feed them. If you are not interested in cat/dog kibble at all, you can try making your own hollistic hedgehog meals at home with fresh meats, veggies, fruits, and insects. Several of us make our own blended mixes that we serve alongside the hard kibble and the hedgies usually gobble it up.


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## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

Squiggy the hedgie- I guess I don't see how it's all fillers and enzymes. :? The first ingredient is chicken, then rice (instead of corn, like the junky foods). The fish meal, dried egg and blood meal are also good. It also has yucca schidigera extract, probiotics, lots of herbal ingredients and then enzymes (which are healthy) at the very end.

I agree that running out of the food would be a huge problem. I've been planning to mix it with Innova. Right now I'm still feeding the breeder's mix, but I think it's too high in fat (Blue Buffalo Wilderness).

Lilysmommy- Thank you for your input. It kind of sounds like when you switched to the cat food mix, her condition didn't really change.

It's just seeming to me that Spike's Delite is villified and then people just switch from it without researching it for themselves.

Chicken meal, extruded brown rice, soybean meal, extruded brown rice, fish meal, steam-rolled oat groats, 
extruded whole soymeal, soy hulls, vegetable oil, Brewers yeast, whole dried egg, blood meal, potassium chloride, salt, 
magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A acetate, 
D-activated animal sterol (source of Vitamin D3), DL-Alpha Tocopheryl acetate (source of Vitamin E), 
Menadione sodum bisulfate complex (source of Vitamin K), Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, 
niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, folic acid, ferrous sulfate,
zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, maganous oxide, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate,
dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, corn germ meal, dried kelp, dried tomato pomace, vinegar, 
yeast culture, monosodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, ferric sulfate, magnesium oxide, cobalt sulfate, cane sugar,
DL-methionine, ferrous fumarate, sea salt, l-lysine, lecithin, Vitamin E Supplement, potassium iodide, beta carotene, 
zinc methionine complex, hydrochloric acid, yucca schidigera extract, algae meal, diatomaceous earth, 
cobalt choline citrate complex, ferric choline citrate complex, calcium pantothenate, copper choline citrate complex, 
sodium selenite, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, 
iron amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate,
thiamine monoitrate, ferrous carbonate, hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, peppermint, violet leaves, garlic, alfalfa, horseradish, parsely, dandelion, geranium, ginger, juniper (berries), elder flowers, hops, licorice, clover, tocopherol, amylase, cellulose, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase, mixed tocopherols, citric a acid, ascorbic acid, rosemary extract.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

When Amelia was on Spikes Delight before I got her, she looked absolutely terrible and her eyes were hazed over. 
No food you feed them should have THAT many ingredients.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

I think that grains are basically considered fillers even the healthier digestible grains like brown rice. The fact that extruded brown rice is on the list twice is suspicious to me. if those two amounts were put together would it be the first ingredient? Also good foods that have grains will have multiple different types of grains, as well brown rice it would have barley for example, the oat groats are ok but not great. Grains and vegetables have incomplete proteins and need to be paired in order to provide the best nutritional benefit. 

Soybean meal is a filler and it is the third ingredient, there are no vegetables and the chicken meal is the only meat source. Although grains are not bad for hedgehogs I doubt they would eat that many of them in their natural habitat. the whole dried egg and the blood meal are pretty far down the list so it's hard to say if they are beneficial. 

There is a lot more soy on this list than I would like to see, most animals are allergic to soy and it's hard to say if actually provides any nutritional benefit to the animal. 

If the food included more meat sources and vegetables they would not need to add in so many enzymes and vitamins. The stuff at the end of the list that you say hedgehogs may forage for are ok ingredients but probably too far down to really make a difference, some of those I'm not sure hedgehogs are even supposed to eat, I'm pretty sure garlic is on the unsafe food list. If you wanted him to have some of this stuff in his diet it would be much better to try feeding it fresh. 

Note about garlic: most cat and dog foods do include garlic in small amounts and I guess that the amounts are small enough to not do any harm, however you would not want to feed hedgehogs, cats or dogs whole garlic cloves and I doubt that it provides any nutritional benefits. 

Those are the reasons I don't think this is a good food.


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## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

Thank you for the opinions. Christemo, I will definitely take into consideration your experience! 

What I keep trying to say is that in a dog or cat food, YES this would be a very junky food. However, for a hedgehog, the soybean meal, oat groats, etc can be a very good source of roughage. I think a hedgehog's diet in the wild would have more. It also has great protein, fat and fiber % for hedgehogs! I've never seen better.

As far as "no food should have that many ingredients", that doesn't make too much sense to me, since the recommended cat foods have as many or in may cases, MORE ingredients, including fruits and vegetables, and probiotics (which they would not get in the wild) but helps them maintain GOOD bacteria in their digestive system.


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## NoDivision (Aug 29, 2010)

I guess I just don't understand why you think that a food that would be bad for a cat or dog would be good for hedgehogs. In the wild the majority of a hedgehogs diet in insects, not plants, so the inclusion of random shrubbery doesn't really make a good argument. A cat may occasionally eat some grass, but that doesn't mean you'd feed a cat a food that was low in meat products and included more plant products. The same is true of hedgehogs - their primary diet is the "meat" of bugs, so their food should be high in meat products as well.


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## NoDivision (Aug 29, 2010)

(too late to edit, sorry for double post) 

I'm not sure what cat foods in particular you are looking at, but spikes delight has about 4 times as many ingredients as something like natural balance green pea and duck. For comparison: 

Peas, Duck, Duck Meal, Pea Protein, Canola Oil, Flaxseed, Natural Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Taurine, DL-methionine, Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Note that there are no grain fillers and very limited ingredients. The primary makeup is just what the name advertises - green peas and duck. 

Other recommended foods have a huge variety of meats (and other proteins) included for balance. Chicken Soup For the cat lover's soul, for example, has: 
Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, chicken fat, salmon, turkey, duck, ocean fish meal, egg product.


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## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

The point that I'm making is that a food that looks bad for a cat or dog may NOT be bad for a hedgehog, because they AREN'T dogs or cats.

The Natural Balance food that you chose is a very limited ingredient diet. It seems that almost all of the other cat foods mentioned have A LOT of ingredients. *It is not about the meat sources.* There are lots and lots of other things in the food! Below is a partial list of foods from this website. Look at all of the ingredients besides the meat. They have a very large impact on the food:

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Light

Innova Reduced Fat Cat

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Senior

Innova Senior Cat Food Dry

Blue Buffalo Longevity for Mature Cats

Castor & Pollux Natural Ultramix Indoor

Artemis Fresh Mix Senior Formula

Now! grain free turkey with duck senior & weight management


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Spike's Delite is considered more or less the best of the commercial hedgehog foods out there, but it's simply not _as good_ compared to a quality cat food.

As for the argument of "they aren't cats or dogs" - so what? The same basic guidelines for judging a good food can and should be applied to hedgehogs as well. Hedgehogs are often called insectivores but they're actually omnivores - in the wild they eat insects as well as smaller animals (mammals, reptiles, and amphibians), bird eggs, carrion, snails/slugs, berries, mushrooms, and various bits of vegetation. They're similar to dogs in that they're omnivores, and seem to be able to adapt to a wide range of diets, but they're similar to cats in that they require a high protein diet. If you've ever looked at a hedgehog's teeth, they have two long upper canines and a bunch of sharp teeth that are obviously designed for tearing. The inclusion of grains isn't as bad for hedgehogs as for cats, because cats are obligate carnivores, whereas hedgehogs would have some sort of plant material in their diets in the wild. But, the consensus is that meat should be the primary ingredient, and many many years of combined experience among hedgehog owners has proven that the kind of diet that's currently recommended is the best option. Low fat, high protein, and meat supplemented with fruits/vegetables. It's better to give them plant/vegetation in their diet that actually gives them good nutrients, etc, rather than an excess of grains, which pretty much only function as a source of fiber. Some grains, sure; it's just an issue of balance. Some of the best foods for hedgehogs have oatmeal or barley in them, but it's never the first ingredient; usually it falls in at #3 or later.

As for the proteins - judging the kind of protein sources for hedgehogs is exactly the same as for cats and dogs. It should be a specific kind: chicken or chicken meal; turkey or turkey meal; and so on. Generic terms like "poultry meal" are questionable, but it also leaves room for the food to be inconsistent from one batch to another, and that's kind of asking for trouble with hedgehogs being as picky as they are. "Fish meal" is the same thing; too generic. "Blood meal" - a kind of byproduct from slaughterhouses.

The main problem with the most recent list of ingredients is that the grain far outweighs the meat. Chicken meal, okay, first ingredient - and that's way better than other commercial hedgehog foods, which is why (as I said) Spike's Delite is considered the best option among those. After that, you have fish meal (too general a term) at #5, then whole dried egg and blood meal (uhg) at #11 and #12. And the rest is grain - two of which are the same thing (extruded brown rice), two of which are some kind of soy (less than ideal for reasons already mentioned earlier in the thread), and one of them is "soy hulls". As in, the outer shell of soy beans. (I don't even know what to say to that one.)

Plenty of the top-tier cat foods used for hedgehogs include a small amount of grain. When it's the more easily digested kinds, and in appropriate moderation compared with the meat content of the food, it can be a good thing. Personally I stay away from the "grain free" cat foods because they tend to be low in fiber, and hedgehogs require a good bit of fiber. But, the fiber is secondary to having healthy protein sources, and that means meat. Could a hedgehog theoretically survive and even do well on a well-designed "vegetarian" kibble? Sure. But Spike's Delite isn't designed that way - it's simply _lacking_. That doesn't mean it's absolutely terrible - but why settle for a "meh" food when you can give your hedgehog something better?


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

TzusnHedgies said:


> Thank you for the opinions. Christemo, I will definitely take into consideration your experience!
> 
> What I keep trying to say is that in a dog or cat food, YES this would be a very junky food. However, for a hedgehog, the soybean meal, oat groats, etc can be a very good source of roughage.


 You keep saying that soy is a good ingredient for hedgehogs when it is really not, soy is a common allergen which can cause many problems, like skin irritation, obsessive chewing on body parts, swollen mouth/gums, and digestive problems. On top of that it doesn't really have any nutritional benefits for animals that eat meat as their main source of food (this includes hedgehogs as moxieberry explained), it's not digestible for them and they just can't get nutrients from it.



TzusnHedgies said:


> It also has great protein, fat and fiber % for hedgehogs! I've never seen better.


percentages are not everything, you don't know how they have calculated the protein amount, sometimes they include partial vegetable proteins, they may be including soy as a protein these things are not good sources of protein for a hedgehog. I don't see how the protein could be that high when there is only one main protein source.



TzusnHedgies said:


> As far as "no food should have that many ingredients", that doesn't make too much sense to me, since the recommended cat foods have as many or in may cases, MORE ingredients, including fruits and vegetables, and probiotics (which they would not get in the wild) but helps them maintain GOOD bacteria in their digestive system.


I did not make that point but I can say that if I saw as many fruits and veggies on the list of ingredients in spikes delight as the vitamins they have added in, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with this food. vitamins and probiotics are good to have but not in exclusion of real ingredients which is what I'm seeing in the spikes delight.

I'd like to address the extruded brown rice issue again. Brown rice and the rolled oats groats are fine grains to use and you're probably right that they are better for a hedgehog than for a cat, however the fact that the brown rice is listed twice in exactly the same way tells me they divided the amount to avoid listing it like this:

Extruded brown rice, chicken meal, soybean meal, fish meal, steam-rolled oat groats. If the first five ingredients were listed like that would you still consider this a good food? Lets break it down, if rice is the first ingredient there is way too much of it so bad, chicken meal good, soybean meal bad, fish meal nonspecific therefore bad, oat groats ok-good. I see three bad ingredients in the top five listed. and lets be clear these are bad ingredients for hedgehogs.


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## NoDivision (Aug 29, 2010)

I guess this thread just reminds me of may others that pop up here- someone comes asking for opinions and advice, but seems to have no intention of heeding any of it. Tzusn, lots of experienced breeders and owners are explaining why we as a community feel that food is not ideal and there are far better options. But you seem to have made up your mind already that you feel this food is the best option. You make many comments about particular ingredients claiming that you believe they are good for hedgehogs, even though others have said the contrary. What exactly are you looking for with this thread if not the opinions of experienced owners?


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## FamilyOfExotics (May 19, 2012)

I am definitely not that experienced, but I keep hearing you say roughage. Hedgehogs don't really need any 'roughage' to stay healthy. Bunnies and Guinea Pigs are an example of an animal that requires roughage for their digestive systems. And with that, both Bunnies and Guinea Pigs are strict herbivores. Hedgehogs are omnivores, but they need their main source of protein to be a meat protein. Basically, I am not convinced that roughage food should be applied to a hedgehog diet.


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## TzusnHedgies (Sep 25, 2012)

No Division- I'm not saying that it's the best, just that I think it has a bad name and I see a lot of merit in the food. Right now I'm planning to do a mix of 2 or 3 foods. 
Two of them are cat foods.

FamilyofExotics- I agree that they don't need near the amount of roughage as a bunny or guinea pig. But I have talked to other breeders who've said that some roughage is good for a hedgehog.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Are these respected breeders? Any breeder worth their salt would never say that Spike's Delite or any hog food is good.


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