# Crumbs left behind?



## Quilliam Is My Buddy (Jun 16, 2009)

When my hedgie eats, he leaves crumbs that fall out of his mouth, and there a lot of them. Is this normal for hedgies, or is he just messy by nature?


----------



## Nanobitz (Jul 13, 2010)

Quilliam Is My Buddy said:


> When my hedgie eats, he leaves crumbs that fall out of his mouth, and there a lot of them. Is this normal for hedgies, or is he just messy by nature?


If its dry food, yes its completely normal. My hedgie, Gracie, has dry cat food and I always hear her crunching and eating it. I slowly noticed crumbs all over the plave but mostly by her bowl and I sat and watched her eat and she just simplely crunched it and didnt go back to eat the crumbs. Its normal but some hedgehogs do go back and eat them. Gracie however does not 

-Heather and Gracie


----------



## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

I think it depends on the hedgie. 

Satin often leaves a few crumbs behind in her dish of the "okay, I'm done now mom" variety. 

Tex... Tex is a different story... crumbs in the dish, crumbs near the dish, crumbs across his liners, crumbs in the opposite corner of his cage, crumbs in his hedgiebag... You name it, it has crumbs (and poop).


----------



## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

I'd say it is fine also.  How does his teeth look?


----------



## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Kashi leaves crumbs EVERYWHERE.

He likes to walk around while he eats (no joke). He will first be eating by his dish... and then he will suddenly decide he wants to eat the piece of kibble in a different part of his cage and walk that way and start eating there...


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Lily leaves crumbs too. :lol: She stays by her bowl eating, so it's just a mess around her bowl in the mornings. I started putting little "placemats" of fleece under her food bowl to make it easier to clean up.


----------



## jinglesharks (Jun 15, 2010)

Pepper is SUCH a messy eater. If he's out and about and I'm feeding him and he drops crumbs, I point them out to him. He'll sniff at them, and then look at me blankly like, "... Yes? I'm clearly done with those, what do you want?" :lol:


----------



## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I never noticed before, but now that you mention it, Cholla is also really messy. I usually put a paper towel under his food & water bowl. Have to replace it every day. And every time I get him out of his cuddle house, he's ALWAYS got a few crumbs attached to him. Seriously, I have to vacuume all the time. Can't stand crumbs on my bare feet. :roll:


----------



## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

My hedgie used to be so good about eating the little crumbs but the longer he has been here the more he decides "oh well, mom cleans them". He will eat a crumb if its a yummy snack he can't get enough of but if its his regular food he just figures he's getting new food first thing in the morning so he don't care. Its so funny how they change sometimes lol


----------



## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Hester Sue = Food Area looks like someone did a demolish job on a brick wall, crumbs all over the place. Thankfully she has a loft in her ferret nation which has become the dining room, so I don't put any fleece in there, just the plastic floor, easy clean up.

Loki of the North = Not a single crumb to be found, I've watched him eat too, crumbs will fall out and after he's eaten the major chunk, he'll pick them up and eat them too, such a clean boy.


----------



## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

One night I left the crumbs in everyone's dish thinking they would "clean their plate". NOPE. Little suckers left their crumbs and I felt horrible for not replenishing the dishes. SHEESH they have me trained.


----------



## Quilliam Is My Buddy (Jun 16, 2009)

tie-dye hedgie said:


> I'd say it is fine also.  How does his teeth look?


 They're fine, and they sure were sharp when he thought my finger was the water bottle!  
(I've replaced the bottle with a water bowl)

And yeah, it's dry food. Thanks, guys.


----------

