# New yummy food mix, and a question



## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

So, after reading about the awesome diet plans of some of the members on here, I wanted to try and improve on Liam's diet. He's a relatively picky eater, so I thought I'd go with the "if I mix it all together then you'll have to eat SOME of the good stuff" method. :lol: I'm not quite up to forming and freezing my own hedgie food patties yet (I forget who it is that does that...) but I think this is a pretty good substitute. Every night he gets:

Kibble Mix (he currently has a mixture of four foods)
Defrosted veggies, chopped into small pieces (I bought an "asian" mix - broccoli, carrots, snap peas, water chestnuts)
Small spoonful turkey (or chicken) baby food
0.25mL Sunshine factor 

Then I mix all this up, so it's all a little moist. Last night was our third night with the new food, and each night when I put Liam back in his cage after cuddle time, he's gone right to the bowl and had a little snack - and he NEVER does that. :shock: So... I guess he likes it?  

My main question is about the SF. I just got some last week (because Liam has been having some dry, flaky skin and scratching a bit - I don't *think* it's mites so I wanted to give the SF a try first) and haven't tried syringe feeding it, just adding it to his food. However, he usually doesn't eat all the food I give him each night, so how do I know if he's getting enough SF? Should I add more than 0.25mL? (I honestly can't remember if that is the correct dose off the top of my head.) His skin does look a little better, but I also gave him a bath with flaxseed oil over the weekend, so I'm not sure if it was that helping or the SF. 

Anyways, other than that, does this sound okay to everyone? Is giving the wet baby food every night going to be too rich? He's a pretty normal sized guy (~360g) so I'm not too concerned about weight. 

Oh, and he also gets mealies as treats. So he is getting some insects.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

His diet is exactly like Snarf's. I used to leave the kibble next to the 'wet mix' but he would eat all of the mix and leave the kibble, so i just smush it all together...and it's pretty much all gone the next day! yay!

I don't make patties but wnated to feed him something different every couple days, so i freeze a heaping tsp or so of canned food/baby food...i just scoop and plop it on a saran-covered cookies sheet and throw it in the freezer. When they're frozen, i toss them in a labeled bag. I do the same thing with cooked veggies...mound them a bit, then freeze. Every morning or two, i remove whatever I need for the mix: 1 or 2 mounds of meat; one mound of veggies...etc etc put them in the fridge, then that night I mix it all together and add SF (.05mg every other day) and kibble.

My vet suggested .05 every two days...it took a month to see major improvements in the quill loss but only a week or so to see better skin (no flakes). I purposely stopped all flax oil rinses and didn't add it to his food as I wanted to see if the SF was working.


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## CritterHeaven (Feb 21, 2011)

I would like to get Truffle less cat food and more "real" food. Can I ask about what proportions you use for the baby food meat and vegies versus the kibble? I am going to do this slowly but would like to start trying it soon. I have SF too and want to add a bit as well. SLOWLY


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

MissC said:


> I don't make patties but wnated to feed him something different every couple days, so i freeze a heaping tsp or so of canned food/baby food...i just scoop and plop it on a saran-covered cookies sheet and throw it in the freezer. When they're frozen, i toss them in a labeled bag. I do the same thing with cooked veggies...mound them a bit, then freeze. Every morning or two, i remove whatever I need for the mix: 1 or 2 mounds of meat; one mound of veggies...etc etc put them in the fridge, then that night I mix it all together and add SF (.05mg every other day) and kibble.


Oh, that is genius! I wanted to have frozen portions so the baby food wouldn't spoil but I wasn't sure how to do it - I went to two stores the other day to get ice cube trays but neither one had any! I guess because everyone has ice makers in their fridges now? Anyway, totally stealing the cookie sheet idea.



MissC said:


> My vet suggested .05 every two days...it took a month to see major improvements in the quill loss but only a week or so to see better skin (no flakes). I purposely stopped all flax oil rinses and didn't add it to his food as I wanted to see if the SF was working.


Yeah, I had been trying to do flax oil rinses less - after reading on here I saw I was doing them too often. But over the weekend when I went to check on him he had about 8 quills and lots of dandruff-y flakes scattered around him (since he sleeps under the liner now it's much easier to tell! :roll: ) so I did a flax bath. I'll try and keep it to just SF from here on and see how that goes. BTW, when you say 0.05mg, how much liquid is that? 0.05mL is really small...? :?



CritterHeaven said:


> I would like to get Truffle less cat food and more "real" food. Can I ask about what proportions you use for the baby food meat and vegies versus the kibble? I am going to do this slowly but would like to start trying it soon. I have SF too and want to add a bit as well. SLOWLY


I'll totally admit that I do not count kibble, so I would say that Liam gets a "small handful" every night. Maybe around 30-50 pieces? Somewhere in there. He doesn't usually eat it all, but some mornings I see a clean bowl. For the baby food, again, I'm not specific (read: too busy to look for a measuring spoon!), but maybe a teaspoon or two. I usually take out two or three veggies (i.e. one carrot, one snap pea) and cut them up into little pieces. Then mix it all together along with the SF. It gets everything nice and moist and even vaguely appetizing looking! :lol: I hope this helps with your question.


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## CritterHeaven (Feb 21, 2011)

yes thanks. I just wanted some idea of how much to mix in together.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Be careful when you're freezing some babyfoods...reall runny...not a big deal, you can just snap some off once it's frozen...I just wanted to warn you... My issue with ice cube trays was getting the stuff OUT...jeez...chipping away at it...twisting the stupid trays... The cookie sheet ideas has worked very well and typically the mounds are flat enough you can cut them in half if you want to mix things up further.

My bad....05ml or cc...yes...it's like one big drop. :lol: At first, I tried to put a drop here and a drop there but was so bad at using the syringe, and .05 is such a small amount, that it ended up in one spot. I am a bit better now and manage to get three teeny drops most days...but yes, it sure ain't a lot of liquid!


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## lpercz (Dec 23, 2010)

Which SF did you get? There are like 3 kinds and I'm not sure which one is the best.

This sounds like a great meal plan. I started to give Sookie one but then she started gaining weight. All of the foods she has are among the healthiest and I didnt give her big portions but she's been gaining weight so I had to stop. She also doesnt use her wheel as much anymore :| I think I'll start it up again, these are great idea's!


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I only know about one SF...this one: http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/ ... actor.html

Can you adopt Snarf's diet and use babyfood or low fat canned catfood and maybe more veggies? Like 2 parts veggies and 1 part meat? Just be careful...they still need some meat-like stuff. I purposely choose what I think will be the smelliest babyfoods: stews (beef and chicken). Low fat catfood stinks! If a hedgie is picky, I always suggest the smelliest healthy catfood you can find. I looked at a LOT of canned foods and found many really low in fat and protein. There was only one FAIL: a beef stew that made Snarf barf. I think it was too rich (it looked and smelled verrrry good :shock: ). Now I just mix it in smaller amounts and he's fine. I have yet to find one he won't eat!

For insects, crickets are a lot lower in fat than mealies etc...I feed him 7 crickets and 5 mealies or so. I offer them throughout the day and hide frozen crickets in his cage at night so he doesn't over do it all at once.


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

lpercz said:


> Which SF did you get? There are like 3 kinds and I'm not sure which one is the best.
> 
> This sounds like a great meal plan. I started to give Sookie one but then she started gaining weight. All of the foods she has are among the healthiest and I didnt give her big portions but she's been gaining weight so I had to stop. She also doesnt use her wheel as much anymore :| I think I'll start it up again, these are great idea's!


This is the exact website I ordered from: http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/Sunsh ... oducts/52/ and I got the 4oz bottle. It comes as a solid but if you run the bottle under hot water for a minute or so it gets all liquid-y. Mine looks a little different than the one MissC posted but I think they're the same thing...?

I can't help as much with the weight gain thing, but I don't imagine that most baby foods are that high in fat, since they are usually as bland as possible. :lol: Especially something like chicken or turkey, which are naturally more lean anyway. Maybe that would be okay for Sookie? What kind of food is she on now? Liam freakin' LOVES the meat baby food... gobbles it up. I figured it would be easier to get him to eat some veggies if they were coated in turkey paste. :roll:


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## CritterHeaven (Feb 21, 2011)

So I bought these tonight at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I have not tried them yet but hope to get a chance to make a few "food" cubes tomorrow night. Will let you know how they work.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... U=17483986


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

So we are about 1 week into the new diet, and I just wanted to share a story. I finished mixing up Liam's food last night, and put him back in the cage. He immediately rushed to the food bowl and started chowing down. Then, he actually pushed the kibble out of the way to go eat the broccoli. :shock: :shock: :shock: 

I almost fainted. So, all you owners of picky hedgies, keep the faith! If you force broccoli on your hedgie for seven days, he may just start to like it! :lol:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

That is exactly why I have been going on and on about trying 'wet' & smelly mixed with kibble. Snarf did the exact same thing: if it was in the same dish as a veggie...forget it. Now, he pushes everything out of the way and chows down on the fruit & veggie first.

I have changed Snarf's menu a bit: I was worried about too little fibre (no real reason for this as his poop was fine but you know the rule: everything is fine, I must worry about something), so I mix in kibble while I am mixing the frozen stuff (in the morning), then right before I serve it, I add a bit of Sunseed to give it some crunch.

He also gets a small dish of fruits/veggies before I provide the kibble mix just in case he gets up before I make the mix. This dish MUST include bananas! but otherwise, I just cube up pieces of cooked veggies or maybe eggs, yogurt. This is where I put new foods; firstly, to see if he loves them as opposed to 'meh' and secondly, so he 'knows' about the food before it's added to his mix. I usually throw a couple mealies in the dish, as well - they are surrounded by food so rarely try to escape.

I also hide 4-5 frozen crickets tucked under rocks and fake plants in Snarf's cage: he has become a master hunter! It seemed like he used to stumble upon them; now, as soon as he's awake, he does a tour and sniffs around like crazy, then gobbles them up systematically! No matter how 'sneaky' I am, he always finds every last one and it is so cute to watch him stop dead in his tracks and whip his nose up in the air, sniffing like crazy trying to figure out what the heck showed up!


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## Paprika<3 (Apr 4, 2011)

im sorry im a new hedgie owner and I keep seeing SF what does that mean??? I have my hedgie on cat food what are some other good types of foods and amounts??? any help would be appreciated thank you so much!!


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

MissC said:


> I was worried about too little fibre (no real reason for this as his poop was fine but you know the rule: everything is fine, I must worry about something)


Haha, I know that rule too well! This morning I noticed that 95% of the veggies were gone but a lot of the kibble was left. I'm wondering if the reason he's not eating as much kibble is because: A) he just likes the fresh stuff more, and is getting full faster, or B) the because the mix is slightly wet he eventually ignores the kibble because of decreased crunch factor. Sigh. Can you believe they make us put up with this? :roll:



MissC said:


> He also gets a small dish of fruits/veggies before I provide the kibble mix just in case he gets up before I make the mix. This dish MUST include bananas!


Question: Liam loves fresh bananas, but because he eats such a tiny piece, and since the whole banana is pretty much done for once you peel it, I don't give them to him often. I tried banana chips, but no dice. What do you use? I wonder if you can freeze banana pieces and have them stay fresh that way?



Paprika<3 said:


> im sorry im a new hedgie owner and I keep seeing SF what does that mean??? I have my hedgie on cat food what are some other good types of foods and amounts??? any help would be appreciated thank you so much!!


Paprika: SF stands for "Sunshine Factor" - it's like a vitamin mix/dietary supplement. A lot of people give their hedgie some, especially to help with dry skin. You can order it online from lots of retailers.  As for food, this topic has a huge list of different cat foods, and highlights the ones with good nutrient ratios. Basically, you want something that uses high-quality meat (no fillers) and is low in fat, high in protein.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

cylaura said:


> Question: Liam loves fresh bananas, but because he eats such a tiny piece, and since the whole banana is pretty much done for once you peel it, I don't give them to him often. I tried banana chips, but no dice. What do you use? I wonder if you can freeze banana pieces and have them stay fresh that way?


I just keep slicing away at the same banana. I don't peel it: I cut off the 'exposed' end and toss it, then a slice for Snarf, I just remove the little slice of peel. I cut it up as he doesn't seem to eat it when it's a slice :roll: . I store it on the counter cuz it gets too ripe to fast in the fridge; I use frozen bananas for breads, etc and think they would be too mushy? I have tried every which way and tho' you're wasting banana this way, it's minimal waste and still resembles a banana.

The thing about banana chips is they present the same issue as other dried fruit. As per the vet, dried fruit is way too sweet as it is so concentrated. When they dry it, all the moisture seeps out and you're basically left with sugar. This is the one thing she was pretty adamant about: she said NO dried fruit...I promised only 1/2 tsp as a treat in his dig dish and she said okay. But that's IT! Since Snarf started eating bananas, he hasn't touched dried stuff.


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

Perhaps the problem is really with myself. Personally, I have a very small 'window' in which I enjoy bananas - I buy them a little green, because once the brown spots appear, I'm done. (Luckily my roommate likes them mushier so he will usually eat the stragglers from the bunches I buy.) I'll try your slicing technique - Liam is probably less picky than me and will eat them no matter how ripe they are! :lol: Thanks!


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Snarf doesn't seem to picky about the state of his bananas: he eats them when I first provide them at 10pm and will be eating them at 7am...and he's never turned up his nose at really ripe or really green...but everything is subject to change without notice. :roll:


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