# Fish



## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Okay so I know they can eat fish. Is this just fish meal ect in food
Or can they eat actual pieces of fish like they can chicken.
Are all fishes safe or are there some that should be avoided, even if they are in food.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

By 'actual fish' I assume you mean something like a piece of fresh fish?

There are some types of fish that are best kept to treats; perhaps most notably tuna, due to mercury content. That's not to say that a small amount of tuna every now again is 'bad', it just wouldn't be something that I, personally, would feel comfortable feeding on the regular. Mercury content will vary depending on where the fish was caught, but it's something to be aware of nonetheless. 

Generally speaking, all fish commonly available on the market are safe to feed to hedgehogs. i.e salmon, whitefish, sardines, cod, mackerel, trout, etc. Obviously, there are toxic species - to both humans and pets haha. There are also some fish that I just wouldn't bother feeding (eel, farmed salmon, stuff like that). If you have a particular fish in mind and you aren't sure if its safe, you could always post it to double check.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Yea I meant a piece of fish.

I wasn't planing on giving her fish regularly, but she liked the smell of my steamed salmon the other night; and then I was curious on what fishes are actually safe.
Most salmon we can buy is farmed though, pre packaged or from a fish counter its still mainly farmed.
Tuna mostly we buy it canned so to be fair I don't think I'd ever give it to Holly unless I brought if from a fish counter, and even then I'd give her very small amounts.

Thank you for the information. So most fish like trout, mackerel, seabas, cod are fine ??


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Trout, mackerel, sea bass, and cod are all safe yes.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Farmed salmon why would this be bad ?? 

As doing catering - The only difference in farmed salmon and fresh salmon is the size. 
With fish (farmed or not) they are still kept completely naturally.
And farmed salmon is generally the main salmon on the market, as we can get it all year round.


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

Lol Igor loves fish. I can hold the piece of fish above his head whiles he's sleeping and a few seconds later he'll wake up looking for the tasty treat.


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Aw thats so cute. 
I get that reaction from Holly mainly with Duck. 
But I get it with most meats, fruits and veg. And she took an interest in the smell of salmon.
She's never actually had fish because although knowing its safe I wasnt never 100% sure what ones were safe


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

I've never had duck, nor am I sure that they even sell it here. 
Fruits and veggies ain't Igor's cup of tea, but when it comes to steak, pork, fish, chicken, and anything meaty, oh he'll gobble it up. My mom says he's a meat eater, and she's sure he'd even eat my flesh if it was offered 😂


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

I think most hogs are meat eaters. Be carful with pork as it can be veryyyyy salt and its verrrryyyy fatty too. Most people avoid giving it, but a small bit here and there wont cause harm.


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## Brooke Lancelot (Jan 30, 2019)

I don't eat pork alot either, it tends to make me nauseous, and I only give Igor a piece that's smaller than my pinkie if I give him. Most is white meat, fish and chicken. I think it'll he safe for holly to eat, no problem. Its easy to digest.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

You can feed farmed salmon if you want to, but nutritionally speaking wild caught is far superior. Farmed salmon is much higher in saturated fat, and is also much more likely to be contaminated with pesticides than wild caught. 

I prefer wild caught, because 1) its superior, nutritionally speaking and 2) it's completely free of antibiotics, which are regularly used in fish farming.

Like I said; it's a matter of personal preference. Farmed salmon isn't necessarily 'bad', wild-caught is just overall better (for all fish species, really; not just salmon).


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Brooke Lancelot said:


> I don't eat pork alot either, it tends to make me nauseous, and I only give Igor a piece that's smaller than my pinkie if I give him. Most is white meat, fish and chicken. I think it'll he safe for holly to eat, no problem. Its easy to digest.


She has a small bit of pork before. I just rarely give it to her because of the fat and salt. She likes it though.
She's just never had fish yet.

Its extremely rare that you can ever get wild caught fish. But to be honest you got just as much chance of them having parasites farmed or wild, and antibiotics aren't actually used hugely in fish farming, (defiantly not as much as with chickens, cows, pigs, sheep/lambs)
One my lectures friends is a fish farmer and using antibiotics isn't as big as people think
Wild caught fish can actually have things like plastic and rubbish in their guts as our waters are so full of it, obviously this does depend on where its was caught, and stuff like that.

So to be honest I think its about as safe and nutritional to use farmed fish as it is to use wild caught fish.

But this is from knowledge I have learnt at college through the years of doing a catering course.


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## Emc (Nov 18, 2018)

Farmed fish are generally incredibly overstocked; the risk of parasite transmission is of a much higher likelihood to occur in crowded conditions vs the wild. The risk isn't equal - these intensive farming methods are wildly known to have increased risk of parasites and just illness in general. With this increased risk, farmers use a combination of pesticides and antibiotics to control outbreaks. I would argue that the majority of salmon farms are overall... just, not so great.

Wild caught salmon isn't as easy to find as farmed, no - but it is most certainly not at all equal. 

Again, I'm not going to say it's 'bad', but wild caught fish is (generally) far more healthier (nutritionally speaking + condition of the fish) than farmed. If you want to feed it, that's totally up to you.


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## Aj.t (Jan 29, 2019)

Also, make sure that any wild fish you do purchase is not an overfished species! Seafood Watch is a great app that lists most all commercially fished species and whether or not they’re overfished... cause there are definitely a few “popular” species that aren’t doing so well in the wild because of demand... and there’s my conservation message lol


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## Ria (Aug 30, 2018)

Aj.t said:


> Also, make sure that any wild fish you do purchase is not an overfished species! Seafood Watch is a great app that lists most all commercially fished species and whether or not they're overfished... cause there are definitely a few "popular" species that aren't doing so well in the wild because of demand... and there's my conservation message lol


Most of them are over fished from what I've read, it wont surprise me if one day we can never buy wild fish.

But eating farmed fish is like eating chicken, cows, pigs, sheep. 
Although fish are still better because they don't get injected with hormones like cows and sheep, chickens and pigs.


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