# Insectivore diet?



## iinustii (Mar 30, 2011)

Okay, so. I've been going through this section and now I'm wondering if I'm the only one here who believes in insectivore diet? As in, 60-80% of our daily menu consists of _different kind of insects_ (read more of our daily menu HERE or a better explanation as to why we're going with the insectivore diet HERE) instead of cat kibbles (although those are served, too) acting as the base food. We did a lot of research on the matter, but came to the conclusion that American vets and Finnish (yeah, we're from Finland) vets seem to have a very different opinion on this matter, and since pretty much all of our official breeders prefer insectivore diet, we decided to go with it too. And I have to say, it's worked pretty well for us so far 

I'm asking because I'm truly curious, not to start a fight like happened in one of the livejournal communities! When I first mentioned our diet, I was told it'd be too high in fat and that obesity would soon be an issue, but seeing as Hugo weights about 470 grams (he actually lost some weight due seasonal affective disorder, I believe) and is really slim and small in size, I can't really say I'd agree with that point.

I'm asking, because even the vets seem to agree on disagreeing or rather, not knowing for sure; no one seems to know for a fact what the best kind of diet for hedgehogs is seeing as they're fairly new pets and haven't been researched as much as dogs, for example.

So, basically, has anyone else tried insectivore diet? Did you stay on it or give up on it? Why? Any opinions, etc?

If a similar topic to this one has already been posted, I'd love to be pointed to its direction because I simply could not find one!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I find this thread very interesting.  

I've been thinking about insectivore diet for a while and have been trying to reduce the amount of kibble they eat by adding more mealworms, small crickets and cooked minced chicken. I bought chicken breast, cut the breasts in small cubes and froze those. Every other night I take a cube out of the freezer and cook it for them. I'm planning on doing the same with ground beef, freezing spoonfuls of it on a cookie sheet and them putting it in a bag in the freezer.
On the other nights, the girls get a teaspoon of Wellness Healthy Indulgence with Sunshine Factor and BeneBac. 

I'm interested to know if you have noticed changes in his poop? How did you determine the amount of bugs you offer him?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Snarf saw a vet about a month ago for his dry skin. The rceptionist asked me to review a handout prior to meeting the vet. It included info re: heat, cage, nutrition. Based on that info and with the vet's blessing, he is now eating the following:

10-15 insects/day (more crickets & beetles due to the high fat content of mealies)
1 tbsp of Sunseed & kibble (Holistic; NOW! and a couple RC)
1 tbsp of moist food: half meat (canned catfood; 'real' meat; babyfood) & half veggie
(I also add 1 tsp of Sunseed to this)
treat: veggies and banana

I also add SunFactor once every two days.

The 'real' meat is poached or fried chicken thigh or fried ground beef or pork.
The veggies are teeny cubes of cooked veggies: sweet potato, peppers, carrots, zucchini etc

The vet said there is no 'right' diet for a hedgehog as we just don't know enough about them,
and the best way to tell if a diet is working is behavior & weight gain/loss. She said she's not anti-kibble exactly, but finds that we 'fall back' to feeding kibble cuz we don't know what else to feed them. She noted we did the same thing when ferrets became populsr and rats, mice, etc etc etc

The biggest positive thing I have noticed since Snarf's diet change is his willingness to try ANYTHING!! He would NOT even try bananas...now he waits at his dish for them. And he eats at least a bite of everything else. I am sure it's because when veggies are mixed in with super yummy, smelly babyfood, he has no choice but to eat a couple, right? So he has learned to try new things. It's pretty amazing!! His least favroite food?? Kibble. Hands down...it barely gets touched. That's why I increased his insect quota and added Sunseed (fibre).


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## iinustii (Mar 30, 2011)

susanaproenca said:


> I find this thread very interesting.
> 
> I've been thinking about insectivore diet for a while and have been trying to reduce the amount of kibble they eat by adding more mealworms, small crickets and cooked minced chicken. I bought chicken breast, cut the breasts in small cubes and froze those. Every other night I take a cube out of the freezer and cook it for them. I'm planning on doing the same with ground beef, freezing spoonfuls of it on a cookie sheet and them putting it in a bag in the freezer.
> On the other nights, the girls get a teaspoon of Wellness Healthy Indulgence with Sunshine Factor and BeneBac.
> ...


Thanks, I'm glad someone does! Your menu these days sounds like a great start and it's definitely good you're going slow with the changes 

Like your system, pretty similar to ours in a way -- I actually always cook the chicken or ground beef/meat beforehand and freeze them and all sorts of canned bugs in small jars or bags so that it's not such a hassle every night; just take a jar out from the freezer, let it melt, add the other stuff and done! Works pretty well for us. I don't freeze all the bugs, though - I leave enough for a few nights into the original can and put it into the fridge. Naturally Hugo prefers them fresh, so.

His poop is pretty solid on most days, usually no changes, but I've noticed that whenever we give him Almo Nature's chicken (which is the only wet cat food I don't say no to) or more vegetables/fruits than usually, it turns a lot more runny... admittedly, same goes for superworms and mealworms, if he eats "too many" of those, poop is a bit runnier - which is why I always avoid giving too many worms/pillars in one night.

Before we got Hugo, I spent hours and hours on our official hedgehog society forum and read a whole bunch of posts and daily menus of other owners and Finnish breeders. First I followed their menus pretty strict (and naturally kept an eye on Hugo's weight) and from there, I kinda cooked up our own menu. I guess I've no real rule, I just use common sense, is all. I prefer, or at least try to prefer insects with high protein and low fat such as crickets and grasshoppers, but to ensure his diet is versatile enough, I keep changing the amounts around a lot! I usually don't give him fatty worms all at once, but only a few (plus his daily live mealworms), if any.

I've also learned how much (and what) Hugo eats a night so through that, it's become easier and easier to fill his bowl according to his "taste". Been one epic "try and learn" journey for us, that's for sure!



MissC said:


> Snarf saw a vet about a month ago for his dry skin. The rceptionist asked me to review a handout prior to meeting the vet. It included info re: heat, cage, nutrition. Based on that info and with the vet's blessing, he is now eating the following:
> 
> 10-15 insects/day (more crickets & beetles due to the high fat content of mealies)
> 1 tbsp of Sunseed & kibble (Holistic; NOW! and a couple RC)
> ...


As I said, I also prefer crickets for the exactly same reason. I agree on the vet part; I meant the same, but you worded it a whole lot better 

Hugo also tries anything, at least once, which is something I love. I asometimes mix all of his food together and use some babyfood in doing so and he's got no other choice but to try everything  Although, Hugo tends to dislike all sorts of mashes, but if there's a tasty, smelly freeze dried cricket or a cat kibble somewhere there, everything goes! So yeah, that's one big positive thing in my opinion, too!

Thank you for sharing your own thoughts, I was super-happy and interested to read them!


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