# Feed amounts (Treats)



## Vivalahedgielution (Feb 8, 2013)

I am sorry if you read this in another part of the forum, however it has gone a few days without response and I am beginning to be concerned that Hubert might be getting too many treats and this effecting how much kibble he'll eat. That being said, I am concerned that he might not be putting on enough weight or maybe he's at a good weight. I don't know. I put up a question about it in another part of the forum. haha

Anyways, Here is/are my question(s):

So Hubert will only eat a few kibbles a night from his bowl. He isn't real big on eating them but I am sure I am giving him too many treats, too often.  That aside, his weight looks to be fine. Not getting overweight and loves his wheel, and not getting too thin as his little hedgie body seems to be that cute kind of dumpy look haha.

How many of what treats is a good amount for an average sized hog depending on the different type of treats?
Does someone have a chart they can put up? Something that would read along the lines:

meal worms, xx amount, xx times weekly
skinless cooked sweet potato, xx amount, xx times weekly
insert treat here, xx amount, xx times weekly (lower calorie treat - can combine with other lower cal. treat for a total of x # of treats a week)

And maybe add in if one gives x amount of 1 treat (I'll just throw this out there - obviously this would be too many), for example, you wanted to give your pet 20 mealies weekly. So if you gave him that many, you probably wouldn't really wanna give him extra treats. But for other treats like lower calorie ones, lets say you wanted to give your hedgie a baby carrot a week, you could probably also include a couple mealies. So, a chart could indicate if the treat is a lower calorie (or a treat that could potentially be given more often) and what other treats on what basis they could be combined. Also, a chart could include if a treat is higher in calories or not as nutritionally sound, how often it would be ok to give to your hedgie and whether or not other treats could be given in or around that same time span. ****OR*** Better yet, maybe make a category list of low cal, medium cal, and high cal treats and just write in how many times weekly the pet can receive treats from each of these categories and that would also include if they receive 1 high cal that they should only receive 1 lower cal treat and no more, etc.

I know each hedgie is an individual but a generalized list would be so helpful. 

Kind of like a treat diet plan. haha I know there's lots of info on these forums indicating what treats are and are not safe, all about fat content, etc. but I am really mostly curious about frequency, in what amounts. 

(If this exists somewhere on the site already, please just let me know and I'll go look! Thanks so much for your help everyone!  )


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

I don't see his current weight or a reference to a weight chart in this post, which begs the question: "Are you weighing the hedgie? Sophie gets weighed every Monday afternoon. I wouldn't worry about daily fluctuation unless close monitoring were especially needed. Weekly weigh-ins will give you a good trend line.



> will only eat a few kibbles a night from his bowl.


"a few" isn't data. I give Sophie's kibble by count, but that count has been determined by weighing a known and goodly amount, and dividing into pieces per gram. This gives me very accurate data for her log. Some kibbles are as many as 25 pieces per gram, while others average 5 pieces per gram. "a few" doesn't mean much without context. Plus, hedgies don't eat much anyway, so high accuracy is required.



> his weight looks to be fine.


But the quality of the diet goes directly to the quality of the weight (junk food versus healthy food).

I can't say how your treats compare to what other hedgies get. You haven't said what or how much. Because hedgies don't eat a lot, treats usually have to be doled out pretty carefully or we wind up feeding a whole day's quantity of ration - and whether they've gotten what they need nutritionally, well, oops.

I definitely can't give you a chart of items, amounts, or frequencies. The variance can be huge. There is 'an average', but there are also lots of hedgies that need to keep their weight up, and lots of hedgies that need to keep their weight down. Sophie won't eat enough to keep her weight up, so she gets high-fat, high-protein kibbles, baby food treat (meat), and a whopping 20 mealies a day. That is way more than average, but her diet needs give her a lucky break on mealies.

A 'generalized' list of potential diet plans must be recommended to a specific situation. Exactly what your hedgie weighs and exactly what they are eating are key reference points.


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## alexvdl (Dec 19, 2012)

The quality of the weight? What does that mean?


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

> The quality of the weight? What does that mean?


Referencing OP's comment:



> That being said, I am concerned that he might not be putting on enough weight or maybe he's at a good weight.


is my comment:



> But the quality of the diet goes directly to the *quality of the weight* (junk food versus healthy food).


discussing that the OP is concerned about a 'correct' weight - into which I am suggesting one must factor the quality of the diet that the hedgie is getting. Knowing the actual weight (which it appears OP does not) is but part of the equation.


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## Vivalahedgielution (Feb 8, 2013)

Sorry for the delay.

I have recently begun weighing him and it appears that he is at a steady 186g range (+ or - about 1 gram... probably poop haha). Is that a normal range? 
(He is now about 7-8 weeks old. What should his weight be about?)
More fatty treats? Less fatty treats? More protein? Less? etc.


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## shmurciakova (Sep 7, 2008)

That seems like a decent weight for his age. Rather than worrying so much about the amount of this and that you are feeding, I would personally try to relax a bit about it and consider the total amount of food/ day. I don't think you should be feeding more than 2-3 TBS of food/day. You can make this be a mix of dry food, meal worms (maybe 6 or so/day is reasonable) and some sweet potato, cooked chicken, or whatever you are eating for dinner such as a piece of cucumber, broccoli or a piece of fruit, etc. I don't think you need to go crazy weighing food, counting calories, etc.
That is just my personal take on the matter, but you can gauge how much your hog wants to eat - and as was already stated, weighing your hog will help you. He should continue to gain weight until around 6-8 months of age. After that the weight should start to level off. If you notice he is getting too round or tends to pig out maybe you can ration the food.
I hope that helps,
Susan H.


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

There isn't a 'correct weight'. The range of normal is too wide for that. It's better to go by shape, look, and feel. The weight chart helps to identify trends; helps you make decisions. Below is Sophie's data for her first six months. You can see the huge growth when she was still a baby, and then see the leveling to more modest gains.

Illustrating that each hedgie is an individual, Sophie stopping growing at just 15 weeks, which I wasn't too too worried about, but then she started dropping weight at a time when she still should have been growing; losing 12% of her body weight when she should have still been gaining a bit. Yikes. I made diet changes, increasing the fat and protein content of her kibbles.

She went through another big weight loss after this and I had to make more diet changes. At 59 weeks, her current weight is 314 grams and she is stable. Her shape is good and she looks terrific. At around 300 grams and under she looked thin and felt a bit 'bony'. Note that she was 314 grams at 12 weeks!!!

In Sophie's case, she just doesn't eat enough quantity, so everything she gets is nutrient packed with fat and protein; well above what is recommended as percentages, but that seems to be what she needs. Whenever I've eased back on F & P, her weight starts dropping.


26 weeks: 328 grams (11.57 ounces) (+4) (+1.2%)
25 weeks: 324 grams (11.43 ounces) (+6) (+1.9%)
24 weeks: 318 grams (11.22 ounces) (+14) (+4.6%)
23 weeks: 304 grams (10.72 ounces) (+14) (+4.8%)


22 weeks: 290 grams (10.23 ounces) (+0) (+0.0%)
21 weeks: 290 grams (10.23 ounces) (-18) (-5.9%) (Total loss from 330 gram level: 40 grams. -12.3%)
20 weeks: 308 grams (10.86 ounces) (-4) (-1.3%)
19 weeks: 312 grams (11.01 ounces) (-10) (-3.1%)
18 weeks: 322 grams (11.36 ounces) (+6) (+1.9%)
17 weeks: 316 grams (11.15 ounces) (-4) (-1.3%)
16 weeks: 320 grams (11.29 ounces) (-10) (-3.0%)


15 weeks: 330 grams (11.64 ounces) (+4) (+1.2%)
14 weeks: 326 grams (11.50 ounces) (+8) (+2.5%)
13 weeks: 318 grams (11.22 ounces) (+4) (+1.3%)
12 weeks: 314 grams (11.08 ounces) (+12) (+4%)


11 weeks: 302 grams (10.65 ounces) (+26) +(9.4%)
10 weeks: 276 grams (9.74 ounces) (+34) (+14%)
9 weeks: 242 grams (8.54 ounces) (+22) (+10%)
8 weeks: 220 grams (7.76 ounces) (+38) (+20.9%)
7 weeks: 182 grams (6.42 ounces) (+36) (+24.7%)
6 weeks: 146 grams (5.15 ounces)


I would suggest that you free-feed one or two of the generally recommended kibbles and just keep on eye on him. My only big suggestion would be to limit treats. Hedgies eat so little, you could fill his little stomach with treats and he might not eat his 'real' food like he is supposed to.

Sophie's treat is mealworms every day. If I am needing to get especially high levels of nutrients into her, she gets chicken or turkey baby food with a special kibble ground up and mixed into the baby food. She looooves the baby food, so I use it sparingly, just for helping with diet changes if her weight takes a tumble.

Sophie's exercise level has begun to drop quite a bit. If that remains the case, at some point I may need to make diet changes the other direction and cut her down to a kibble with more 'normal' fat and protein levels. I suppose the concerns never end. Ha!


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## Vivalahedgielution (Feb 8, 2013)

ok, this helps considerably! I'm weighing Hubert every Monday night now. Tomorrow I am getting lamb hund-n-flocken, which is supposed to be one of the best ones. Maybe he'll be more inclined to eat that. Also, begrudgingly, I'll start treating him less. haha At least until we can see where he should be at. He's not 'thin', but he is on the thinner side in terms of boniness. Thanks for the help. BTW, saw a couple of your videos, Sophie is adorable!


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