# Eating more than usual?



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Lily's been eating rather more than she usually does in the last few days. I'm probably freaking out over nothing again :lol: , but do hedgies go through growth spurts or something like that? She's nine months old, so she's not a baby anymore. She's been drinking and pooping normally, although I suppose there might be a bit more poop, what with more going in. I just wanted to check and see if this was normal for them to have random stretches of eating more than usual.


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

I don't know if it's a normal behavior or not but my hedgie does that sometimes too. He worries me to death, the little booger! Some days he'll eat half a bowl of food at a time for 2-3 days, then he'll go and eat all of it but a few pieces for a few nights, then back to half a bowl. I don't know if it's the amount of running he does affecting his appetite or how bored he gets (he runs awhile then goes and checks the food to see if it changed, so I think he does get bored sometimes), but he does do that for whatever reason. He's about 9 months old now too.


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## Juicebox (Mar 22, 2009)

Juicebox has been doing the same as well. I usually put her food in at night since thats when she's the most active and I dont want it to be sitting there all day. But she started eating her food when I put it during the day once, and today I refilled her bowl with some wet cat food ( shes only 4 months) and i took a nap. When I woke up she had eaten the whole bowl. I put more just incase she gets hungry or to see if her eating schedule is fixed back to how it was before. Also, should I start feeding her dry cat food? Ive had her for a week today.


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

Hedgies can start eating dry kibble at 5-6 weeks when they start eating pieces the mother has dropped. She should definitely have already been on dry kibble by 4 months--she should have been waaaaaaaaaay before you got her. What did the previous owner(s) feed her? Were they the ones who told you to feed only wet food?

A mix of 2-3 dry cat foods is the best thing to feed her. The wet food should only be considered an occasional treat. Reaper's list that is stickied at the top of this board has all suitable foods on it, so pick 2 or so from there and go with that for your mix.

If she hasn't been introduced to kibble before, introduce one food to her slowly. Put a bowl with the kibble out, and a bowl with a little wet food (not a whole bowl full) and see how she reacts to the kibble. After probably a week of that, if she's eating the kibble leave only the kibble in there and no wet food. Stay with that for a few weeks, with only occasionally treating to wet food if at all, then you can add in a second dry food if you'd like to do so (slowly). 

The reason for isolating the foods is to make sure one doesn't cause an upset tummy.

When it comes to wet cat food, I would be reluctant to leave it out during the day due to spoilage. I normally only feed that to my cat, and that is kept in the refrigerator until she's ready to eat it, and it's always eaten in a few hours. I wouldn't leave it out during the day, I think I would leave extra kibble out instead.


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## Juicebox (Mar 22, 2009)

I started giving Juicebox Pet Promise dry kibble and she LOVVEEEEEEESSS it. I gave her some meal worms before and she pooped and as I ran to get something to pick it up with, she was on the other side of the tank at her food bowl happily crunching away. lmao.


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