# Are bugs very important?



## hedgie love (Aug 28, 2008)

Today when I was at the vet with Herisson the vet asked what I feed him. I told the vet that I am currently feeding Wellness Indoor Health and Purina Kitten Chow. He asked if I feed any bugs and I said no. Then I got the bug lecture about how they need to have lots of bugs in their diet and cat food won't cut it. The problem is Herisson won't even look at bugs. Now I'm worried (as usual :lol. Are bugs a really important part of their diet or can they survive with out them?


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## dormouse04 (Sep 1, 2008)

I believe bugs are very important in their diet; they are, after all, insectivores.
What kind of bugs have you been feeding them? Have you tried live ones, or only freeze dried?


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## hedgie love (Aug 28, 2008)

I tryed giving Herisson live meal worms (the ones that make me least squimish) but he refused to try them.


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## jesirose (Sep 21, 2008)

So far Patrick hasn't tried a mealie yet either, he just sat on his. 

I'm going to try some other bugs though. I think considering in the wild they eat mostly insects - they are very important.


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## dormouse04 (Sep 1, 2008)

How long have you had Herisson? Both my hogs didn't care for any crickets when I brought them home, even though they ate them a lot at my friend's house. He may just be getting used to a new environment.
I would put a couple crickets in his food bowl to see if he may nibble on them overnight. I did that and sure enough, they started disappearing.


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## PixiesExoticHedgies (Sep 4, 2008)

If they won't eat LIVE bugs, then you can purchase CANNED bugs, located in the reptile section at the pet store. After they _'get a taste of the canned bugs' _for a while, then try live ones again (if you want to). Many hedgies are actually scared of the live bugs....more so, than they just don't want to eat them. I've had great success with the CANNED bugs. The are soft and moist and smell like the live bugs, and they accept them easily. I have not had any luck with freeze-dried bugs. They are hard and have hardly no smell, thus they are less attractive to the hedgies.

:!: Just remember to REFRIDGERATE the can of worms/crickets after opening.....otherwise they will spoil and start to smell really rank.

Pixie


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## hedgie love (Aug 28, 2008)

I was wondering if I could put freeze dried meal worms in my food mix. Herisson will eat pretty much anything that is in with his food.


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## hogmother (Nov 16, 2008)

Priscilla does not eat mealworms. She had one once, but after that, no more. Having invested in 100 of the nasty little buggers I tried everything to get her to like them - cutting them up, putting whole ones in her food, using them as a 'treat'... nothing. They ended up getting flushed.

What I DID find to work was canned crickets. I got them at Petland in the lizard section. They are absolutely revolting to me but she LOVES them. A tip: BUY TWEEZERS. These things lose body parts like no tomorrow on the journey from the can to the mouth, and they are a black, tar like consistency that you really don't want to touch. Oh, and they smell to high heaven. Luckily the seal on the can works well so they don't smell at all when closed. I use the cheese section of the fridge as Priscilla's food section now, to keep her food away from ours. 

In the morning the 2-3 crickets I feed her (not every night by far but I plan to feed them more often) are either gone or hollowed out, which leaves the delightful job of removing the carcasses from her enclosure. 

YUM.


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## drowsydreamer (Aug 28, 2008)

I haven't tried living bugs yet either- but I do know that Turbo appreciates a few freeze dried mealworms added to his daily diet. He doesn't always eat them though, so I don't know how much he prefers them over cat food. He occasionally eats fruits and veggies, but I think that as long as you are investing in a high quality cat food, then the lack of bugs shouldn't be toooooo much of a problem.


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## hedgie love (Aug 28, 2008)

I am feeding a mix of Wellness indoor health, Purina kitten chow (my hedgehog loves this even though it is not very healthy), and Grapenuts cereal.
I was thinking about adding Sunseed hedgehog food to the mix (my pet store sells it but I wasn't sure how fresh it would be. Not many people have hedgehogs.)


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## sagesmommy (Sep 25, 2008)

i mix sunseed hedgehog food in with sages food. She has sun seed hedgehog food, newmans own organic cat food indoor formula , and purina naturals. Once in a while, i will throw freeze dried mealies in there. But she LOVES freeze dried mealies. If i let her ... she would eat the whole can!


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## hogmother (Nov 16, 2008)

hedgie love said:


> I am feeding a mix of Wellness indoor health, Purina kitten chow (my hedgehog loves this even though it is not very healthy), and Grapenuts cereal.
> I was thinking about adding Sunseed hedgehog food to the mix (my pet store sells it but I wasn't sure how fresh it would be. Not many people have hedgehogs.)


I'm quite a newbie so you may know better than me, but I was under the impression there may be problems mixing hedgehogs and grapes/raisins. I've read a number of times on here that they are toxic.

Again you may know differently, but I just wanted to note that in case it was something you wanted to check out .


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

GrapeNuts actually are a cereal from... barley? I believe. There are no grape components, they are just called that. It's a plain, crunchy breakfast cereal with a lot of fiber, so many people add it to their hedgie's mix in an effort to get fiber levels up.


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## Jeanette (Jan 19, 2009)

It's the protein from the insects which is important. If they have enough in their diet to begin with, I don't see the need for an abundance of insects. I do however, give mealworms as treats. If a hedgehog gets too much protein for their little systems to digest, this leads to complications such as fatty liver disease (FLD). If you have a cat food that is not sufficient in protein, then I can see your vet recommending more insects. 

Do cats eat cat food in the wild? NO! Does that necessarily mean that we should go and feed them mice??? NO!


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