# Only Eating New Kibble



## MistyDay (Oct 31, 2014)

When I brought my hedgehog, Tulsi, home she was on a hedgehog kibble. I decided to switch her to a cat food. I chose Natural Balance pea and duck formula. She loves the new food, however, with each feeding she's eating less and less food. Originally she was eating up to 75 pieces of hedgehog kibble a night. I noticed that as I started switching her food, she ignored the majority of the hedgehog kibble and ate all of the cat food I gave her. I saw that she was only eating about 40 or so kibble a night over the past week. I reduced the amount of total kibble to 50 pieces, thinking that's all she could fit in her tummy in a night. She ate most of the food total and seemed fine.

I'm currently staying at my parent's house due to surgery, while my boyfriend is taking care of my Tulsi back at the apartment. He is giving her 50 pieces total and slowly pushing in the cat food as I instructed. Now, he's telling me she's only eating the cat food and leaving up to 20-30 pieces of hedgehog food at night. 

I'm fairly concerned. She was a hefty eater when I brought her home and now I'm worried that she's not eating enough. Should I just take out the hedgehog food from her diet and stick only with the cat food? 

My plan was to transfer her to the cat food one brand at a time. Now I'm thinking that I may get rid of the hedgehog kibble all together and bring in another cat food. What should I do?


----------



## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

From what I've read on here, if a hedgehog is given 'hedgehog food' they will often eat lots of it because there aren't very many (if any) nutrients in it. They eat more to fulfil their nutritional need. So by giving your hedgehog a food that has better nutrients in it, your hedgehog doesn't need to eat so much. 

I think if I were you, I would count/weigh the amount of cat food you give alongside the hedgehog food and monitor that. It's not recommended to switch food in one go but if you know how much cat food your hedgehog eats regularly, you will be able to better see whether she is eating more or less than normal. I'd continue to give the hedgehog food as well but don't be so concerned if she doesn't eat it. Just keep an eye on her poo to make sure the switch isn't being too harsh on her tummy.

I should mention I'm a new hedgie owner too, so I'm not an expert and I might be wrong, but that's what I would do


----------



## MistyDay (Oct 31, 2014)

Thank you for your input. I have been counting both kinds of the kibble. It doesn't make much since to me though that she'd only eat 10 or less pieces of cat food and be satisfied. She's a baby and is growing, and needs all the nutrients she can get.


----------



## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

I would just remove the hedgehog food and let her eat what she wants. Give her 75 kibbles of just the NB and see how she does. 

Also remember that growing babies go through spurts and will eat in different amounts too. Some nights my babies would eat close to 150 pieces and other nights would be closer to 60. Just depends.


----------



## MistyDay (Oct 31, 2014)

I switched her over completely to the new food. She loves it! She eats a majority of it but not leaving nearly as many kibble. I gave her about 75 pieces last night and it looks like there's only about 15-20 left! I'm happy I made the switch. Her poops look normal so her tummy isn't upset.


----------

