# Calcium Powder



## RossiReptiles (Feb 22, 2018)

Hello I have an exotic animal rescue and I’ve noticed no one advocates for giving calcium powder and you seem to all be feeding your hedgehogs cat and dog food? I don’t understand.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Hedgehog foods are mostly poor quality ingredients & aren't really recommended for pet hedgehogs by a large majority of the pet hedgie community. Since we don't have any better alternatives yet, good quality cat & dog food is recommended as our best option currently, supplemented with insects as much as possible. Not all cat & dog foods are appropriate for hedgehogs, you have to look carefully at protein & fat percentages, and ingredients - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...3034-beginner-s-guide-hedgehog-nutrition.html

As far as calcium powder, it's not recommended in most cases because it's not necessary for most people to supplement. Commercial cat/dog food has a ratio of 1.5-1 or 2-1 calcium to phosphorus. Most animals need somewhere between 1-1 to 2-1. While calcium powder might be necessary with homemade natural diets or if someone feeds a large amount of insects as part of the daily diet, that isn't the case for most hedgehog owners & excess calcium can cause health issues as well.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

What is it you don’t understand exactly? Might be easier to give a useful answer that way. Hedgehog nutrition is very complicated.


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