# Food list



## Sarahec1980 (Jul 18, 2011)

Hi

I'm getting my new hedgie at the weekend and was wondering if anyone had a simple do and don't food list. I'm finding so much conflicting information out there.

Thanks
Sarah


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## elise5211 (Jun 2, 2011)

Simple? Nope, hedgehog's nutrition is a guessing game because no one knows what the best diet is. From what I've absorbed from these forums, most people on these forums recommend at least a mix of 3 high quality cat kibble with daily crickets (or beetles or roaches), occasional mealworm treats, and daily veggies/fruits. Other miscellaneous treats are pinkies, boiled/microwaved egg, and cooked chicken (without oil or seasonings). Most hedgehogs don't eat raw vegetables on their own, so some people mix meat baby food with chopped up vegetables. Some people mix cat food with vegetables, freeze into ice cubes, and give one defrosted cube per day. Some hedgehogs only eat cooked chicken. When hedgehogs get older, cooked chicken and wet food might be all they eat. There's a thread here about holistic diets, which I'm sure a lot of people want what's best for their hedgehog.

This is the high-quality dry cat food listhttp://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

With crickets: some people get canned, or freeze dried or live. I give my crickets live because I like to see her chase after them. When she first ate them live, she was horrible at catching them, so I would feed them to her from a plastic cup. She's gotten much better at catching them, so now I put her in a tub and let her chase them.


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## CanadienHedgie (Feb 4, 2011)

*There's tons of information on this in the Diet & Nutrition section.*

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

*You want to feed high quality dry cat food.*
Protein: 29-33%
Fat (under 6 months): 20% or so
Fat (over 6 months): 9-15%
Fat (avid runner): 16-20%
Fiber: 3% or more
First ingredient: Real meat (turkey, chicken, duck, lamb)
Second ingredient: Real meat or meat meal (turkey meal, chicken meal, etc.)
No corn, No wheat, No animal by-products, No grain, No nut, No raisins. 
Pork and Beef are hard to digest.

*Hedgehogs are insectivores, they need to eat insects. *
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=151
If that fat is over about 13%, don't feed too many to adults. 
If the protein is over 30%, don't feed to many, it will cause problems.

*You shouldn't feed freeze dried insects, they can't be digest properly.* Live is best. I've started doing this:

1) Dump the live crickets into a container of water. They will drown. 
2) Scoop out 3 crickets and put it into an ice cube tray with water. 
3) When the ice tray is full, put it in the freezer.
4) Once frozen, empty the ice tray and put the frozen cricket cube into a ziplock bag, and put them back in the freezer. 
5) Now you have an empty ice cube tray, so you can make more. 
6) In the morning, take out 3-5 cubes and put them in the fridge to thaw. 
7) At night, hide the crickets around the cage.

Read this: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=42

-You can feed cooked, unseasoned meat, scrambled eggs (1 egg a week)
-Vegetables
-High quality wet cat or dog food (small amounts) 
-If you feed hard vegetables, you MUST cook them first. For example, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, etc. 
-Don't feed stringy vegetables, like celery. 
-If you feed berries, peel them (strawberries, blue berries, etc.). 
-Don't feed a lot of sugary fruits. 
-Peas contain excess phosphorus, which decreases the calcium absorption and should only be fed in small amounts. 
-Do NOT feed raw meats or processed meats.
-Meats should be cooked until tender and cut into small pieces.
-Do NOT feed wild caught insects
-Make sure you gutload the insects before you feed them or freeze them. 
-Fish causes stinky poop


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

To freeze the crickets, another method you can use is just to put the entire unopened bag of crickets in the freezer overnight. When they're frozen (and very dead!  ), I just transfer them into a small container or ziploc bag that I keep in the freezer and at night, I take out as many as I need about 10 minutes before I feed them to my hedgies.


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## Lokimomma (Nov 17, 2021)

Can I feed my hedgehog live crickets from PetSmart


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Yes.


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