# Hedgie food allergies?



## Stummies44 (Jun 18, 2012)

Currently dealing with a difficult hedgie that suffers from bouts of self-mutilation (i.e. chewing on her chest area). She has been tested and medically treated for all the normal things you would consider this to be and all have turned up negative. 

We are currently going with the possibility of food allergies. Has anyone dealt with this? She was on Spike's Delight initially and switched her at 9months to a lower fat blend of Blue Buffalo/Innova/Castor&Pallox.

My vet really wants her on Mazzuri insectivore diet. I've also looked into Natural balance L.I.D. formula with duck and pea. 

Any thoughts appreciated. Other possibility of course is anxiety and psychological issues. ;( 

Thanks!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I haven't dealt with it as a food allergy, but I do have one that will start to chew on her chest if she is overly stressed and just about everything sends her into a panic attack. She hasn't chewed a hole yet, and her panic attacks have gotten better as she has aged, but when she was a young adolescent she would cause red spots on her chest. With her, we try to keep her schedule exactly the same all the time, and reduce any type of stressful events.

With her she gets very panicky very quickly and you know when she's going to start to bite on her chest because she starts a little head bob/ducking thing where she touches her nose to her chest. Its a rather quick motion and she does it several times in succession. Once she starts its hard to get her to stop.

Anyway, sorry to go on a tangent, on to your question regarding food... Why would he recommend Mazuri if he thought this was a food allergy? Mazuri contains bad chemical preservatives and its ingredient list is basically a "kitchen sink" approach. Everything and anything that is cheap is thrown in that food. Seems to me this would be the opposite approach to trying to figure out what ingredient may be causing the allergy.



> Ingredients Poultry by-product meal, poultry meal, ground brown rice, dried beet pulp, ground wheat, ground soybean hulls, dehulled soybean meal, corn flour, fructose, dried egg product, ground aspen, poultry fat preserved with ethoxyquin, poultry digest, powdered cellulose, dried apple pomace, animal fat preserved with BHA, wheat germ, dried whey, shrimp meal, fish meal, brewers dried yeast, soybean oil, fish oil, lecithin


Nothing says yum (and healthy) like a bunch of by products, chemical preservatives, useless fiber/bulk building ingredients, SHRIMP?, ground up tree, and lots of grains.

If I was to try to treat for a potential food allergy I would pick the NB Green Pea & Duck formula or Blue Buffalo Basics grain free turkey. The blue buffalo has a higher fiber percentage, but otherwise is very similar to the Natural Balance. Its kibble is also a pellet and I think a better size for hedgehog mouths (been a while since I used Natural Balance). Both are easy to find in the big box pet stores.

So one additional thought... has your vet done a culture and sensitivity test on the spot on her chest that she chews on? I know of one particular hedgehog who chewed a spot on her chest, she was originally treated for mites, then bacterial infection. The spot would get better and almost completely heal, then it would come back. A C&S test was done and it was found that she still had an infection. The test told what medication to use to fully treat it and after that she didn't have anymore recurrence.


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## ridley2015 (Jun 30, 2018)

Stummies44 - Your post is EXACTLY what I am experiencing with my hedgehog Ridley. Where you able to determine what was wrong and find a solution? Ridley is very sensitive and is easily adgitated. He used to chew up under his leg or chest every few months but now it's every other week. We are thinking of allergies too so are going to change his food. He currently eats Spikes Delite Lite Diet. He's a little pudgy. I'd love to hear what you did to help your hedgehog.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

This post is 5 years old and the OP hasn't been back to the forum since shortly after posting this. Do not post on old threads.


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