# Wont eat Sunseed Vita Hedgehog Formula



## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

After doing a bunch of research i found that Sunseed Vita Hedgehog Formula is supposedly very healthy for Jeffrey... BUT HE WONT EAT IT! Ive been mixing it with his old food/s and he just dodges the vita part and eats the rest... is there a special technique to get him to eat it? I have 5 canisters of it, i dont particularly want to give up so easily on it.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

It's actually not that overly healthy for hedgies. From Reaper's list here: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=45 it's #2. It's ok to feed as a "junk" food, just don't rely on it to become his "main" food.

And before you get confused about junk foods....Here is a thread that would be a good read ^_^
http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2522

What other food are you feeding? You'll most likely find that your boy will only eat the sunseed here and there, but will continue to eat the kibbles that you normally feed him.

The only other way I can think to try to get around that, is to mix the sunseed directly in the storage container of one of his more preferred kibbles, and let the smell of his favourite kibble dilute into the sunseed. (I would only try this in a very small amount basis, because the reverse might also happen, thus making your boy not want the kibble)


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

I feed him iams cat food, mealworms, occasional yogurt drop, random fruits or vegetables that he likes, 2wice a week flax seed oil for his dry skin (getting better), and i sprinkle on "exotic nutrition Hedgehog Booster Vitamin Supplement"


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Iams isn't all that great either, from what I remember. But someone correct me if I'm wrong... It's getting late here lol

Reaper's list of cat foods here : http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15 gives a really good list of cat foods that are good to feed. The most popular brands that most people here feed are Wellness, Chicken Soup for the cat lovers soul, Fromms, Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck, Solid Gold, Blue spa select.

It's recommended to feed at least 3 different good quality cat foods.

Yogurt drops aren't all that great either...http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2051&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=yogurt+drops

And I've never heard of the booster vitamin that you listed. :lol: *goes and googles*
However..... Please be redirected to here: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2269&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=supplements

*runs off to google*

*Edits to add more links from forum about supplements*
http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1553&p=12484&hilit=supplements#p12484
http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=811&p=7111&hilit=supplements#p7111


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

A-lot of information there, i have looked over the cat food list before and i have been planning on switching soon; Anyway, today instead of eating his food, he piled a bunch of bedding in the bowl like a punk..


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## dorasdaddy (Dec 23, 2008)

i would pile stuff on top of it too, neither of the foods have any nutritional value. And your attitude towards your hedgehog (ie. calling him a punk) shows that you do indeed care more about being right than what your hedgie wants.


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

-.- I was kidding, i love my hedgehog, and your presumptuous nature is quite off-putting. I am new to hedgehog care, i am just trying to learn how to properly take care of him. The information on this site is a-lot different then what i have read on other websites and books. So i am changing the way i take care of him based on the information i am being provided on this site... 
Why so hostile.. jeez.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Alot of us on this site take our hedgies very seriously 
And calling him a punk will not sit well with many  
Welcome to HHC :mrgreen:


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

Ah thnx, i was just kidding. Anyhoo, i have been looking over the cat food list and i have found that these are the products that are available in my area. Any suggestions on which to buy/mix?

Authority Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food 
Authority Adult Weight Management Dry Cat Food 
Authority Hairball Control/Weight Management Formula Cat Food 

Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor Adult 
Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor Senior Cat 
Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Senior Cat Food 
Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management 

Purina ONE Natural Blends Adult Cat Chicken & Oat Meal Formula 
Purina ONE Natural Blends Adult Cat Salmon & Brown Rice Formula 

(when it worked at pestmart they carried these, not so sure now though)
Wellness Healthy Weight Feline Recipe 
Wellness Indoor Health 
Blue Buffalo products


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

I Have several of these in my mix authourity weight mangement,P1 chicken&oatmeal,wellness healthy weight and Blue Spa Select Mature chicken&brown rice recipe.
I also use Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul Light Formula and natural balance green pea and duck.


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## HedgeMom (Nov 7, 2008)

Vask said:


> -.- I was kidding, i love my hedgehog, and your presumptuous nature is quite off-putting. I am new to hedgehog care, i am just trying to learn how to properly take care of him. The information on this site is a-lot different then what i have read on other websites and books. So i am changing the way i take care of him based on the information i am being provided on this site...
> Why so hostile.. jeez.


What's off-putting is your first post. You post that you've done a LOT of research yet your hedgehog won't eat that hellaciously crappy food you want to feed him. THEN you claim that the advice on this forum is so different from anywhere else on the web.

Which is not true. Having been in hedgehogs for over 15 years, I am familiar with most of the major players in the hobby. The main hedgehog forums (Hedgehog Central, Hedgehog World, Chins-n-Hedgies (formerly Chins-n-Quills)) as well as the hedgehog mailing lists on Yahoo and the main websites all agree on diet (within reason). Google 'hedgehog diet' and your FIRST hit is the Mihog website, which belongs to our very own Kalandra and it doesn't suggest sunseed. The second hit is the FAQ, which sucks but still doesn't suggest sunseed.

In fact, it isn't until you get to a commercial pet supply site listing that sunseed gets mentioned.

The hostility comes from the fact that every single person here knows you did no real research and they know you impulse-purchased and you're trying to pretend you know something. It also comes from the frustration of having dealt with this exact same issue dozens and dozens of times without an end in site.


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

I got to agree with HM, I don't really know where you got the impression that hedgehog commercial food is healthy. Even in the small french speaking web community, most breeder on their website advise against those food (sometime lots of other things are wrong but that's another story).


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

^ok it seems like you guys have a nice mix going on. Im going to try to get a hold of as many of those as i can find then mix the sunseed in there too. 
Thanks for the help guys.


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## dorasdaddy (Dec 23, 2008)

If he isnt eating the sunseed why not just take the unopened cannisters back to the store for a refund?


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

I ordered the cans online. Cant really return them. 

HM, i understand that you are just worried about the well being of people's hedgehogs. I respect that, i am very against people owning pets they cannot handle. 

Anyway, it doesn't really matter. I just wish i had found this website sooner; The information seems to be quite legitimate and helpful. Thank you for the assistance everyone.

Edit -He actually just started eating it, he was somewhat weary to try it at first, but now he really enjoys it. Can see why its considered "junk food."


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## drpepperheather (Dec 19, 2008)

I saw that you listed the Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care formulas as an option, but I just wanted to let you know that tNutro will be re-launching NCCC this fall, and I believe it will have a much higher protein percentage which pushes it into the "too high for hedgies" category. (I'm not sure of the exact percentage numbers yet, but I'm pretty sure it's above 40.) Figured I'd let you know since it sounds like you are looking to make a long-term change...


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

^^ k thanks a-lot, ill look out for that.


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

Last time I checked petsmart does indeed carry wellness of many different varieties. It is one of the good ones but is quite rich, if you switch to it (not sure what your final decision was) then watch for loose stool. If you see that happening it's probably an effect of being on wellness. When this happened to me I just added a food with more veggies and grains and less meat in the ingredients list (meat is still the first ingredient in the food I'm feeding but most of the rest are veggies and grains). He now eats both wellness and Fellidae which he is doing really well on.


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

It took me forever to find a second food that Eva would eat - finally I decided to try Blue Buffalo Longevity Mature. So now she eats Chicken Soup (Light) and that. (Success! :lol: ) I know Petsmart carries it.

I don't think I've ever heard (or read) anything all that great about anything actually labeled as "hedgehog food" though...


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Petsmart don't carry any Wellness cat foods and they don't sell Chicken Soup for the cat lovers soul either.


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## dorasdaddy (Dec 23, 2008)

Petco is a great option for buying your food, they have a 30 day return policy for the unused portion. and as we all know our little ones can be quite picky at times, so it is a great comfort to know you arent going to be stuck with 6lbs of food that he wont eat because it isnt the right size/shape/color/flavor


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

^^Ok there is a petco near me. Im going there tomorrow with the cat-food list and the Sunseed (since i bought it from their online store). Thanks for the tip.


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

Vask said:


> ^^Ok there is a petco near me. Im going there tomorrow with the cat-food list and the Sunseed (since i bought it from their online store). Thanks for the tip.


If you're in Canada you can look for a "Global Pet Foods." They normally carry sample bags that you can ask for before making 'the big purchase'


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

silvercat said:


> If you're in Canada you can look for a "Global Pet Foods." They normally carry sample bags that you can ask for before making 'the big purchase'


I din't knew about this store (they are under a diferent name in Quebec), I have a lot of trouble finding CSFTCLS, maybe they'll have some.


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

LarryT said:


> Petsmart don't carry any Wellness cat foods and they don't sell Chicken Soup for the cat lovers soul either.


No, they don't... I actually don't know who carries CS as far as chains go. We buy most of our pet food from a local place called All About Pets. The owner is this really cool guy - really picky about what he sells too. Pretty much everything is grain free. 

Like I said in another post, *make sure you check your expiration dates no matter where you go...*

Around here, as I came to found out recently, no one carries wellness anymore because it doesn't sell... The one place that DID have it was selling bags that had expired almost a year ago. :x

(I actually talked about it with the owner of the store where we shop... I was looking for Wellness Core for our new kitten and he explained that it was just too hard to sell for some reason - and that he quit carrying it because it all expired on him... and this is why we're switching her to Evo. )


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

It's funny that every one says petsmart doesn't carry wellness because I'm sure that's where I got it the first time but maybe it was PJ's. Also it's probably different depending on location. If you're in the GTA PJ's is big and so is Pet value and they both have wellness.


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

Just got back from Petco, was able to pick up
Natural Ultramax Indoor Feline (chkn n veggies)
Blue Buffalo Spa Select Chicken/Brown rice Mature
Solid Gold Katz N Flocken Lamb/Chickn

Going to petsmart now to end the Wellness debate.

Edit- Went to petsmart: does not have wellness. 
I did pick up a bag of 
By Nature Organics Chicken Formula for Cats

How does this arsenal of food look for Jeffrey's nutritional well-being?

(im not sure what the GTA is, but im in the Eastern USA)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

The foods sound great.  Just make sure you add them one at a time, slowly. I think I took one-two weeks to add each new food into Lily's diet when I was doing her mix. You want to make sure you don't upset his tummy with any sudden changes.


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

Kk, thanks for the tip. I hope he likes this stuff.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

hedgielover said:


> It's funny that every one says petsmart doesn't carry wellness because I'm sure that's where I got it the first time but maybe it was PJ's. Also it's probably different depending on location. If you're in the GTA PJ's is big and so is Pet value and they both have wellness.


Here is a link to the wellness site..Up in the right hand corner look for WHERE TO BUY and you can see who sells it near you.  
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

Wow, thats pretty nifty; could probably use that to find some new pet stores so i dont have to pay $80 for food again xD


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Most brands of cat food have a website.
www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com 
www.naturalbalanceinc.com 
www.bluebuff.com/products/cats/spa-select.shtml

When in doubt just do a search


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

Vask said:


> ...(im not sure what the GTA is, but im in the Eastern USA)


GTA = Greater Toronto Area, at least that's what it does in my books, but I'm down in HRM - oh acronyms (HRM = Halifax Regional Municipality)


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## Reaper (Aug 22, 2008)

Dern Canukians


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

hedgielover said:


> It's funny that every one says petsmart doesn't carry wellness because I'm sure that's where I got it the first time but maybe it was PJ's. Also it's probably different depending on location. If you're in the GTA PJ's is big and so is Pet value and they both have wellness.


Yes, I'd guess it's a regional thing... I know our Petsmarts don't carry it. (I've checked 2 locations.) If it doesn't sell well in your area, you might only find it in niche stores. (...and maybe Petco?)

Though, I might add, if you are dead set on Wellness... it seems that the Wellness "where to buy" thing is a bit outdated... You should probably still CALL the stores. (I know for a fact that it lists stores in Memphis that no longer carry it.)


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## Vask (Jun 11, 2009)

Update, he jumped on the bit of new food i mixed in with his current diet. Should go well from here on out. Thanks for the help everyone.


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

Vask said:


> Update, he jumped on the bit of new food i mixed in with his current diet. Should go well from here on out. Thanks for the help everyone.


Yay! Glad to hear it!


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