# I still can't get him to eat mealworms..



## casxcore (Jul 28, 2011)

Or crickets.

I had the dried ones (before I knew they were bad), then I got the canned ones & lately I've been putting them under his wet cat food (Wellness Indulgence Packets & Grammy's Pot Pie, yumm! hahah) that he loves as treats thinking that the juices on them would encourage him to take a chomp.. but if he did, he realized what it was and ate everything else around it, leaving it there. Last night he just ate the chunks of meat, licked the juice out of the bowl and left the mealie.  I really can't do live ones.. Plus, now I have dried mealworms, crickets and a Can O' Mealworms that are sitting in my house for no reason so if he didn't like the live ones either, what would I do with those? 

hahah Why does he have to be so picky!? I also couldn't get him to try apple or banana..  & I'm planning on getting baby food for him to try. 

Is there any other way to get him to get the nutrients from insects if he won't eat them?


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## alsohere (Dec 26, 2011)

I suspect he'll eat the live ones. They're pretty cheap little fellow, and if Walter doesn't want them then the birds will munch them down just fine.


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## casxcore (Jul 28, 2011)

I don't think I can stomach live ones. I can barely handle the ones that are already dead.. with a spoon. :|


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## Arquan (Nov 9, 2011)

I know some people toss the crickets into the freezer then feeds those cause they don't move anymore 
this sounds kind of gross, but have you considered mashing them with a spoon then mixing it with food? 
I think watermelon is a popular treat that's suggested on here, perhaps you'll have some luck with that?

Good luck with Walter!


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

I use tweezers to handle the mealworms. I can't touch them...haha, too gross! Plus, the live ones don't have much of a smell, unlike the canned ones, which reek! Brillo LOVES super wiggly mealies, so I've kind of learned to appreciate them...seeing his little face get so excited is the best!  Plus, they are cheap, I think you can get like 50 for a couple of dollars.


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## alsohere (Dec 26, 2011)

Work your way up to the live ones. Just think about all the dark unholy places people have to go to during their lives and think "Mealworms may be gross but Walter will love 'em."

It's really only a small phobia, and that can be worked on. I have lots of phobias that I am not working, but I can tell you work on yours.  

Maybe you can get a really small container of them --like ten or twelve-- and just dump it in the pen and watch Walter go rooting around like a little pig.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Lots of hedgehogs don't eat treats or even insects. Some are just picky eaters and others don't realize that what you're trying to feed them is food. 

If you really can't handle feeding live insects, it's not that big of a deal - most people do, but so what? lol. You can try to supplement with fruits and veggies, but if your hog is anything like mine, it might not work. My Milly likes melon (cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew), but other than that, she won't touch anything other than her live mealworms. I've tried baby food, veggies, wet cat food, and making special chicken meatballs, but she won't even take a nibble. I keep trying because I know there are lots of people who have gone through the same thing, but they keep offering treats over and over and sometimes the hog will start eating a new treat... but I've had her for almost 8 months and the only treats she eats are the ones she's liked from the very beginning. :roll: 

If you're worried about nutrition, I suggest offering more than one type of kibble. Milly has a mix of 2 different kinds of Blue Buffalo, Royal Canin babycat (she's had some trouble maintaining a healthy weight so we got this because of the extra fat content), and Purina One Beyond.

Someone mentioned mashing up mealworms, but I suspect that if you can't handle them live, it'll only be worse if you have to buy the live ones AND smash them into a paste. :? I feed live mealies with tweezers, but I know I couldn't mash them! Just do what you're comfortable with.


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## casxcore (Jul 28, 2011)

His kibble is a mix of Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck, Wellness Indoor Health Formula & Blue Buffalo. I'm actually considering adding in another but not until I use up some of the food. I'm running out of storage room. He also will eat Merrik wet food, Wellness Indulgence packets, Potato, Turnip, Green Beans & Turkey. I tried giving him Sweet Potato baby food a few nights ago and he wouldn't try it. I also have a can of peas and a can of banana baby food for him to try, which I doubt he will like. & I've been meaning to pick up some watermelon but there isn't a lot out right now with it being winter and all.. I wish I could have someone else try to give him a live one to see if he'd eat it because if he did it would give me incentive to try and stomach them but my fear is that if he's being this picky then I doubt he'll like live ones. They cant smell/taste that much different from the canned ones, right? Because he'd take a few chomps out of the canned one and i'd find the rest of it in his cage/in his bowl. But if I got live ones to try I'd have to watch him to make sure he would eat it because if I walked away and it disappeared I'd probably freak out thinking it crawled away and is now in my room somewhere and if he wouldn't eat them, I'd have a can of live mealies on top of the dried and canned ones I already have. :roll: :|


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## Arquan (Nov 9, 2011)

:lol: I meant mashing up the canned ones she already has  I guess that isn't a good idea to begin with though


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## casxcore (Jul 28, 2011)

I actually did that.. kind of. I put them in his treat dish and mashed them with my spoon, well, more like smushed it hoping the juice would smell and he would be more inclined to eat it.. but he just ate the cat wet food and pushed the mealie out of his way.. or the last time he chomped on it a bit but I found the rest of it next to his bowl on the fleece.. :roll:


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## CaroleHel (Dec 6, 2011)

Dale is a picky eater and would not touch a mealworm when we first got him. Bonnie at Sir Snuffy's Hedgehog Sanctuary suggested this, and it sounds a bit gross, but... We cut off the head of a mealworm and squeezed a bit of its guts on his mouth, as if it were lipstick. I managed with a knife and a pair of tweezers. It took 3 days, but he actually ate one on the fourth day and now mealworms are his absolute favorite.


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## holtzchick (Nov 12, 2011)

Yeah, I get what you mean, Penelope won't eat meal worms either, even live ones, she'll have a bite and just leave it alone. I'm still going to try putting some in her food dish and see if that works.


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## casxcore (Jul 28, 2011)

Mhm. I've tried putting some in with his kibble and that didn't work either.


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## casxcore (Jul 28, 2011)

I got him to eat one last night! But then I gave him more and he didn't eat any of them.   

I smushed one then I put some of the Wellness Indulgence Packet over it & some sweet potato baby food (which i'm trying to trick him into eating, too) and he ate all the chunks of meat from the Wellness and the juice of the Wellness and the baby food and he kept accidentally chewing on the mealie and spitting it back out but then he ate it!

But as I said I made some more with more mealies in the bottom and he didnt eat any of them. :roll:


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