# Good vitamins?



## Cwilkins1204 (May 26, 2012)

I want to put my hedgie Harriet on a good vitamin supplement, I was wondering which kind some of you use and which ones are best. I'm having trouble deciding. I'm needing a supplement with taurine and beta carotene in it. 

Thanks!!!


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Most people don't feed vitamins to their hedgies. As long as you feed a balanced diet they don't need suplements


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

What are you feeding her? All cat food has taurine in it already.


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## Cwilkins1204 (May 26, 2012)

I am not big on feeding cat food. I did have her on an okay hedgehog chow while feeding worms, veggies and fruit. But this was not stable with vitamins and nutriants for her to complete quilling and her quills are thin because of this. I have switched to a holistic feeding. She gets a mix of chicken and egg, apples, tomatoes, sweet potatos, and other natural foods along with the weekly worms. 

I was just wanting to add more taurine into her diet, and i konw that chicken and Sea food have a lot of taurine but this is also something my vet. told me to put in her food.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Is there a reason why you don't want to use a cat food? High quality cat food (with good ingredients and the appropriate fat/protein percentages) is the best way of meeting a hedgehog's dietary needs that is currently known. I would be wary of feeding a purely holistic diet unless you're able to work with a vet nutritionist, and even then it's hard to say how much one of those might know about hedgehogs. Holistic diets can be difficult and problematic even for dogs, and a lot more is known about them. (I know of a dog that was on a holistic diet for a year and ended up with a broken jaw simply because his bones were so brittle from not getting exactly what he needed.) Getting the balance of protein/fat and correct amount of calories, vitamins, etc. is very tricky.

The most direct way of adding taurine would be to add more meat, but that also means adding more fat and protein. Chicken and fish are your best options. There's a thread on holistic diets (just search "holistic" and it should come up). I haven't looked at it closely, but I imagine there's discussion somewhere in there of how to meet the all the specific needs. Personally, I'd suggest a combination of kibble and meat/vegetables, whether that means giving some of both every day or at least a little kibble a few times a week. That way you'd pretty much have everything covered and still be able to use primarily fresh foods. You can also look closely at which vegetables you're using and lean more toward the ones with more vitamins and nutritional value, but vegetables should be secondary to meats (and kibble, if you decide to include some). Instead of feeding mealworms once a week, you should be fine feeding some daily - or if the fat content is an issue, go with crickets instead. 

Also, tomatoes aren't a good choice for hedgehogs. They're too acidic.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I would strongly recommend discussing this with your vet (if you have a good vet) or a holistic pet nutritionist, and finding a way to properly balance your diet with them. They'll know much more than we can tell you about specific sources for supplementing vitamins and minerals, which is no easy task. Because hedgehog nutritional requirements haven't been well explored, you can tell them you need to balance it for a dog's nutritional needs, but use more insects and less meat in the ingredients. If you aren't able to get the support you need from a vet/nutritionist, then your best bet is to be feeding a high quality cat food, which is 1000000x better than any hedgehog food out there and saves a lot of worrying and time preparing, on your part.


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