# Won't eat new food...need suggestions



## shooterhedgie (Dec 31, 2011)

Hi all,

I have a new hedgie and I have been trying to switch him over to Blue Buffalo food and he wants nothing to do with it. He will pick out his old food and leave the rest. I have tried adding a couple drops of water and it seems he ate a little bit of it. Is there anything else I can do to make him more interested in his new food. I can go get more of his old food he was on Royal Canin Kitten 36 if you think I should just keep his food the same.


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## JustOnePost (Dec 27, 2011)

While not the best food by some people's opinion, "Standing Bear" operator of one of the most well-known and respected hedgehog rescues has used royal canin kitten as a staple in many hedgies diets and found it to be successful.

You can try other varities of BB if you want a range of choices for your hedgie and some take time before they realize they like something


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## shooterhedgie (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks I knew that Royal Canin wasn't the greatest, but that is what he was on from the breeder. :roll:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

How old is he and how much does he weigh? He may need the kitten food for a while longer. The transition from small easy to eat kitten to adult kibble can be difficult because the adult food is always much larger and harder than kitten. Plus, kitten being higher in fat, tastes yummy.


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## shooterhedgie (Dec 31, 2011)

Nancy,

He is 11 weeks old and a little on the chubby side. I don't have an exact weight because I don't have the appropriate scale.  

I do have one on order from Amazon though.

The breeder told me that he gained weight because she had to separate him from his sisters...so they were on milk longer and he started on the kitten food. As an update this morning all of his food was gone. So wetting it seemed to help some. I was just so surprised he would not eat it...he is usually a hoover when it comes to food. :lol:


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## Hedgehog lover01 (Jan 10, 2012)

Well about his chubby to half him lose wieght let him swim in the bathtub for a hour ish


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Hedgehog lover01 said:


> Well about his chubby to half him lose wieght let him swim in the bathtub for a hour ish


I have no clue where you were given this information, but this is the second post of yours I've seen telling people to put an overweight hedgehog in a bath tub. Hedgehogs are not typically fans of water. There are much better ways to help a hedgie lose weight and subjecting them to a terror-filled hour in a bathtub that they can't get out of is NOT one of the recommended ones. If you have a hedgehog that isn't afraid of water (like so many are), it's fine to put an inch or two of water in the bottom of a tub and let them run/swim around IF you pay close attention and know when the hedgie has had enough of bath tub time. I'm not sure if you read about that and associated that with filling a bath tub up and plopping a hedgie in there for an hour, but they are most definitely not the same thing.

To the OP!  
11 weeks is pretty young, but IMO it's probably old enough to start him on the BB. I wouldn't be surprised if he was overweight because of the kitten food, as it's so much higher in fat than regular cat food. Royal Canin is a good brand of food and lots of hedgehog owners use it - the kitten and babycat formulas are popular with those of us who have small hedgehogs that have a hard time keeping on weight.

I would continue putting a few drops of water in the food to help soften it up for him until you're sure he can manage the BB on his own. What kind of BB do you have? Their kibbles tend to be a nice size. My Mildred loves her 2 BB formulas and they are the smallest kibbles I've seen (other than the kitten foods).


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## shooterhedgie (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks, I have the BB wilderness (chicken flavor).

It has 40% Protein and 18% Fat

He is still on the kitten food. I was doing the 1/2 and 1/2 to slowly switch him over. I did the 3/4 old and 1/4 new for about a week and then just switched to the half and half.

The pebbles seem small enough I feel like they are tiny. Also I had not intention of putting him in the tub for an hour (he'd get chilled for sure!), and as you mentioned he doesn't like the water much. 

He is chubby, but I do not think he is overweight...I am just trying to be proactive about keeping him healthy.


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## JustOnePost (Dec 27, 2011)

IMO I wouldn't worry too much at the moment on your hedgehog being overweight.

Hedgehogs body frames range from a spectrum of 250G to 1100 Gs roughly.

Your hedgehog is still a young and growing hedgehog careful monitoring of activity increases (as they sleep a bit less usually as they grow) and that your hedgehog can fully ball and has no fatty legs are the only ways to tell based on your individual hedgehogs frame if they are overweight.

I have a 400G Hedgie whose frame is so much smaller then my 500G and 600G hedgie however they are perfectly healthy no issues with obesity and clean bill of health with my vet.

Its all about the individual hedgehog to the size issue, what is your basis for thinking your hedgie is chubby if I might ask?

Typically a Avid Runner Hedgie looks like this ||

A Pear-shaped or teardrop hedgie is a less active runner and looks obviously like the aforementioned shapes. 

)( Hour glass is of course under weight.

Another sign your hedgie might be over their healthy weight is if when they walk their feet are barely visible, however some hedgies do walk/scurry lower to the ground then others.


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