# Kitten food and mealworms for baby?



## megathon (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi everyone!

I adopted a lovely six-week-old girl named Penny on Saturday. She is doing great, but after doing a lot of research and talking to the breeder and her vet, I still have some questions about what I should be feeding her. 

The breeder gave me a sample of the dry kitten food that she had been eating since she weaned from her mother, and I was told that I can switch her over to dry cat food when it's gone (I bought Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Light). However, I've also read that babies need to eat a diet that is higher in fat. How long should I keep her on kitten food?

Also, the breeder told me that I shouldn't introduce her to mealworms, crickets, or any other treats until she is six months old, because that is too much change for her. The vet told me that he wasn't aware of that, and doesn't see any reason why I can't start giving her insects as a treat. Any information on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2012)

i would think exposing them to change when they are little would be better because then they are use to it. Ive never heard of anyone on here who has waited 6 months before introducing insects.


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## megathon (Apr 5, 2012)

Thank you for replying! That was my feeling on it too. I don't want to stress her out with too much change, but at the same time, I want her to get used to trying new things (occasionally) while she's young. I decided to give her her first mealworm tonight, and she ate it without any hesitation!


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

When I got my little guy from the breeder, I got a small container of the food he'd been started on and picked up a small bag of that and Chicken Soup. I kept him on his kitten food for the first 2 weeks or so, then slowly introduced the Chicken Soup stuff into the mix until it became about - I had a small plastic container I'd mix the food in and each time it would get emptied, I'd replace ~10 % of the kitten food with Chicken Soup. I kept with that 'til it was about ~70% Chicken Soup until the little monster decided he'd had enough of the kitten food and would take the time to pick it out and leave it scattered all over his cage as some sort of protest.


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## GoodandPlenty (Feb 4, 2012)

> i would think exposing them to change when they are little would be better because then they are use to it.


This is true with many animals; much of their personality and behavior is established in the first days and weeks and will never be more open to molding.
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I changed Sophie over to her 'good' food mix pretty quickly. She took to it well and it was easier to stop her old food quite quickly. That's not usually recommended, but it worked well for her.

I waited until a couple of weeks after she was on her new food mix to offer mealies. She gets five every other night and will about take a finger off if I'm not quick.


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## DasIgelPoggie (Oct 21, 2010)

I feed mama her mealies and the occasional fruit/veggie while she's got the babies, and they regularly sample (and enjoy!) those "treats"-- that's how they learn to eat solid foods instead of nursing, they sample new things. I have never, ever had a problem with them trying new things, although I do try to make sure I only put in things that are easy to chew and swallow. I make sure to get mini-mealies (kind of ridiculously tiny, but I worry about them trying to hork down a normal mealie and having issues lol), but they really love it. If you think about it, in nature, baby hedgies transfer straight from nursing over to scavenging and insects. There IS no kibble in nature... and those little babies do just great! Of course, you don't want to give her solely mealies, but I think it's very beneficial to introduce new things to them very young so that they're more likely to keep trying new things as they get older. Mine tend to really love watermelon, sweet potato, and mini-mealies.  That's just my personal opinion though!


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## megathon (Apr 5, 2012)

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and ideas! There is so much conflicting information out there about caring for hedgehogs, particularly in the area of nutrition...what the breeder told me was different from what the vet told me, was different from all of the research that I've done on this forum and other places, and I'm trying to sort it out! I appreciate all of the help.

I decided to try mealworms with Penny (I'm giving her 1-2 every night), and so far it's a huge success. She loves them, isn't acting any differently, and her poop is normal, so it seems like a positive change for her!
Also, I am keeping her on kitten food until she's fully grown or seems to be at a healthy adult weight, but changing the brand. She has been eating a junk food brand of kitten food that has poultry by-product listed as the main ingredient and contains 41% protein (too much!). I know that it's soon to transition her, but it's really important to me that she's eating a high-quality, nutritionally-sound diet, especially in the first few months of her life. So, I am slowly switching her over to Wellness Kitten Health. Since it's kind of high in fat (18%), after she's been fully transitioned over to that for a few weeks, I'm going to mix in Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Light to balance it out. However, this plan can change dependent upon her weight and what seems to be working for her.


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