# I am completely overwhelmed by the food choices.



## abrowndog (Nov 26, 2010)

I need someone to tell me the top foods for a relatively active, healthy weight hedgie. 20 weeks old, eats crap food now, has been home for a long time. I think she needs fiber as she doesn't poop regularly. 

Please? The charts are too much for me and I am afraid of picking the wrong ones. Sorry to be such an idiot.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Lady, stop that, you're not an idiot.  

When I saw the food list I felt pretty overwhelmed too. Here is what I did: I wrote down the nutritional values you want to stay within -- protein around 30%, fat around 15% (although if she's pretty active you might want to add a higher fat food to the mix,) fiber the higher, the better. And I also wrote down the ingredients I wanted to stay away: by-products, raisins, artificial stuff that don't do any good, etc. 

Then I went to Petco and spent a long time looking at all the foods they had. And then I decided to go with Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck and Wellness Healthy Weight. 

After a couple of months with that as my mix, I decided I need to add some more fat to Mustard's diet as she was having trouble keeping weight on. So one day I was at the grocery store and decided to look at what they had just for fun, and found Harmony Farms Chicken & Brown Rice and decided to give it a try. 

And, a few months later, I decided to switch the Wellness for something else with a different kind of protein, so I choose Solid Gold Katz-n-Flocken because it's lamb.

But, what I'm trying to say is that all of the times when I had to choose new food, I didn't really know what I was going to add. I just went to the store with those percentages/list of ingredients I didn't want in mind, and figured it out there.

So take a deep breath, relax, and off to Petco you go, paper and pen in hand.


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## abrowndog (Nov 26, 2010)

Thank you. I will start with your choices and go from there! I just got a $20 gift card in the mail from Petco because the manager at our local store is a ^%$(%(#[email protected] so, I am off to spend it!

You are the best.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Thanks!  

You can also see if they have samples of the foods you like before buying a bag. And remember to introduce one at a time, giving it some time between new introductions.


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## abrowndog (Nov 26, 2010)

Check!


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

oh, i was overwhelmed too! what i did then was that i read threads where people where describing their choices. a few brands kept coming up. i made a small list and compared the values as well as asked for more pointed feedback.


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## V2Neal (Dec 27, 2010)

Don't feel bad, I printed the list from here and spent around an hour at the food store trying to make a decision. :roll: 
Finally settled on 2 high quallity foods.


Good Luck!


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

Don't feel bad at all! I think everyone is overwhelmed at first. Before I found this website, Liam was just eating one type of food (the one he was on at the breeder), and was probably on that for a good 3 months. You're not a bad mom at all. 

I pretty much did the same as everyone has said: looked at the big food chart, got overwhelmed, read through some old posts, saw a few brands that kept popping up, and went off to the pet store. (Did I still spend an hour in the pet store staring blankly at the aisle, checking my list again, and continue to stare blankly? Absolutely!)

Now, Liam is on mix of (main protein source is in parentheses):

Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck (Duck)
Blue Buffalo Weight Control (Chicken)
Wellness Complete Health Salmon (Salmon)
Purina One Chicken & Rice (Chicken)

I figure this gives him a good mix of protein as well as fat/fiber amounts.The Purina One, though not so great, is what he ate at the breeders and he loves it. However, I was just at the pet store yesterday and found this new Purina One BeyOnd brand, which seems like it has better ingredients, so I'm going to switch him out to that. Hopefully, since the ingredients are pretty similar, he'll take to it okay. Here's the details on that (if you care): http://www.purinaonebeyond.com/about/pr ... e-oat.aspx

Hopefully this helps! Good luck!!


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## Hedgehog Grove (Jul 21, 2010)

We use these ones in our mix:

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul Lite
Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck -Taking this out since they are leaving it in their bowls every night for the last month.
Now! Lite
Authority Sensative
Blue Buffalo Spa Select Weight Control
Nutrience


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