# need help with my hedgies diet



## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

Hello I'm new here and my hedgie's name is Maddie and she is now 5 months old, I've had her for four months since she was eight weeks old. I feed her hedgehog food, its Sunseed brand and its got tuna, shrimp and crab and mealworm in it. Its dry food and recently I ran out of the food and started feeding her steamed boneless chicken and tuna(in a can in water) and scrambled eggs or boiled cus that's her favorite food and that's mostly what she likes to eat. So since I started feeding her that and idk if it made her tummy upset or not cus her poop was brown and runny but not green. I don't feed her too much and she's not overweight so I'm wondering what made her tummy upset. I refrigerated the chicken and tuna and took it out and fed her with it so I'm wondering if it wasn't cus I took it out of the refrigerator and fed it to her too soon and didn't let it warm up to room temperature cus I read that cold food can make a hedgehog have diarhea and I didn't take precaution to know that. Keep in mind that this is my first time I've ever owned a hedgehog so I've been learning quite a lot about them and I'm still learning new things. I do love her to death very much! =) I hope that I didn't do anything to harm her or hurt her =/ I got more dry food and fed her that again and she's been eating it and her poop is starting to be normal so I hope she is ok. And I have refrigerated small mealworms too and I've had them for like 3 days and I never thought about feeding them cus I didn't know I was supposed too xD what do I do? I think they might be still alive, I hope they're still ok to feed her with them


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

The change in poop was likely from the change in food - it was still a pretty big change from a dry diet to just plain meats, even if it was the same foods as in the dry food. Are you feeding her Sunseed still? If so, you should check out the list of suggested cat foods - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15 Sunseed's not one of the worst hedgehog foods out there and would be okay in a mix, but hedgehog foods in general don't have great ingredients. A high quality cat food will be better for your little Maddie. 

For mealworms, they should still be fine. If you take them out of the fridge once a week and put a little carrot or potato in the container with them for a day, that will give them a chance to warm up and eat, which will keep them alive longer. If you're not sure if they're alive or not, check their color - light brown/tan/white are alive, and black are dead.


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

Thank you so much for being helpful  I really like this website a lot and I hope to return here for more advice and questions and answers cus I'm still learning a lot. Some of my mealworms are dead xD oops! Cus they are black and luckily there are still a few stragglers and I'm letting them unthaw and I put a piece of apple in there for them if that's ok. So as for feeding maddie refrigerated food...should I let it warn up to room temperature first before I feed it to her? And should I mix her sunseed formula hedgehog food with a high quality catfood? I will have to check out the catfood list ideas, what would you recommend?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yup, apple should work just fine. For refrigerated food, I don't think it matters a whole lot. I usually gave Lily baby food from the fridge without letting it sit out to warm, but if it came from the freezer I'd microwave to thaw it and it'd be a bit warmer. Either way, she'd still eat it with no problems.

Keeping the Sunseed in the mix is up to you! Personally I don't think it's worth it, since the cat foods have better ingredients. But if she likes it and you want to keep it in, it wouldn't hurt her. You'll have to mix it with the first food you introduce to her anyway, since a slow switch is best to avoid upsetting her stomach - 1/4 new to 3/4 old for one week, then 1/2 and 1/2 for a week, then 3/4 new and 1/4 old, and so on. If you want to keep the Sunseed, you could stop at the half/half week or something like that. Some of the cat food brands that are pretty popular on here are Solid Gold, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, Natural Balance, Innova, and Blue Buffalo. Wellness is also sometimes used, but some people have found that it causes loose poops for their hedgehogs, so it's up to you whether you want to give it a try with her or not. I used Wellness Indoor with Lily for awhile and never had any issues with her.


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

Thank you, I will see if I can find any of those foods  I've also read that hedgies can't have any seasonings what so ever but when I make her scrambled eggs can she have butter on them? I never buttered or seasoned them at all what so ever or even added milk cus I know they can't have dairy products.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I wouldn't add butter just because it's unnecessary fats, not anything that's going to benefit her much. It sounds like she likes eggs how you make them so far, so I wouldn't mess with it!  You're right that they're lactose intolerant, but very small amounts of some dairy foods are okay - I know some people give cottage cheese as a treat (never tried with Lily because no one in my family eats it, so we never have it around) or plain yogurt.


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

And can hedgehogs have sugar? Like I know they can have fruits and that contains natural sugars and how much is too much? And can they have sweet potatoes? I have one but I haven't seen if she likes it yet. I prolly might try it around 5 this morning because that's the time she's most active and awake oddly enough. And do vegetables have to be steamed or cooked before being served to them? Cus I was going to feed her raw carrots chopped up and I thought that maybe that might be too hard on her teeth so I steamed them up in the microwave. Also with sweet potatoes or regular potatoes, do they have to be cooked first before serving or can they eat those raw?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I wouldn't make fruit a huge part of the diet. Some is okay, but as in humans, moderation is best. I remember one forum member who was opting for a homemade diet was told by her vet that the main cause of tooth issues (plaque and tooth decay, anyway) was from too much fruit/sugary treats. Maybe keep fruit treats to only a couple times a week or so.

Sweet potatoes are safe and should be cooked/mashed before feeding. They're actually a favorite with a lot of hedgies, so maybe she'll follow suit and enjoy them.  I would avoid regular potatoes personally, if I remember right, they're mostly just starches, not much nutritional value? At any rate, I haven't seen much of people offering them as a regular treat or food for their hedgies. Good thinking on steaming the carrots - it's not so much being hard on her teeth but that they can be a choking hazard. Hard veggies should definitely be steamed or cooked, just like you did.

Just for future reference for you, here's a topic on safe fruits/veggies - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=fruit+and+veggie And if you haven't come across it yet, one of our mods LizardGirl wrote this fantastic hedgie care book that you can download for free - http://www.westcoasthedgehogs.com/files ... index.html It's got a great section on diet and food if you want to take a look there too.


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