# Additional Supplements?



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

So I've read that vitamins/supplements really aren't neccessary as long as your feeding proper food (see below)



Reaper said:


> If you are feeding a mix of high quality cat foods from my list there is no need for vitamin supplements unless advised to do so by a vet. But generally no supplements are needed.


But I also know I lot of people use flax seed oil for dry skin and I've also heard of people giving their hedgehogs omega fatty acid supplements (this was from other websites) and I was just wondering what everyone here uses and what the benefits are.

I bought some baby wheat and banana cereal for fiber, which everyone seems to think is alright to use:



SnufflePuff said:


> It's Heinz "Wheat Cereal with Banana":
> 
> Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Dried Banana Flakes, Dicalcium Phosphate, Safflower Oil, Malt Syrup, Inulin, Oligofructose, Reduced Iron, Vitamins (Niacinamide, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate)
> 
> ...


as well as some organic oatmeal flakes that contain flax seeds and was thinking of feeding the flakes, and then crushing the flax seeds (unless they're safe to feed whole? No one really seems to know lol) and "dusting" the live crickets I feed Puff with the baby cereal (it's a fine powder) and crushed flax seeds for extra fiber + healthy skin. Does this sound like a safe/good idea?


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Not sure about feeding the crushed flax seeds, I'm going to wait and see what others say about it before recommending anything. 
For my own part, Lily gets one capsule of flaxseed oil a week, put on her food. I've been messing with her diet for the last several months and have only just stopped adding new foods and changing portions, so in a few days or a week, I'm going start dusting her food with some organic infant rice cereal for fiber. I tried putting Grape Nuts in her food, but she wasn't eating any of it, so I just want to be sure she's getting enough fiber.


----------



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Lilysmommy said:


> Not sure about feeding the crushed flax seeds, I'm going to wait and see what others say about it before recommending anything.
> For my own part, Lily gets one capsule of flaxseed oil a week, put on her food. I've been messing with her diet for the last several months and have only just stopped adding new foods and changing portions, so in a few days or a week, I'm going start dusting her food with some organic infant rice cereal for fiber. I tried putting Grape Nuts in her food, but she wasn't eating any of it, so I just want to be sure she's getting enough fiber.


Yeah neither am I, but maybe I'll just get some flax seed oil. What kind do you use? Thankfully Puff was very easy to introduce new foods to, her tummy hardly got upset at all, and she likes everything I feed her so I only had to use about 5 days for introducing each new food. I'm gonna introduce some Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Light once I get the bag tomorrow but after that's introduced I think I'll try sprinkle some infant cereal for fiber too. What brand of infant cereal are you planning on using and how much fiber does it contain? Cause the one I have only has 2g of fibre per 28g which doesn't seem like enough. Do you think the organic oatmeal flakes are OK to feed if I remove the flax seeds? Because I can't find "baby oatmeal flakes" anywhere...not even sure who makes these. lol 
THANKS


----------



## basmati (Feb 13, 2009)

For extra flax seed oil, I've added crushed flax seeds to my mealworm farm. I picked up this idea from Reaper in one of the threads. I don't know if your little quills likes mealworms....... I use one capsule of flax seed oil/week to drip over her skin, and I put the remaining on her food.


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sorry, I don't know about the oatmeal either...
But the flaxseed oil capsules that I use are from a company called Spring Valley, I bought them at Meijer, a store like Walmart. They were in the vitamin/medical section of the store. It says they have Omega-3 fatty acids in them too, which I only just noticed, lol.
And the baby cereal that I have is Gerber Organic Brown Rice. It says there's less than one gram of dietary fiber per 15 grams.


----------



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

basmati said:


> For extra flax seed oil, I've added crushed flax seeds to my mealworm farm. I picked up this idea from Reaper in one of the threads. I don't know if your little quills likes mealworms....... I use one capsule of flax seed oil/week to drip over her skin, and I put the remaining on her food.


She loves them actually. When you say you've added them to your mealworm farm, do you mean you're feeding the meal worms the crushed flax seed or covering them in it before you feed them to your hedgehog? So I can actually put the flax seed oil on her skin as well and that will help her dry skin? I never thought of that. Thanks


----------



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Lilysmommy said:


> Sorry, I don't know about the oatmeal either...
> But the flaxseed oil capsules that I use are from a company called Spring Valley, I bought them at Meijer, a store like Walmart. They were in the vitamin/medical section of the store. It says they have Omega-3 fatty acids in them too, which I only just noticed, lol.
> And the baby cereal that I have is Gerber Organic Brown Rice. It says there's less than one gram of dietary fiber per 15 grams.


So I should be good with 2g/28g of fiber then  I guess I didn't take into account that it's just extra fiber, not their full daily dose of it. Some of the foods I use are already 8-9% fiber content so I'm guessing I should be good. I am a little worried that my cereal has 10mg sodium/28g and also contains oligofructose which I'm pretty sure is a sweetner :? hmm maybe I'll get some organic cereal instead. Is sodium OK for hedgehogs in small amounts? I was just wondering cause I had bought some turkey baby food as a treat and it has like 5mg Sodium per jar. But the fruit & veggies ones I bought were organic and have 0mg. I haven't given any of these yet but they also have high fiber content so once she's ready for new foods I was gonna try them.


----------



## basmati (Feb 13, 2009)

Yes, I've added a bit of whole ground flax seed meal to my mealworm farm. I have not seen them eat it, but I am hoping they are (larvae and beetles as they are both fair game). I never thought of them wiggling around in the flakes, getting covered, but who knows? Flax seed dusting from the inside and outside :lol: . I remember on the thread, that Reaper mentioned to just add a bit of the flax to your other mealworm food, as the flakes add some additional moisture. Good luck!


----------



## Toe (Jan 2, 2009)

One disease that hedgies, especially overweight ones, sometimes get is fatty liver disease. Omega-3 fatty acids can be beneficial against FLD:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15659701
http://www.indianjgastro.com/article.as ... last=Adams

Oily fish like salmon and mackerel are also good sources of fatty acids. I have Blue Longevity Mature cat food in my mix mainly for that reason.


----------



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Toe said:


> One disease that hedgies, especially overweight ones, sometimes get is fatty liver disease. Omega-3 fatty acids can be beneficial against FLD:
> 
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15659701
> http://www.indianjgastro.com/article.as ... last=Adams
> ...


The chicken soup light I feed has both oceanfish meal and salmon and I think a few of the other foods I feed are made with fish as well. Hopefully I can pick up some flax seed oil that has omega-fatty acids too! Thanks for the links!


----------



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

basmati said:


> Yes, I've added a bit of whole ground flax seed meal to my mealworm farm. I have not seen them eat it, but I am hoping they are (larvae and beetles as they are both fair game). I never thought of them wiggling around in the flakes, getting covered, but who knows? Flax seed dusting from the inside and outside :lol: . I remember on the thread, that Reaper mentioned to just add a bit of the flax to your other mealworm food, as the flakes add some additional moisture. Good luck!


Thanks! What mealworm food do are you currently feeding your mealworms? I was thinking of starting a farm but wanted to make sure I could find some good quality mealworm food first!


----------



## basmati (Feb 13, 2009)

Everything I know about mealworms came from this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=46

I bought wheat bran at the bulk section of Save on Foods. They also have oat bran. When I finish a bag of Cheerios or other type of non-sugared cereal, I toss the crumbs in, along with a bit of crushed flax seeds. Since I am new to this, I've gone from larvae-pupae-beetles-eggs and the first generation of larvae again. At the moment, the worms are too small to see if this experiment is successful in terms of a # count. Beetles are a fav around here  .


----------



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

basmati said:


> Everything I know about mealworms came from this thread:
> 
> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=46
> 
> I bought wheat bran at the bulk section of Save on Foods. They also have oat bran. When I finish a bag of Cheerios or other type of non-sugared cereal, I toss the crumbs in, along with a bit of crushed flax seeds. Since I am new to this, I've gone from larvae-pupae-beetles-eggs and the first generation of larvae again. At the moment, the worms are too small to see if this experiment is successful in terms of a # count. Beetles are a fav around here  .


well I'm not sure if Puff likes beetles, but she eats live crickets so I'm assumng she'll like the beetles too. I'll check out that thread for sure


----------

