# Mix foods going stale



## Tamsyn (Mar 6, 2014)

Hi, I'm looking into getting a hedgehog this summer once I graduate college and I want to be prepared for everything. I'm trying to nail down the recurring costs of hedgehog food, which means figuring out what kind of mix to make. The breeder I'll be buying from uses Spike's Ultra, so that will be part of at least the initial mix. 

The problem I'm finding with the other components is that it's hard to find bags small enough to add to a mixture and still use up all of it before the food expires. Expiry times seem to vary by brand and how long they've been on the pet store shelves, but none of the estimates go over a year, and the safer ones prefer 3-6 months. 

So if a hedgehog eats roughly 1 lb a month, that means that a mixture of 3 types of food would ideally be composed of 3 1lb bags or 3 2 lb bags, unless they all have impressive shelf lives, which would seem to imply a lot of preservatives. 

This seems like a challenge that would have been overcome by most hedgehog owners, so I'm wondering how you do it. Am I underestimating the shelf life of properly stored dry food? If the answer is to find those 1-2 lb bags, which brands offer those? Natural balance seems to only offer down to 5 lb, and Blue Buffalo seems to only offer down to 6 lb, from the lines that I read into.


----------



## Latrine (Mar 4, 2014)

I don't have my Hedgie yet either but for my other small animals I just use airtight containers and if I'm really overflowing I freeze the excess. 
I'm sure freezing could/might effect the quality/nutrients but I assume it's better than stale food.
Best of luck!!

- Sarah


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yup, I did what Latrine said. The foods I used for Lily were typically 5-lb bags. I kept a small amount in a plastic food container upstairs, then put the rest in gallon freezer bags in the basement & took food out as I needed it. I never had issues with doing that, though I usually had to throw out the last little bit of each of the foods. They'd start getting stale, and I could tell when Lily would start to eat just a little bit less each night.


----------



## gamerkid08 (Jul 19, 2013)

Blue Buffalo does offer 2lb bags. I mix it with Natural Balance. I keep it in an old folgers coffee container and freeze the rest. It doesn't seem to bother them


----------



## pugs&hogs (Mar 4, 2014)

Nutro natural choice has 3lb bags. So does Halo Spots Stew.
Wellness has 2.5lb bags. Innova has 2lb bags. 
We have a 0.5 lb bag of Go, which I think is the perfect size. It's just a trial bag - sometimes you can find sample sizes in the other brands too.


----------

