# How much to feed?



## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

So i have 2 questions regarding food. 

First, i want to know how much you all feed your hedgies. Also, what is best for hedgehogs? A certain amount daily, or just fill a bowl and always give them access to it, and refill when it gets empty?

second, At my local pet store, where i went to buy the food for my hedgie, there was a lady who actually had 2 herself. She recommended the Blue Buffalo weight control cat food. (high protein, low fat) For anybody else who uses this food, does your hedgie eat the darker-colored ones? theres more lights than darks, and mine ALWAYS leaves behind ALLLL of the darks in her food bowl when she eats. does anybody elses hedgies do this?


----------



## Kristie (Jan 4, 2011)

as far as the amount your feeding your hedgie, many people just fill the bowl and go from there. i prefer monitoring. such as...filling the bowl halfway just so you know if your little guy is eating regularly.
& if there is anyway possible for you to get a hold of spike's delight, that's some of the best food out there. i don't like, nor would i ever, feed my hedgie cat food. i've seen a lot of things stating it causes health problems in the future.


----------



## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

really? i did my research before getting my hedgie (about 11 months ago) and it was recommended in alot of places (even here) that high protein+low fat cat food should be fed.


----------



## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

The Blue Buffalo the lady recommended at the pet store is a great food to feed. There is a recommended food list in the diet section that has a bunch of different foods on there to choose from. Good quality cat food is currently the best out there for food choices. Basic guide lines are around 30 % protein and no more than 15% fat, no BHA, BTA or Ethyoxlin, meats as the first couple ingredients. Blue Buffalo is a popular one, some others I see a lot are Royal Canin, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul. There is many more too that would make up a great mix 

As for feeding its recommended to free feed in the majority of cases. You can count the kibble to monitor if you wish, it will give you a good idea how much the hedgie is eating. 

Hope this helps


----------



## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

hedgehog_owner1234 said:


> really? i did my research before getting my hedgie (about 11 months ago) and it was recommended in alot of places (even here) that high protein+low fat cat food should be fed.


I must have been writing when this got posted lol. You are correct, that is what is recommended. High quality cat food is the best choice out there right now for a mix. The majority of commercial hedgehog foods are no good.


----------



## Kristie (Jan 4, 2011)

the spike's delight is a food that my breeder uses, along with many others. it's fairly cheep as well. i've heard chicken soup for the cat soul is good as well. i just prefer the kind that my breeder uses. it's really all in the ingredients list. just read it and be smart. you'll do fine!!


----------



## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Spike's Delight Ingredients:

Extruded yellow cornmeal, chicken meal, soybean meal, fish meal, soyhulls, soy oil (premium only), extruded whole soymeal, wheat midds, potassium chloride, salt, sodium bentonite, magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, Niacin supplement, sodium selenite, copper sulfate, d-calcium panthothenate, folic acid, Vitamin A acetate in gelatin, manganous oxide, d-biotin, Vitamin B12 supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, Riboflavin supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ethylene diamine dihydroiodide, and Thiamine Mononitrate, Priopionic Acid (a preservative). 

Personally, I would rather feed Snarf the bag than this stuff...hedgehogs can't digest corn, the first ingredient; 'meals' are mishmashes, so the likelihood of any chicken showing up in the food is pretty minimal - ditto for fish meal - it's basically chicken/fish waste; soybean meal and soyhulls are used to add bulk - zero nutritional value; and then a loooong list of questionable preservatives????

No way, no how. If I wouldn't eat it, there's no way my poor hedgie is going to be forced to eat it. :lol:


----------



## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

And I forgot to answer your questions...

- leave food out 24/7 - some hedgies will get up during the day for a snack. I wouldn't leave out too much at one time. Firstly, it's more difficult to see how much has been easten; secondly, it gets stale after sitting out for more than a day. Every night, I count out Snarf's kibble - a mix of one hedgie food and 6 catfoods, then in the morning, I dump the remains and put just a few fresh kibble in his dish. I wouldn't want to eat food that's been sitting around for a few days....yeeccchhhh.  

- Snarf is almost 2 years old, 300grams and eats about 2 tbsp of food every night in kibble; he also has tiny pieces of dried banana and apples in his rock garden; 10 kibble in his dig box and 3 - 5 teeny mealies as treats. :shock: Little piggy. His weight is always 300grams and he wheels 5-8 miles a night so he needs the calories. :lol:


----------



## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Here's a list of good dry cat foods...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

It's a good idea to throw out any un-eaten kibble the next day. Not only will your hedgie have fresh food, you will be able to keep better track of his eating habits (which is good to know if he starts to get sick & eats less). Also, it has been mentioned before that hedgie saliva has bacteria in it (like ours) & any half eaten kibble could start to grow it. I don't have any proof on that last one, but it sounds reasonable to me.

Those dark bits of kibble you mentioned (life source bits?), from what I can remember, it's a rare hedgie that will eat them. So that's not unusual.

As far as Spikes Delight goes...I also got some from my breeder. Not only are the above mentioned cat food better, but I found that once I started to introduce kibble to my hedgie, he just ate around the Spikes Delight anyway. So, the mealworms get it now.


----------



## hedgehog_owner1234 (Jan 17, 2011)

Okayy, thanks everybody. But i was never really worried regarding the darker ones in the food. she had never eaten them from the first day i got her. so i just let her be, and she picks out all the light ones. :lol:


----------



## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

hedgehog_owner1234 said:


> Okayy, thanks everybody. But i was never really worried regarding the darker ones in the food. she had never eaten them from the first day i got her. so i just let her be, and she picks out all the light ones. :lol:


They're amazing at this! I put Snarf's fave kibble in his dig box - 5 pieces - and tried to sucker him into eating CSFCS (he'd rather starve than eat this) by adding 5 pieces of that, too. I checked this morning: lots o' fleece and 5 pieces of CSFCS. :roll: Amazing.


----------



## Kristie (Jan 4, 2011)

that's crazy. i'm really glad i read that. maybe i'll consider changing...


----------



## R3d foreman (Jan 1, 2011)

Sunseed Vita Exotics - hedgehog formula

i fill peter's dish whenever i notice that it is less than half full


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

You should dump out the old food and put in fresh food everyday. Would you want to eat food that's sat out all day?


----------

