# He won't eat his mealies D:



## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I bought Kashi live mealworms today, and I tried feeding him a couple... He won't eat them! :x 
I tried crushing one in half and even after the smell, nothing 

What can I do to make him eat his mealies??


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Oh boy...I have this problem with Quillamina, too, although likely for a very different reason. Have you tried actually shoving it right in front of his face? Remember that hedgies don't see hugely well compared to other animals, so maybe he just didn't notice that it was there.

Or, on the other hand, maybe he just wasn't hungry at that moment. Try again later, mayhaps?


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Maybe you could try putting a couple in his food bowl along with his kibble and hopefully he'll take to them.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Sela said:


> Oh boy...I have this problem with Quillamina, too, although likely for a very different reason. Have you tried actually shoving it right in front of his face? Remember that hedgies don't see hugely well compared to other animals, so maybe he just didn't notice that it was there.
> 
> Or, on the other hand, maybe he just wasn't hungry at that moment. Try again later, mayhaps?


Yeah, I tried shoving it in his face. At first he showed interest, but it was not at the mealies, but at the chopsticks I was using to pick them up :lol: So I put it on the floor, right in front of his face, and he just walked away... That's when I crushed it in half, making all the gooey stuff come out (I didn't like that part D: It made me feel kinda queasy actually), and still, nothing D:

I'm hoping he isn't hungry, like you said... I've left around 5 in a dish inside his cage... so perhaps he will come out to eat them later on :/



tie-dye hedgie said:


> Maybe you could try putting a couple in his food bowl along with his kibble and hopefully he'll take to them.


Yeah, that might work... so far the only food he has shown interest in is his kibbles and he once ate a chunk of watermelon... but that's about it >_< I'll put some kibbles along with the mealies and see how it goes


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## fracturedcircle (May 31, 2010)

Harvey refuses to eat live mealies or *dead* crickets.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

fracturedcircle said:


> Harvey refuses to eat live mealies or *dead* crickets.



I don't know why, but it just made me really upset :S I just want him to eat something OTHER than cat food ya know? >_<
Sometimes I will feed him baby food, but the only way to get him to eat it is if I coat the kibbles in them


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Cholla's the same way. I have this can of mealworms in the fridge that I just get rid of! I try giving them to him every few days. Last night, I hid one in his food bowl & it wasn't there this morning. I am hoping it means he ate it & it's not somewhere, turning into a bug. :shock: I haven't had the "guts" to squish one yet. (get it? hehe) Don't know why I keep trying - if he likes them, then I will have to keep buying them & touching them.


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## jdlover90 (Jun 14, 2010)

Hmmm, it could be that he's just not that into mealies? I know hedgies can be picky...maybe Kashi just doesn't like them? 
Well, I hope you can get him to eat them! Quilly attacks them and gobbles them up.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

PJM said:


> Cholla's the same way. I have this can of mealworms in the fridge that I just get rid of! I try giving them to him every few days. Last night, I hid one in his food bowl & it wasn't there this morning. I am hoping it means he ate it & it's not somewhere, turning into a bug. :shock: I haven't had the "guts" to squish one yet. (get it? hehe) Don't know why I keep trying - if he likes them, then I will have to keep buying them & touching them.


:lol: nice pun there haha
I really hope that he eats them though.. ugh. what a waste  I wish I knew someone else who had a hedgie so that I could give them away to someone if he doesn't eat them.



jdlover90 said:


> Hmmm, it could be that he's just not that into mealies? I know hedgies can be picky...maybe Kashi just doesn't like them?
> Well, I hope you can get him to eat them! Quilly attacks them and gobbles them up.


He is a very picky eater, which is so unfortunate  because I'd really like him to eat some treats... he seems to be only interested in his kibbles it seems *sigh*


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## EryBee (May 23, 2010)

Phinneus is a picky eater too, and I despaired of him ever eating his mealies...until this very night! Even as I was reading this post my boyfriend came over and scooped Phin up. Phin immediately went into ball mode and my boyfriend dropped a mealworm onto him. He sniffed tentatively, chewed, and gulped. Then he gulped two more down, but only while balled up. He such an oddball


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Silly Phinneus :lol:

That gives me hope.

I'll try again tomorrow or something ^-^


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

HE ATE HIS MEALIES!!!

I left a few with chunks of watermelon overnight in his cage, and today they were all gone!!

Success hooray  I think maybe he just wasn't hungry when I offered them at first


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## Amy1024 (Mar 18, 2010)

Yay Kashi!


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## MoonbeamHH (May 3, 2010)

Snowball is the same way. Sometimes she'll not take the mealies when it is in my hands, or I put her in her chest when she is balled up. I would put them in her food bowl, and the next morning it would be gone. I even tried giving her plain chicken two nights ago, and she was licking her mouth but she didn't eat it! She had one tiny bite of banana. So I would say she is picky eater too.  I am going to wait til she is a little bit bigger and see what happens.


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Congrats on the success Shae!  

MoonbeamHH: I think you are making the right decsion for waiting and not just completely giving up on treats forever.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Thanks everyone 

I tried the mealies again today... he won't eat them!! >=(

I think maybe he likes them dead? because the ones I gave probably died overnight and then he ate them or something... because I tried live ones again today and he would not eat them >_<


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

He might just feel more comfortable eating them at night. Putting them in a dish with other things he likes might help, maybe the watermelon enticed him. :lol: I doubt the mealie died overnight though, they are much hardier than that.


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Yeah, it wasn't that he didn't like them live, he actually ate live ones in front of me yesterday :O
But it was in the dark... so I think you're right LG, I think he's just more comfortable eating them at night.

Is giving him 10 a night okay? or is that too much? @[email protected]


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I finally got him to take the mealies from my chopsticks 

Here's a quick video 






I'm so proud 

Also, the mealworms are not moving in this video because I ended up freezing them in my freezer because for some reason they would not go into their dormant stage when they were in my fridge :S


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Hahaha, that's a cute vid. 

I probably wouldn't feed him 10 a night. 5 might be better, unless he needs to gain weight.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Hey! Cholla ate 2 mealies last night too! Used your idea & just left 2 of them in his bowl & they are both gone. Hopefully he will like them enough to take them from me later on. Would love to see it.
Cute video, by the way.


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

Woo, more mealie success! Go Kashi!


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

PJM said:


> Hey! Cholla ate 2 mealies last night too! Used your idea & just left 2 of them in his bowl & they are both gone. Hopefully he will like them enough to take them from me later on. Would love to see it.
> Cute video, by the way.


Yay for Cholla 

What I did was I tried showing him that I was putting the mealies in the bowl, so I woke him up and placed him by the bowl, I placed a few mealies in the bowl, and he ate them right away. I then took my chopsticks and started feeding him using them. Finally I turned on the lights and he started taking the mealies from me ^-^


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