# "Hedgehog Food"



## KopaZ (Apr 23, 2009)

I saw some of this at my local Petsmart:
[attachment=0:2a2so1kq]hedgehogfood.jpg[/attachment:2a2so1kq]

It says only to feed hedgehogs 12 weeks or older.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried this food before? I don't wanna go out and buy it if it's not good for the hedgehog or good in general.

Edit: I cannot find the picture of the one I saw, but it had freeze-dried mealworms, fruits, and veggies instead of cheese/fruits/veggies.

Edit 2: other differences in case they matter "omnivore diet", "all-natural with vitamins and minerals", only has "crunchy texture helps control tartar", "treats added to stimulate foraging behavior", and "natural tocopherols to aid freshness" on the bag rather than what that picture shows


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## M_Canadian (Feb 22, 2009)

That food is like junk food and isnt good for your hedgehog check out these posts for appropriate food choices

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=45


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## KopaZ (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks, and sorry, I should have looked around a little more before asking.


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## dorasdaddy (Dec 23, 2008)

that food is actually deadly for hedgies, the rasins in it are a severe choking hazard.


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## hedgieluver (Feb 18, 2009)

idk if this matters, but theres also a european hedgehog on the front, so maybe for outside hedgies in ur garden :?


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

hedgieluver is right, Brown's was originally made as a supplement for wild european hedgies. The nutritional needs of our pet African hedgies are much, much higher than the cardboard crumbles that are in that food. :?


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## Mitchell C (Apr 17, 2009)

uh oh, ive been useing this o.o


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Get one of the cat foods on the list Reaper made and start mixing it into your hedgehog's bowl immediately. Pretty Pets is not good for african pygmies at all.


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## drpepperheather (Dec 19, 2008)

According to Reaper's Commercial Hedgehog Food Post,


> Pretty Pet's hedgehog food contains very little nutritional content. It may be ok as a treat but should be considered "junk food".
> http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=45


The first 3 ingredients of Pretty Pets are: Ground Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Meal
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16971

Since ingredients are listed by volume, this means that this food is mostly Ground Corn, which is a filler and serves no real nutritional value. It will pretty much just pass right through the hedgehog, which of course means more poop.

What we really want is a meat protein to be the first ingredient (a specific meat or meat meal). This food has a vegetable protein as the second ingredient (Corn Gluten Meal) and it's not until the third ingredient that we have the meat protein, which is listed as Poultry Meal. Now, it's much better to see a specific ingredient like chicken meal or turkey meal, since poultry does not specify where the meat is coming from.

Something else to point out is that further down the ingredient list is BHT, which is an artificial preservative. We usually want to stick with all natural ingredients for our little hedgehogs, especially since there has been research showing that artificial preservatives like BHT (as well as BHA and Ethoxyquin) can be linked to cancer and other diseases.

So, like Lilysmommy has said, you will want to find a food from Reaper's List since he has done a lot of research to find the foods that will be nutritionally adequate for our hedgehogs and contain no artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. Whenever adding a new food you will generally want to gradually start mixing it with the current food, but what I've heard is that when a hedgehog has both a good cat food and a hedgehog food, they will generally just eat the cat food and leave the hedgehog food. If that happens, then you could just give only the cat food.

Reaper's List: http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15


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