# Healthy Weight?



## Sugargliderlove (May 27, 2012)

Sprinkle is 3 months old, i weighed her this morning she is 233.3 grams. I am curious if I should I try to put some more weight on her. How would I do that? The kibble mix she is on is Innova Senior, Simply Nourish turkey & oatmeal, Solid Gold Kats n Flocken, and Purina One Indoor Advantage. here are pictures of her:

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z40 ... 219047.jpg
http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z40 ... 850356.jpg


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

She's pretty skinny but it's hard to say if she's actually underweight from the pictures. If you think her sides are curved in it probably wouldn't hurt to try and put a little more fat in her diet. You can just get the higher fat version of the food you already feed or add a different higher fat food like a kitten food to her mix. 

I think most people feed higher fat foods until their hedgehog is 6 months old because they need the higher fat while they are still growing. Some of the foods in your list are weight reduced so you could just switch to the regular variety which would be a little higher in fat.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Agreed, she does look on the skinny side. Is she a big runner? I would try switching maybe the Innova in her mix to the cat/kitten version. It's a bit of a jump, from 12% to 20%, but it's also only one of four foods in her mix. I would switch them slowly if you do, and monitor her weight and shape. She should still be gaining a bit, since she's only 3 months, but you don't want her gaining too much from the extra fat either. It may take a bit of messing with the kibble amounts in the mix to get a good mix that keeps her at a good weight.


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## Sugargliderlove (May 27, 2012)

She is a big time runner. I have been keeping track of her weight. when she has the Purina One in her bowl she gains weight and when I try to wean her off it it seems that she drops weight.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If she's a big runner, then she could probably use a kitten food in her mix to help with the weight. I checked the Purina One food...really low fat, but a higher protein, I wonder if that's making the difference? Or if she's eating more of it, and eats less when you remove it. If you're trying to take that one out anyway, then perhaps you could trade it for a kitten food and see if she stays stable or goes up a bit with that switch. Most hedgies like kitten foods since they have the higher fat, so she might be good about it.


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## Sugargliderlove (May 27, 2012)

She eats almost all of her kibble with the Purina One mixed with the others. when it is not mixed in she leaves some. I really do not want to make a mix just for her but If that's what I got to then I guess I got to right. right now the percents are protein 35.4% fat 10.8%. which food do you think I should add to her mix? or should I watch her weight and then go from there? I know this whole thing may make me sound like I am not knowledge about hedgies but I am. I am use to having Sonic who is on the bigger side of the weight scale though he is not overweight cause he can still curl into a tight ball.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah, it's gotta be fun having multiple hedgies, but then they like to make things complicated for you too. :lol: If she's more of a runner and skinnier than Sonic, it sounds like she might need her own mix. You could still keep it easy for yourself, though - if Sonic doesn't have the Purina One in his mix (if your base mix is just Innova, Simply Nourish, and Solid Gold), all you have to do is just keep those three mixed together and then you can just add her kitten food directly to her bowl with the others each night, rather than keeping it mixed in with all of the foods together. The food is really up to you - If you want to stick with the brands you have, the Innova cat/kitten food would probably be a good food. I guess personally I'd just start adding it to her mix a small amount at a time and see how well she eats it and what her weight does. Watch to see if she starts gaining again (which would be good), and how quickly she gains. And watch her body shape to make sure she doesn't start gaining too much. You should be able to find a balance of how much kitten food to add in after awhile, it might just take a bit of juggling at first.


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## Sugargliderlove (May 27, 2012)

Base mix: simply nourish turkey & oatmeal, Innova senior, solid gold katz n flocken

Sprinkles mix right now: base mix & purina one indoor advantage

If I add innova kitten to her mix now it would make the percents protein 36% fat 13%. right now when I feed them sonic gets 1 1/2 tbs of base mix. Sprinkles gets 1 1/2 base mix and 1/2 tbs of purina. with this ratio all of the kibbles in the mix are a even percent. I am thinking before I go buy a bag of innova kitten i am going to watch her weight.


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## Sugargliderlove (May 27, 2012)

I have decided to make Sprinkles her own mix of kibble. her mix is Purina One indoor advantage turkey, canyon creek ranch chicken & brown rice, and Authority kitten chicken flavor. the protein is 35% and fat is 14.5% Since she is a runner I have the fat on the high end as well as the protein. I figured make her own mix because she is a runner and Sonic is not a big runner so he needs a low fat high protein, and she needs a high fat high protein.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sounds like a good decision, and a great mix!  Hope her weight stables out for you on her new food!


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## Sugargliderlove (May 27, 2012)

I hope so too. this is her first night with the mix. I will let everyone know how she likes it. I am also give both of them a treat I bought some organic pear and squash baby food. they dont get treats that often. I usually give mealies to sonic but my mealie farm is just starting and all the worms are real little right now so I got to wait to give them as treats. I am try to get sprinkles to get mealies I got her to eat one but when I gave her another one she didnt want it. but anywho I will let everyone know how she likes her new mix.


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