# Baby Hedgehog Diet



## C-O-WIFE (Oct 14, 2012)

I am getting a 6 week old hedgehog tomorrow. I've already bought chicken soup for the cat lovers soul but I was wondering if he could eat that now or is there something special I should do to it like moisten it or should a6 week old have something different all together.


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## SquiggyTheHedgie (Jul 26, 2011)

Normally babies need a slightly higher fat kibble to keep up with their metabolism and their growth spurts to maintain a healthy weight. But theres not necessarily anything different you need to feed them. Softening the food may help if it seems the baby is having trouble crunching the kibble.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Chicken Soup is a great food and yes, they can eat it at 6 weeks. Make sure you get some of the foo he's been eating before now so he can transition smoothly. Which formula are you using? The normal adult formula is 20% fat so it's fine for a baby but will be too high in fat when he's an adult. If you're using the senior or adult light, those are ideal, but if the one you have is the normal adult, you can always add a second low-fat food when he gets older to balance it out. He won't need it dampened, but if it's the adult (light or regular) you'll probably want to break the pieces at least in half - not just because he's a baby, but hedgehogs in general do better with semi-small sizes. If it's the senior, that kibble size is smaller so it's fine.


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## C-O-WIFE (Oct 14, 2012)

It is the regular one so I'll shop the kibbles in half and I'll get the current food from the breeder. What age are they considered an adult so I know when to transition him to the lite?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Essentially, it's 6 months. But a lot of it needs to by played by ear. Some hedgehogs are runners and will literally run the fat of their bodies, and they will always need a higher fat kibble. Then there are some who are nicely round, and needs to have a lower fat diet earlier on, to avoid triple chins and such :lol: 

So regular weighing and monitoring of hedgie shape is essential.


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## C-O-WIFE (Oct 14, 2012)

Ok I already bought one of those scales that you use to weigh food for him. What is the target weight range?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

There's no average weight range, really - they can be anywhere from 250 grams to 1000 grams and depending on the hedgie, each weight can be perfectly normal and healthy. Granted, I've only heard of a very few hogs that were up to 1000 grams, and none of them were recent. The heaviest hogs I've seen mention of recently were around 700-800 grams. I think most breeders are going for smaller hogs, around the 250-500 range. Still though, it's highly dependent on the hedgie and their body shape. Body shape is the best way to judge whether they're at their healthy weight or not - you want their sides to be gently rounded, if they're a regular hedgie, or at least straight, if they're a runner (runners have a hard time keeping weight on since they burn it all off with activity). Our usual example - ( ) for normal, | | for runner, ( ) is overweight (or if you see fat rolls under the chin, armpits or a hump between their shoulders), and ) ( would be underweight.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

The | | body shape also applies to young hedgehogs before they fill out all the way, which can take a few more months after they settle at their adult weight. The "ideal" shape (going by the show standard) is actually a teardrop shape with a more full, rounded back end. So, viewed from above: teardrop shape, straight sides, and slightly rounded sides are all good, though if you have a straight-sided hedgie that's rather narrow and long, that's something to keep an eye on because that's the "crazy runner" build. Hedgehogs that are a bit on the skinny side (like runners who aren't on a high enough fat diet) will have a dip in at the waist. For instance, we have a few that fluctuate between being a little too thin and being long/narrow with straight sides, because they're wheel obsessed and don't keep on weight well even with a high fat diet.


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## C-O-WIFE (Oct 14, 2012)

So if that happens should you take the wheel out for a few hours a day to restrict running or try to get a high fat cat food?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Taking wheel out is your absolute last choice... And usually only if the hedgehog has injured themselves.

Most people will just move first to "regular" adult food, which is usually around the 16-18% fat area to add more fat to the food, and then move up to kitten if necessary.


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## C-O-WIFE (Oct 14, 2012)

Ok thank you!


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