# stuborn hedgehog won't try new food.



## nationofamanda (Jan 19, 2010)

as you guys remember i adopted lulabelle and peach a month ago.
they were both mommies that had to wait until their babies were old enough to leave them for me to adopt them so when they did come to live with me they were still on a fatty fat fat purina kitten chow with a side of authority wet food. after waiting for them to get comfy in their new digs i began mixing their purina kibble with wellness healthy weight. my plan being to later mix it further with CSFTCLS light, and abandon the purina all together, but keep the authority wet.

peach is no problem. she's about to be introduced to the chicken soup.

lulabelle won't even eat the wellness, and she only touches her purina. do you think she just doesn't like the wellness and i should start back at step one with a different high quality cat food? or is she just being uppity? (she's been nicknamed the queen because she is such a diva about everything else as well.  ) what should i do? i don't want her to be on her old food forever...

i should also note that peach has slimmed down a bit and has a runners body from spending all night in her wheel, and will probably end up with at least one fatty food in her diet anyway...while lulabelle seems overweight (and not just like a bigger build of hedgepig) and has less interest in her wheel so we've been making her exercise supervised outside of her cage more.


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## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

I choose potato chips over carrots any day.

My advice would be to keep offering it, slowly decreasing the purina and slowly increasing the Wellness. If someone kept giving me fewer potato chips and more carrots I'd eventually grumble and eat a carrot or two. Mine love Chicken Soup so if you are really concerned she will stop eating altogether try to mix the Chicken Soup with the Purina instead to see if you can get her to change over easier. 

But really, potato chips are yummier. You can't blame a girl for fussin'.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Wellness Healthy Weight is a great food IF you can get a hedgie to eat it :lol: .
My hedgies would not touch the stuff :roll: I told them it was very very expensive and very very good for them but no one listened :lol:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I tried Wellness once and only a couple would touch it and it wasn't their first choice. :lol:


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

My boy doesn't willingly eat it either. He'll touch it only and only when all his other kibbles are gone. Out of 30 kibbles, he'll only eat about 10ish per night. I've been thinking of switching it out for blue spa next.


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## nationofamanda (Jan 19, 2010)

it's what hammy always ate so i just assumed it would be a hit. i'll try the CSFTCLS and see if that goes over better. thanks!


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

krbshappy71 said:


> I choose potato chips over carrots any day.
> 
> My advice would be to keep offering it, slowly decreasing the purina and slowly increasing the Wellness. If someone kept giving me fewer potato chips and more carrots I'd eventually grumble and eat a carrot or two. Mine love Chicken Soup so if you are really concerned she will stop eating altogether try to mix the Chicken Soup with the Purina instead to see if you can get her to change over easier.
> 
> But really, potato chips are yummier. You can't blame a girl for fussin'.


This is how I got Quigley to eat his wellness. Once he started eating it he was on just wellness for a few months. When I introduced a new food he pretty noticeably preferred it but he'll still finish his bowl of wellness (as long as he is still hungry after his favourite is gone). However he is not overly picky about crunchy food and meats so he might not be a good example.


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## mkrj58 (Mar 4, 2010)

You could try Blue Buffalos new Salmon and Rice.


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

I would try Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck instead at first, I don't think we know of a hedgie yet who won't eat it! Wellness seems to be an after thought kind of food for hedgies. Mine will eat it, but mostly only if it's the last thing in their dish.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

SnufflePuff said:


> I would try Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck instead at first, I don't think we know of a hedgie yet who won't eat it!


Raises hand! :lol: Many of mine would not eat Natural Balance GP&D.


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Nancy said:


> SnufflePuff said:
> 
> 
> > I would try Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck instead at first, I don't think we know of a hedgie yet who won't eat it!
> ...


Haha darn well there goes that theory! :lol:


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

At some point in time you are likely to run into a hedgehog that is extremely picky. I have even had hedgehogs that wouldn't eat the RC baby cat. I had tried it in 2002 with a hedgehog who was losing weight from cancer. She wouldn't touch it. I tried it with one other, no go.

Best you can do is to keep trying. Some tips that have worked for some:, crush the kibble that the hedgehog currently likes and sprinkle it over the new food; mix the new food into a container with the old so it starts to smell similar. But be certainly to mix it in slowly to avoid GI upset.

Also keep trying. Put the food in the bowl nightly. I've had some that wouldn't touch a particular food for a month and then suddenly they decided to try it. I have also had some that wouldn't try a food and then months later when I tried again they would eat it.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Nancy said:


> SnufflePuff said:
> 
> 
> > I would try Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck instead at first, I don't think we know of a hedgie yet who won't eat it!
> ...


Haha, me too! Inky liked it at first but apparently it wore off. He decided shortly after that he wanted nothing to do with it unless he didn't have a choice. He'll eat it a bit more now that I cut the kibble before giving it to him. I think it's too hard for him to easily eat.


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