# Innova food mix suggestion...



## EtherealRose (Mar 15, 2012)

Durzo is about 7 weeks old now and he came with instructions from the breeder to feed him a mixture of turducken soft cat food & before B.G. grains turkey soft cat food mixed in with the hedgie food she supplied which is "Select Diet Hedgehog Food" - - says it is crude protein not less than 34%, crude fat not less than 20%, and crude fiber not less than 4% (the starting ingredients are animal protein and fat).

I got a sample bag of Innova Low Fat adult cat food today and would like to start switching him over to the innova with another cat food mixture but not sure which... The fat content in the "select diet hedgehog food" that I have seems high. He mainly just eats around that kibble anyways and eats all the turduckern and turkey soft cat foods.

Any suggestions for good hedgie mixes to go with the Innova?

Thank you  

PS - this is the list of the cat food I can buy locally - http://www.mudbay.us/About_Cats/Cat_Foods_We_Carry.htm


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Pretty much any of the good ones would go well with Innova. The Innova Low Fat is already pretty much perfect in terms of the fat/protein content, so you should just look for another that fits in the correct range as well. Since you're just starting the Innova now, you'll have some time to look around before your boy is ready for a second food. Since the first ingredient in the Innova LF is turkey (followed by chicken), it already kind of works as a non-chicken food. The majority of cat foods have chicken/chicken meal as the primary ingredient, so people like to find ones with turkey or duck or something else to include in a mix, just for the sake of offering some variety. With the Innova, though, that's already taken care of. I would highly suggest Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul (adult light) which has very similar fat/protein percentages to the Innova LF and is very popular on this forum.


----------



## EtherealRose (Mar 15, 2012)

Thank you Moxie! I will look into the Chicken Soup - so that and Innova mixed would work well?
I know he is still growing (only 7 weeks tomorrow) I just don't want him to get too fluffy haha - he gained ~45 grams this past week.


----------



## EtherealRose (Mar 15, 2012)

In addition to the food he came with the breeder gave a can of dry mealworms - anyone know how long they will be good for in the fridge?


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Dried ones will last pretty much forever, but they're not the best choice - they can cause problems (constipation, etc.) because they're difficult to digest. Live mealworms, or frozen-then-thawed, are a better choice - and they also have more of the original nutrients than the dried ones have. A container of live ones can be stored in the fridge, which puts them into a dormant state because of the temperature - if you take them out every week or two and give them 24 hours to warm up, with a piece of apple or carrot in the container for them to eat, they'll last months. For one hedgehog, a small container from Petsmart or PetCo (100 or 250 count) will last a while, and the containers only cost a few bucks.


----------



## EtherealRose (Mar 15, 2012)

Thank you again moxie... have you ever bought meal worms from here? http://vita-mealie.weebly.com/pg-1-list ... t-now.html
From the sites i've found they look the safest from here...


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I just realized you live close to me, haha.

As for the site, I have no idea about that one in particular, except that it's expensive for how many you're getting. I've heard some good things about Fluker's as a place to order from, and the prices are a little more reasonable - though the cheapest option in general is to get them from a store.

http://www.flukerfarms.com/mealworms.aspx


----------



## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

EtherealRose said:


> Thank you again moxie... have you ever bought meal worms from here? http://vita-mealie.weebly.com/pg-1-list ... t-now.html
> From the sites i've found they look the safest from here...


These mealies are raised the right way and worth a couple extra bucks IMO. Vitamealies is one person doing what they love to do.


----------



## EtherealRose (Mar 15, 2012)

moxieberry said:


> I just realized you live close to me, haha.
> 
> As for the site, I have no idea about that one in particular, except that it's expensive for how many you're getting. I've heard some good things about Fluker's as a place to order from, and the prices are a little more reasonable - though the cheapest option in general is to get them from a store.
> 
> http://www.flukerfarms.com/mealworms.aspx


Where do you live?! 
I don't have a car.. so just bus/bike/feet transport and not sure where pet stores are in my area are that would have worms but I'm willing to pay a bit more if they are raised well. 

And thanks Larry - I will prob order one set of 300 and see how they work. My hubby is acting funny about putting worms in our fridge lol.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I live in Port Orchard - across the water from you. :]

As for the hubby, you can reassure them that they can't crawl out of the container. Even if you were to leave the top off, they can't crawl up the sides, even for short distances. Mealworms are the larvae of a kind of beetle, so all they're capable of is wriggling and eating.


----------



## EtherealRose (Mar 15, 2012)

Anyone know of reliable breeders that sell a good hedgie food mix?


----------

