# Should I be feeding Mr. Hedgie more?



## Gibbz (Jan 17, 2011)

I feed him twice a day. Once in the morning, and once in the evening. I limit the ammount because I know hedgehogs are easily able to become overweight. But, I've noticed especially in the past week or two, that he is wanting more food.. Like he's always hungry. I will give him about 5 kibbles before I go to bed for snack. I don't know if it's just a compulsive thing, or if he's actually hungry. He has put on some weight, not a bad ammount, but a healthy size because he was quite tiny before.

I'm not sure what to do.. Advice please?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Unless Mr Hedgie has a weight poblem, he should have food available 24/7. Just be sure to give him new stuff everyday as it gets stale and gross if it sits out.

What are you feeding him?


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## Gibbz (Jan 17, 2011)

Pretty Pets, I'm finishing the bag off and then buying a different brand.


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## pooka dotted (Jan 5, 2011)

you should buy a different brand BEFORE you finish the bag off. That way you can slowly mix the two foods together and then get rid of the old food completely. It's a lot easier on their digestive systems this way, fill his dish and then slowly start with 5 kibbles, then ten, fifteen etc. it should take a few weeks to fully change over


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

You should actually stop feeding Pretty Pets now and start feeding him a good quality cat food. Pretty Pets is very very bad. I think I've read some posts a while back about someone who was feeding her hedgie Pretty Pets and the poor hog ended up with a very bad irritation on her tongue because there was some unidentified hard material in the kibble. I can't find the post I'm talking about, but take a look at this post by Nancy. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9357


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> You should actually stop feeding Pretty Pets now and start feeding him a good quality cat food. Pretty Pets is very very bad. I think I've read some posts a while back about someone who was feeding her hedgie Pretty Pets and the poor hog ended up with a very bad irritation on her tongue because there was some unidentified hard material in the kibble. I can't find the post I'm talking about, but take a look at this post by Nancy. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9357


I can't edit my post, but I found the post and the food was actually Spike's Delight. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9000

Anyway Pretty Pets has nothing good to your hedgie and if offered a good cat food most likely he won't touch it anymore. I suggest you start switching him asap.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Yup. What she said. I just follow susanp around and agree with everything she says.  

Pretty Pets = Pretty Bad

EDITED to add:

Ingredients: Ground Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Meal, Ground Oats, Beet Pulp Fiber, Potato Protein, Wheat Isolate, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Corn Oil, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium thermophilum Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium longum Fermentation Product, Dried Streptococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract Product, Choline Chloride, Casein, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, DL-Methionine, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Ferric Sulfate, D-Biotin, Yucca schidigera Extract, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Oxide, Niacinamide, Vitamin B12 Supplement, BHT (as a preservative), Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K3), Vitamin D3 Supplement, and Cobalt Sulfate. 

Good Lord.


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## Nebular (Dec 28, 2010)

Short version: Non-digestible ingredients (corn, corn meal), chicken meal, a boat load of chemicals, and a tiny amount of things that at one point may have been thought of as food but rendered down to empty filler with no nutritional value. There's probably more nutritional value in an old gym sock. :?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Nebular said:


> Short version: Non-digestible ingredients (corn, corn meal), chicken meal, a boat load of chemicals, and a tiny amount of things that at one point may have been thought of as food but rendered down to empty filler with no nutritional value. There's probably more nutritional value in an old gym sock. :?


Wow...you're gooooooooooood............


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I think the hedgie would like the old gym sock! *Anoint!*

Anyway...here's the list to the recommended dry cat food. I would print it out & take it to your local pet store & highlight the foods they have. Then you can start to decide what you want his next food to be. Buy it NOW & start to incorporate it in with the pretty pets, or spikes delight, or whatever it is. (either one is blaahhhh!) 

If he's anything like my Cholla, he will immediately stop eating the bad food & will only eat the new, better kibble & will have green poops. Don't worry, it's normal. 

Hedgies won't eat & eat & eat. So, as was mentioned before, you should "free feed" your hedgie. Meaning, give him as much kibble as he wants. We usually will count it out & see how much he eats, then you give him a little more than that every nigh, so there are a few left over in the morning. Throw those out & refill his bowl will fresh kibble. The whole idea is to give him as much as he wants, without a lot of waste. It also helps to keep track of how much you give him, in case he gets sick & stops eating. You will immediately know.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

And don't forget the BHT in there... possible cancer causing stuffs, that you are better off staying away from.

And another vote for free feeding. My boy always has food available in front of his face so that at any time during the day and night, he will never have an empty bowl. And he is the round type hedgie too. I just make sure all of his foods are in the 9-12% fat, or basically, as low as I can go.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

All my hedgies eat a food mix that averages 12 % and all are free fed, none are overweight. Its very rare that a hedgheog will over eat. Your poor guy is probably hungry all time.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Everyone who has posted prior is right, he needs to be gradually but very soon, switched onto a high quality cat food. It's not worth it for his health to put it off. Pretty Pets is like eating cardboard pizza boxes. 

He should be free fed, as mentioned. This means having a full bowl available to him at all times. He's probably very hungry right now which tells his body food is limited, and would only make his body store more fat - so in a way limiting food is only adding weight, though not in a healthy way. Let him eat as much as he wants - very, very few hedgies will actually eat too much where they become overweight. It is usually lack of exercise that causes that.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Be sure to add more food slowly, as 5 kibbles a night is borderline starvation. How many kibbles do you give during the day? You don't want to shock his system by giving too much too soon. 

Personally, I would go out and get the high quality cat food, give 5 kibbles of the cat food, and then the total number of kibble you have been giving of the PP + 10. 

So... in simpler terms...
5 kibbles of new cat food
Day portion + night portion + 10 kibbles of pretty pets.

Then as long as he is handling that ok, few days later, increase the new cat food to 10 kibbles per night, and increase the pretty pets by another 10 kibbles as well. etc etc, until he is finally eating and actually leaving food behind. Then, you can slowly decrease the PP, and increase the cat kibble.


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## Gibbz (Jan 17, 2011)

Good answers everyone! Thanks


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