# Hedgie won't eat meal worms



## huhjinny (Jun 18, 2015)

Hey all, 

First time owner here. I'm trying to feed my 7 week old hedgie some meal worms but I think she's actually scared of it because she puffs into a ball and has absolutely no interest in eating it. I tried putting some meal worms in her food bowl, but she eats her kibble only... Are meal worms absolutely necessary for her diet? I'm currently feeding her a kibble of hedgehog food and ferret food, as recommended from the breeder I bought her from. I also tried putting in a tiny piece of strawberry, but took that out too because she ate around it. 

Thanks!!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

What specific brands of hedgehog food & ferret food are you feeding? To be honest, both are inappropriate for hedgehogs. Hedgehog foods have terrible ingredients, and ferret foods either have terrible ingredients or if they have decent ones, the protein is too high for hedgehogs. I would really recommend checking out the stickies at the top of the Nutrition forum to read more about what ingredients are good or bad & what to look for in a food. Cat foods are most often used, but dog foods are good as well, as long as the kibble is small enough or you crush it up.

Are you feeding the mealworms live? Sometimes they're afraid of the movement. Such mighty hunters, eh? :lol: You could try freezing the mealworms to kill them or put them in the fridge to make them hibernate so they don't move, if you think she's afraid of that. Another trick is to cut the mealworm in half (gross, I know) & rub it on her lips - sometimes once they get the taste, they realize it's delicious food & scarf it up. She's not going to die or anything if she won't eat mealworms, but it's best to give them insects if you possibly can. You could also try other insects like crickets, roaches, waxworms, etc. There's a sticky about insects at the top of the Nutrition forum too.


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