# General Food Questions.



## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to these forums, and this is my first post. :]

I got my little boy about 3 weeks ago. His proper name is Bonsai... But I've called him Bubby since my first moment with him! He's about 4-5 months old, and has a pinto color pattern.

For reasons I'd prefer not to go into, I bought Bubby from a pet store. Yes, I know a breeder is best. Back OT... I bought the food they had been feeding him. Here is a link: http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/pr ... e_formula/.

However, seeing as I've never seen this food recommended on HHC (I come here for most all of my hedgie concerns), I'm switching to a food recommended by Reaper: http://www.petfooddirect.com/Product/80 ... y-Cat-Food.

Now, to my questions.

1.) I'm quite confused. Many sites advocate 'free-feeding', which I've interpreted as filling up the bowl and placing it in the cage all day, allowing for access to food at all times of the day. Is this really the healthiest option for my Bubby?

2.) If free-feeding ISN'T best, what do you recommend as a feeding schedule? I'm open to any changes in my schedule in regards to Bubby's. Do you advocate 3 meals a day? 1? 2? More?

3.)If you don't recommend free-feeding, how many kibbles should be given per meal(s) (Assuming the kibble is around as half the top knuckle of your pinky finger)?

Thanks! In gratitude, here's Bubby!:


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Welcome! The food the pet store was feeding him was actually decent, although a bit high in protein. I hope you have some on hand, so you can make a gradual change to the new food. Hedgies don't cope well with sudden change.

Yes, you should free feed, allowing him access to food 24/7 and as much as he likes. He will eat as much as he needs.


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## ILOVElily (Dec 5, 2009)

WELCOME TO THE FOREMS :mrgreen: Yes LG is right, if your hedgie has a proper wheel then a 24/7 diet should not make him obese which is something many people think.
They need fresh food available always.
PLEASE post pics as soon as u figure it out! I would help but unfortunatelly I have no idea.
good luck with the pics


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## Bostongirl (Jan 5, 2010)

I'm new here too...as far as posting a photo, I had to change my digital camera to make it use less mb. Look at the directions for your camera...you need to change the mb to fit a pc mode. Anyways, that how I got to post a photo. It took me awhile to figure it out. Good luck in posting and congrats.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Congratulations and Welcome  I love the name you chose for your little guy.


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

LizardGirl said:


> Welcome! The food the pet store was feeding him was actually decent, although a bit high in protein. I hope you have some on hand, so you can make a gradual change to the new food. Hedgies don't cope well with sudden change.
> 
> Yes, you should free feed, allowing him access to food 24/7 and as much as he likes. He will eat as much as he needs.


 Thanks a lot for your reply. And I'm now having him free-feed (with a few hand-fed mealworms and such)... My only problem is that he poos on me ALL THE TIME! He had his bath a few days ago and he must've pooped 8 times! Will he ever grow out of this??


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

ILOVElily said:


> WELCOME TO THE FOREMS :mrgreen: Yes LG is right, if your hedgie has a proper wheel then a 24/7 diet should not make him obese which is something many people think.
> They need fresh food available always.
> PLEASE post pics as soon as u figure it out! I would help but unfortunatelly I have no idea.
> good luck with the pics


Yes, he has a wheel.. Although he hasn't quite figured out the use for it, other than for his mommy to annoy the crap out of him trying to put him on it. ^^; (Just every few days or so. To see.)


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

Bostongirl said:


> I'm new here too...as far as posting a photo, I had to change my digital camera to make it use less mb. Look at the directions for your camera...you need to change the mb to fit a pc mode. Anyways, that how I got to post a photo. It took me awhile to figure it out. Good luck in posting and congrats.


Thanks for trying to help.  I'll try to adjust the image size or something, just because you all seem so eager to see my Bubby-Boy!


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

Hedgieonboard said:


> Congratulations and Welcome  I love the name you chose for your little guy.


Haha, I appreciate that. It was more of a 'OMG YOU ARE SO CUTE~ -Talks gibberish-' situation. ;P


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Yep, most hedgies will grow out of the "pooping randomly and frequently" stage. They have a short digestive tract and limited bowel control, so it's a bit of a given until they are older.


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

LizardGirl said:


> Yep, most hedgies will grow out of the "pooping randomly and frequently" stage. They have a short digestive tract and limited bowel control, so it's a bit of a given until they are older.


Ah, that's GREAT news, really. He goes on me almost 5 times every day... Before I started free-feeding, I'd let him sleep on me without worrying.. Just yesterday, he went poo in his blanket while I was holding him! And I thought the little guy was empty.. It's getting kind if hard for me to love on him without checking his backside every 3 seconds.

How long do you think it would be? A year? 2 years?


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Things should start getting better after 6 months or so, and should be leveled out around 1ish (full grown adult). Poop is something hedgie owners get very used to. :lol: 

Just saw the pictures you updated in the first post, very cute!


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## Bengall77 (Aug 1, 2009)

You should always free feed your hedgehog. In order to avoid wasting food you can count the kibble in his bowl before and after he eats and see how much he eats on a daily basis. After a few days of that reduce how much you give him to what he generally eats +10 kibbles in case he's extra hungry that night. You only have to feed once per night, usually in the evening.

Babies eat a LOT of food. When Quillbert was a baby he ate half of a bowl every night (3" bowl). When he matured he started eating less, usually managing 50-60 kibbles a night which was just enough to cover the bottom of the dish.

The poop can be difficult to deal with. What I did with Quillbert was fill his food and water dish, wake him up at 9pm if he wasn't already up, handle him for a few minutes, put him down to eat and wheel, and then take him out at 10:30 for snuggle time. By then he had usually pooped and peed on his wheel. This was the biggest help in getting him to stop going potty on me.


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

LizardGirl said:


> Things should start getting better after 6 months or so, and should be leveled out around 1ish (full grown adult). Poop is something hedgie owners get very used to. :lol:
> 
> Just saw the pictures you updated in the first post, very cute!


Thanks LizardGirl! You're very helpful.  I appreciate all your advice. I think I finally got all my questions answered.


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## Jaz (Jan 17, 2010)

Bengall77 said:


> You should always free feed your hedgehog. In order to avoid wasting food you can count the kibble in his bowl before and after he eats and see how much he eats on a daily basis. After a few days of that reduce how much you give him to what he generally eats +10 kibbles in case he's extra hungry that night. You only have to feed once per night, usually in the evening.
> 
> Babies eat a LOT of food. When Quillbert was a baby he ate half of a bowl every night (3" bowl). When he matured he started eating less, usually managing 50-60 kibbles a night which was just enough to cover the bottom of the dish.
> 
> The poop can be difficult to deal with. What I did with Quillbert was fill his food and water dish, wake him up at 9pm if he wasn't already up, handle him for a few minutes, put him down to eat and wheel, and then take him out at 10:30 for snuggle time. By then he had usually pooped and peed on his wheel. This was the biggest help in getting him to stop going potty on me.


I'll definently be using all of that advice. Thanks tons! Really helpful post!

Unfortunately though, he doesn't use his wheel yet...


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