suitable food

I am currently feeding my hedgehog go-cat indoor food which is what the breeder had her on. I have read on here it is best not to have her just on this so i was going to gradually introduce purina one indoor cat food into the mix will this be ok. Also she is not eating much at the moment, maybe 5 biscuits over the night, so I am hoping the gradual introduction might make her food more enjoyable. I have tried her on watercress which she ate a small amount of, cauliflower which i dont think she touched and going to give her some chiken tonight. I have fed her some mealies which she seems to have eaten as i cant find them.

I have only had her since saturday, so is it possible she could be on a slight hunger strike or do they just not eat much.

Any advice will be great and thanks for all your help so far

I use go cat indoors and purinas as a mixture. There is a sticky on what fruit and veg is good and whats bad on here which is what I went by. You may find that you need to be quite persistant which with the healthy food, mine hardly ever eats his veggies!! If you are feeding live mealies you can gut load with veggies so they get their vitamins. Good luck.

I started using go cat however i was told by someone that it had poor nutritional values so i added some science plan chicken and she now has a mix of go-cat, science plan and a few mealies with the fresh food of the day for her food. xx

For the three of you, I'd recommend adding another type to your mix. The more the merrier, I think. It would be the same as feeding gammon and chips every day, variety is good. I have 3 types of go cat (two small boxes and one 950g box), Advanced Nutrition from P@H, Purely from P@H, and Royal Canin Indoor, and a tiny packet of JWB mixed in as well.

Go Cat is absolute junk food - but most people use it as a minor feature in their mixes as it seems to help with poo odour. You don't want to be using it as a second food - you want two quality foods in your mix, plus Go Cat for the odour control. If you PM me with an email address, I can send out my APH spreadsheet which has a sort-able list of the foods in the sticky (and a couple others).

They don't eat much, you want tiny pieces in their fresh (about 2mm by 5mm pieces) bowl. I forget which spoon I'm supposed to use, but I use a tablespoon, including mince (which Bodhi picks out - I hope she accidentally eats one or two bits of fruit and veg stuck to the mince!). She didn't like the Applaws chicken wet food, and my OH rarely eats chicken (and I don't at all), so she doesn't get that much, she's on a beef mince and insect-eater diet! I know a lot of people fill their kibble bowls, but I fill the bottom of it, and change it more regularly - I have no idea how much Bodhi eats, it is pretty much unnoticable! Then 20 or so live mealworms/roaches/whatever we have in stock here (don't forget, you want only 3-4 dried mealworms - you can feed more if they are live).

Hogs are insectivores, and secondary carnivores. Don't expect them to eat fruit/veg (I'm not sure why it is offered, aside from allowing 'choice', which is not exactly a bad thing!). You should see any mealworms and mince vanish over-night though.

Royal canin has a poor nutri does it not? when i checked the back ..

Kiania wrote:For the three of you, I'd recommend adding another type to your mix. The more the merrier, I think. It would be the same as feeding gammon and chips every day, variety is good. I have 3 types of go cat (two small boxes and one 950g box), Advanced Nutrition from P@H, Purely from P@H, and Royal Canin Indoor, and a tiny packet of JWB mixed in as well.

Go Cat is absolute junk food - but most people use it as a minor feature in their mixes as it seems to help with poo odour. You don't want to be using it as a second food - you want two quality foods in your mix, plus Go Cat for the odour control. If you PM me with an email address, I can send out my APH spreadsheet which has a sort-able list of the foods in the sticky (and a couple others).

They don't eat much, you want tiny pieces in their fresh (about 2mm by 5mm pieces) bowl. I forget which spoon I'm supposed to use, but I use a tablespoon, including mince (which Bodhi picks out - I hope she accidentally eats one or two bits of fruit and veg stuck to the mince!). She didn't like the Applaws chicken wet food, and my OH rarely eats chicken (and I don't at all), so she doesn't get that much, she's on a beef mince and insect-eater diet! I know a lot of people fill their kibble bowls, but I fill the bottom of it, and change it more regularly - I have no idea how much Bodhi eats, it is pretty much unnoticable! Then 20 or so live mealworms/roaches/whatever we have in stock here (don't forget, you want only 3-4 dried mealworms - you can feed more if they are live).

Hogs are insectivores, and secondary carnivores. Don't expect them to eat fruit/veg (I'm not sure why it is offered, aside from allowing 'choice', which is not exactly a bad thing!). You should see any mealworms and mince vanish over-night though.

ps i didnt know they could have more live mealies, il try hols with some, thank you! she loves her dried. x

Kiania wrote:For the three of you, I'd recommend adding another type to your mix. The more the merrier, I think. It would be the same as feeding gammon and chips every day, variety is good. I have 3 types of go cat (two small boxes and one 950g box), Advanced Nutrition from P@H, Purely from P@H, and Royal Canin Indoor, and a tiny packet of JWB mixed in as well.

Go Cat is absolute junk food - but most people use it as a minor feature in their mixes as it seems to help with poo odour. You don't want to be using it as a second food - you want two quality foods in your mix, plus Go Cat for the odour control. If you PM me with an email address, I can send out my APH spreadsheet which has a sort-able list of the foods in the sticky (and a couple others).

They don't eat much, you want tiny pieces in their fresh (about 2mm by 5mm pieces) bowl. I forget which spoon I'm supposed to use, but I use a tablespoon, including mince (which Bodhi picks out - I hope she accidentally eats one or two bits of fruit and veg stuck to the mince!). She didn't like the Applaws chicken wet food, and my OH rarely eats chicken (and I don't at all), so she doesn't get that much, she's on a beef mince and insect-eater diet! I know a lot of people fill their kibble bowls, but I fill the bottom of it, and change it more regularly - I have no idea how much Bodhi eats, it is pretty much unnoticable! Then 20 or so live mealworms/roaches/whatever we have in stock here (don't forget, you want only 3-4 dried mealworms - you can feed more if they are live).

Hogs are insectivores, and secondary carnivores. Don't expect them to eat fruit/veg (I'm not sure why it is offered, aside from allowing 'choice', which is not exactly a bad thing!). You should see any mealworms and mince vanish over-night though.

Redswife wrote:
Royal canin has a poor nutri does it not? when i checked the back ..

Depends on which one you get.

(name/%protein/%fat/ingredients)

Royal Canin Fit 32 32 15 Poultry Meal, Rice, Corn, Animal Fat, Corn Gluten
Royal Canin Indoor 27 27 13 Poultry Meat, Rice, Maize, Maize Gluten, Peas Bran
Royal Canin Indoor Mature 27 27 13 Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Meal, Barley, Poultry Protein (Dehydrated)
Royal Canin Light 40 38 10 Poultry Meal, Maize, Maize Gluten Food, Lignocellulose, Animal Protein (Hydrolyzed)
Royal Canin Pure Slimness 42 12 Dehydrated Chicken & Turkey Meat (Min 16% Chicken), Wheat, Wheat Gluten, Corn Gluten, Wheat Bran
Royal Canin Sensible 33 33 22 Poultry Meal, Rice, Animal Fat, Maize, Maize Gluten
Royal Canin Sterilised 37 37 12 Poultry Meal, Maize, Vegetable Protein Isolate, Maize Gluten Meal, Lignocellulose

I use the 2nd one down. The others, well, Indoor Mature is junk with cereals as it's first ingredients. There is debate regarding meat meal versus meat (see here: http://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13518&p=120528 ). Pure Slimness' protein is waaaay too high. Light and Sterilised are also fairly high. Fat on Sensible is ridiculously high, and Fit is at the top end of the fat scale (would be okay, as long as your other biscuits were low in fat).

In short, some Royal Canin is not suitable for hedgehogs, one of them is mainly cereals and four have either high protein or high fat. But Indoor 27 (the one I use), comes out fine

thanks lovely, il see if i can get some today. x