Help: 6 week old not eatting a lot

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Sugargliderlove

Hedge Addict
Joined
Aug 20, 2012
Messages
166
Location
florida
I just got my 6 week old hedgie. I was transitioning her over to the kibble mix that I feed Sonic my other hedgie, I do not have anymore of the food she was eating. She runs like crazy in her wheel and barely touches her food. The only food she eats that I know for sure if the stuff she was eating at the breeders. I took out her wheel just now to try to get her to eat something and all she is doing is running around the cage. I am not sure what to do to get her to eat her kibble. When I had the food she was eating at the breeders in her bowl she ate all of it. she was eating like 3 TBS of it. I am not wanting to feed her the stuff she was eating. she was eating Purina One but I don't know which one.
 
I was able to get ahold of her breeder to find out what kind she was eating and I got a bag of it. she was being fed Purina One indoor advantage. I put some in her bowl I took her out of her house and showed her. She ate some of it. Now I know that she will eat it at night and that she has something in her tiny belly.
 
Glad you contacted her breeder. She may just need a slower change-over than you were aiming for.

In addition to a slower change-over, you can also do things like mix the new kibbles with the Purina and let it sit together... mixed... for a bit so that the new kibbles take on a bit of the old kibble scent/flavor. Or you could grind up a bit of the Purina and sprinkle it on the new kibbles.

Mostly, though, I'd go with a slower change-over. Which, now that you have a bag of it, can definitely take place.
 
If she switches over good. I could add the Purina One into the new mix. The new calculations for percentages for all 4 of the kibbles would be protein 35.45% fat 10.6%. which is good levels.
 
I put a piece of each of the new kibbles in her food last night and she ate all of the food in her bowl. So I am putting 2 of each new kibble in her bowl with her kibble. so she has 2 TBS of her purina and 6 pieces of the new kibble
 
She is doing really good now on eating last night she ate all her purina and all 6 of the new kibble today I put 9 pieces of kibble and her purina and see how she does.
 
I just checked her bowl and the only thing she left in the bowl was poop. lol there was 9 pieces of kibble in her bowl last night. should I increase the number to 4 pieces of each kibble or leave it at 9 for a little bit?
 
In general, an empty bowl means add more kibbles the next night. I'd say yes, put those in.
 
3 or 4 pieces left behind sounds great. I love when I see about that much left behind. It tells me that there was enough in her dish to keep her belly full - she didn't empty it, then go hungry. Nor was there so much left that could signal something funny happened overnight and she didn't eat.
 
the past few nights I have been giving her 1 tbs of the new kibble(NK) and 1 tbs of Purina(P) she has been leaving a little of each of them in her bowl. Tonight she is getting 1 tbs NK:1 tbs P. I am trying Sonic with the same ratio to see how he likes it. If he likes it I might add the P to the mix it would make the mix 35.45% & 10.6%. right now with out the P mixed in the NK is 34.6% & 11.3%
 
That sounds pretty good. I'd probably drop the Purina after the current bag runs out. But it's no biggie either way.
 
Sonic HATES the Purina. I had to cut back from 1 tbs of NK to 1/2 tbs for sprinkles because she is starting to leave the NK in her bowl. I am starting to have a fear that I will never get her off the Purina since I am not able to get past the 1/2 tbs point.
 
It's okay if they have slightly different mixes: no Purina for him and 1/2 tbs for her...

The hoops we jump through for these little ones - creating their own special blends :)

You might try tinkering with the ratio of NK to Purina again after a week or so in an effort to help drop the Purina out. Fortunately, while not the best in the world for hedgies, Purina is also not the worst thing in the world - particularly if she's eating the other kibbles too.
 
Thank you Melissa. she is growing so fast. I have had her only for 3 weeks. Her mix tonight is 1 1/2 tbs Purina and 1/2 tbs NK. I am wanting to get her mix all the NK but I will be happy if it is 1 1/2 tbs NK and 1/2 tbs Purina.
 
She ate all of her kibble. I added more of the NK so tonight it is 3/4 tbs and 1 1/3 Purina. I am hoping now I am able to get past the 1/2 tbs threshold. *fingers crossed* she also has flaxseed oil on her kibble tonight as well. she and Sonic get a caplet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on their kibble to keep the dry skin away.
 
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