Diet/Litterbox

[wasabipeanut84]

Hi,

I've noticed that a lot of hedgie owners seem to be giving their pets cat food. The vet recommended Mazuri to me. Has anyone heard of this? I have food I bought from the pet store. There is a dry food, and then a "wet" food that I add a calcium powder to twice a week, and another I think protein powder or something to it once a week that they recommended. I heard that cat food really isn't very good for them....Any takes on this?

Also, I was wondering where a good place would be to buy bugs for Oscar. I heard that you usually have to feed and water the bugs for a day or so before they can be fed to the hedgehog?

As for his cage, now that he's a little bit older, he doesn't go as much, but he always goes in his wheel! Which I wash out with warm soap and water every morning, and I also have to give him foot baths every morning as well. No biggie, but do you think I could use those pee pads that they use to train dogs? The padding is pretty soft, and that usually is what I put on the floor when we have play time! I am worried about the poor little guy breathing in the dust from the shavings!

Sorry that was so long!

 

[Kalandra]

You'll find people that are avid that hedgehogs should be fed hedgehog food. However, look at the ingredient list of most hedgehog foods. Some are chocked full of fillers and inappropriate items and others are filled with fillers and chemicals. Mazuri, in my opinion, is a food filled with low quality ingredients (by-products & fillers), sweeteners & chemical preservatives.

Ingredients Poultry by-product meal, poultry meal, ground brown rice, dried beet pulp, ground wheat, ground soybean hulls, dehulled soybean meal, corn flour, fructose, dried egg product, ground aspen, poultry fat preserved with ethoxyquin, poultry digest, powdered cellulose, dried apple pomace, animal fat preserved with BHA, wheat germ, dried whey, shrimp meal, fish meal, brewers dried yeast, soybean oil, fish oil, lecithin, phosphoric acid, salt, DL-methionine, taurine, potassium chloride, choline chloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (vitamin K), d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (natural source vitamin E), thiamin mononitrate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (vitamin C), cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), inositol, biotin, vitamin A acetate, folic acid, ethoxyquin (a preservative), riboflavin, cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), calcium pantothenate, calcium carbonate, nicotinic acid, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, ferrous carbonate, zinc sulfate, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenite.

This is the listing of ingredients in Mazuri. I've bolded several items that I consider undesirables. Some are chemicals which have been linked to cancer in other animals. I'm sure I over looked some as well.

Take that listing and compare it to any of the high quality cat foods we recommend. You'll see a huge difference in ingredients. Look for a high quality cat food that is low in fat.

You can buy bugs at pet stores. I don't know what you mean by water before giving. Bugs should be fed to help them live longer.

Some hedgehogs will litter train, others will note. And those that do will continue to go to the bathroom on their wheel. Daily wheel cleaning is just a part of life with hedgehogs. There are the rare few that never go on their wheel.

 

[Hedgehogs BC]

My hedgehog will not eat the hedgehog diets I purchased 3 kinds and they went to waste, one looked like bird seeds very small pieces, I have not herd of watering bugs, I go to the smaller shops to get live mealworms they have 100 for $4, usually fresh every week, be sure not to over feed bugs, your hedgehog will gain weight fast if you feed to much , I offer 1-2 a day sometimes she takes them sometimes she doesnt

 

[Nancy]

I know people who have tried Mazuri and their hedgehogs won't touch it.

Calcium powder is not necessary and too much calcium can cause kidney and bladder stones.

 

[wasabipeanut84]

Thanks for the info everyone! What would you consider a good protein percentage and what would be the best fat percentage to look for? Any brand recommendations?

 

[martin1989]

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is suppose to be really good! It's what I feed mine, that and a mix of Authority.

 

[SpineyPigFaceLover]

I feed mine Blue Buffalo Adult Weight Control and it is fantastic! There's no animal by-product, no corn, no wheat, no soy, no artificial preservatives or flavors, and my hedgies love it! I had them on a bulk "hedgehog" food they gave me at the pet store (bad idea) and I when I thought I would have to ween them, they dove right into it! It's around $12 a bag for a small one but it feeds two hedgehogs for about 3 months!

 

[leaveittoweaver]

About the feeding/watering the crickets, it is a good idea to do what is called "gut-loading" crickets. This means feeding the crickets special cricket feed usually sold in pet stores. There's different types but a lot of people like to use Fluker's cricket food.

It basically just makes the crickets more nutritious for your hedgie but is not absolutely necessary