Transitioning to New Food- Won't Eat Old

[emzy08]

i have an 8 month old male hedgie, who i just got a week ago from someone who got him from the pet store. she gave me his food, pretty pet, that he's been on since she got him at 2 months.

well, after research, as well the the opinions on here, i learned pretty pet isn't great for him, and thats why he was CONSTANTLY hungry. so, i got wellness indoor cat food for him. i know to transition slowly, so i just put in a few kibble with the rest of his food. a couple hours later i came back and he had only eaten the wellness. so i put a bit more wellness with the pretty pet, and woke up this morning and again, only wellness was eaten.

so, can i transition a little faster than i normally would-- like half half now-- because he's clearly only eating the wellness? i feel bad cause he was on improper nutrition for so long..

thanks!

 

[Nancy]

You might just as well go with straight Wellness. Sometimes it is impossible to wean them slowly onto a new food especially when the old food is something like Pretty Pets. Expect a bit of green soft poop and watch for diarrhea as they can dehydrate quickly with it.

 

[Kalandra]

This doesn't surprise me that much. Most hedgehogs I know of (including some of my own) simply won't touch Pretty Pets if they are offered a different food.

If you start to experience a lot of green stool, you can try to add a little acidolphilus to help the GI out. Just a sprinkle on his food for a few days should help get his system settled back down.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Smart hedgie! Sounds like he knows what his body needs and is actively seeking it out. I'm with Nancy and Kalanda on this one... give him the Wellness and be on the look out for the mean greenies (messy green poop). Make sure he has good access to water and, yep, the acidophilus should help - I found some in capsules at a pharmacy. Break one open and sprinkle on his kibble as if you were adding salt & pepper to your dinner.

 

[Kalandra]

Emzy, how did your hedgehog do?

 

[emzy08]

sorry i've been busy!

he had runny stool, not too loose though, the first couple days. then he got it again, i'm pretty sure because i gave him too many mealworms. so this is my third day of giving him none and then i'll ease him back into them.

he LOVES the wellness though. every night as i sleep i hear him chomping on it (he is a very loud eater/drinker)

 

[SpineyPigFaceLover]

Yeah,, I can definitely relate. I got my Sookie from a pet store and they were feeding her thier own bulk "hedgehog" food (so who knows what was in it) and so I decided to switch her to Blue Buffalo Weight Control cat food. She immediately began chowing down on the new food with a fury (which I thought was pretty funny looking!), but the next morning I noticed that she didn't even touch the old food.

Hedgehogs will know what is good and what is bad and obviously will avoid something that is bad. If it isn't eating the old food then there's no point in putting it in the bowl!