Quick question

[azechman]

I'm sorry if this has already been posted. I just got my hedgie today. The breeder I got her from didn't give me a very detailed list of the mix that she's eating right now, but she did give me a few ziplock bags of the food. I know one of them is Purina One chicken and rice but I don't know the others. If I buy the Purina and a few other recommended foods would weaning her off her old mix right away be too much change for her? I want to give her a few days with her old mix, and then start to wean but I don't have that much of the food. I just don't want her to get sick or anything.

*Edit, I know that Purina is supposed to be "junky" but I don't want to completely switch her whole diet. I think if I add in Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul and maybe Innova reduced fat along with the purina that she should be okay. Any opinions on this?

[silvercat]

how large a bag did she give you? If you have enough, give it a couple days so she can get settled into hew new home & then slowly start adding the new food to her bowl. If she is on Purina, you may find her quickly switching over to better food. Watch her poop for signs of stress or upset stomachs

[Nancy]

I always recommend that babies stay on the food they are used to for at least 1 week and better yet two weeks. No treats either. Any stress related tummy upset is usually over by the end of two weeks so then you can slowly start to add a new food.

[silvercat]

If you have enough for two weeks food, follow Nancy's advice

[azechman]

I probably have enough for 4 or 5 days depending on how much she eats. For now I just have her bowl filled because thats what the breeder did, but once I can estimate how much she's going to eat I'll probably count it out. Hopefully I can make it last close to a week. Thanks so much guys!!

[Immortalia]

Is there no way you can call your breeder and ask what foods were in the mix?

Even if it lasts 4-5 days, it would take approximately 2 weeks(Mind you, I also introduce very slowly, so some might say that 1 week is enough, while others say more) or so to make the transition to the new food, as you don't want to switch her to new food without slowly introducing it.

If you can't find out the other mixes, then just feed only the Purina that you are 100% certain on(Slowly add more Purina in the mix as the bag from breeder decreases), then feed only Purina for an extra week or two, then you can slowly introduce ONE new food. Once that food as been introduced properly, and no ill-effects are seen, then you can add a second, and so on and so forth.

[azechman]

I actually emailed her and I'm waiting for a reply so hopefully she gets back to me soon. Last night was my first night with her, and I could hear her chomping away, but there wasn't much gone so the amount I have could very well last a week.

[Immortalia]

Yes...But what I'm trying to say is....Even if what you have lasts 1 week, you do not have enough left to give her the "slow transition" that hedgies need to switch over to new food.
Technically, you would need about 3 weeks worth of the breeder's mix, in order to give her the slow transition over to new food, so her tummy doesn't have a bad reaction.

Switching her cold turkey to new food will most likely upset her tummy greatly, and you'll end up with a hedgie with a bad case of diarrhea.

Anyways, hope you hear from your breeder so you can buy the same mix! And then you can slowly switch her to whatever food you prefer. ^_^

[azechman]

Oh yeah, I understood what you meant. I was just saying I should have enough incase she doesn't get back to me right away :] Thanks for all the help guys, Bellatrix and I really appreciate it