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How much does your hedgehog eat per night?

14K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  Lilysmommy 
#1 ·
So I was wondering if people had information about how much their hedgehogs were eating each night.

Right now, for my 6 week old (150 g), I put out 25 grams of food and she eats 11 grams a night.
 
#3 ·
Lily (3 years old, 500 grams) eats 10-20 kibble, 5 crickets, a tablespoon of mixed baby food, and usually a few treats (different kinds, cut into pieces about the size of her kibble). She also sometimes gets 1-2 mealies. The kibble amount depends on if she liked that night's treats or not, how big her crickets were, and if she finished all of her baby food (which she usually does).
 
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#5 ·
Feral is a picky eater but she loves her regular diet of Blue Cat Food which she downs probably around 40 ea night, she hates mealies and crickets and thus far the only safe treat she loves is watermelon and she will eat a decent size piece every few days, I don't like to indulge too much fruit in her diet.
 
#6 ·
Someone else who actually weighs the food! For those with kibble counts, what size food are we talking about? Feldiae size? Fromm size?

Mine currently eat about 6 grams of kibble a night. They are seniors, so it maintains them just fine. When younger, it was closer to 9-10 grams.

I like that you are giving her nearly double what she is eating. Gives her plenty of extra should she go into a growing spurt and need it.
 
#7 ·
Herc eats about 60-70 kibbles a night. That's usually how I can tell he is getting sick too, because his appetite drops down to 30-40 kibbles a night right before he gets a URI. The kibbles are all somewhat similar in size (he's currently on a 4-way mix of Innova, Chicken Soup Light, Blue Spa Select Light, and NB green pea and duck).
 
#9 ·
I keep meaning to update my input on this post with the weight of Lily's food and keep forgetting to weigh it! I'll try to remember to do it tonight.

For baby food, I just get whatever, usually. I know organic is better, and do usually look in the organic section first, but I've gotten other foods if they have different veggies or something. The brands I have right now are Gerber (organic and regular), BeechNut Homestyle, and Earth's Best Organic. I do try to avoid any foods that have citrus fruits or corn in them.
 
#11 ·
This thread is over two years old - it's best to start your own topic for a question in the future rather than bringing up old threads. :)

There's no way to tell exactly how much a hedgehog should weigh - there's too great of a range. They can be anywhere from 250 grams to 1000 grams and be perfectly healthy, depending on the hedgehog. If you're unsure if he's at a healthy weight, the best way to get second opinions would be to start a new topic and post some pictures of him from the side and above so we can see his body shape.

Free-feeding is recommended for pretty much all hedgehogs on this forum, unless there's a severe weight issue. However, you also want to keep track of how much he eats, since going off food is an early sign of illness. Put out at least 2-3 tablespoons and see if he eats it all. If he does, add a little more the next night, and so on until there's a little bit of food left (for extra hungry nights, or a mid-day snack the next day). Then you won't be wasting a lot of food, but you'll know he's getting enough to eat.

Side note about your food: Which formula are you feeding? The Feline Vantage formula looks pretty good, but the other two formulas are too high in protein.
 
#12 ·
I've had my Hedgie since he was just 125g. He started getting a syringe full (20mml) of liquidised puppy food every 3-4 hours. He's now over 850g and polished off around 80g of raw beef mince, a handfull of whole grain cheerios and about two tablespoons of fish-free cat pellets per night. I have no idea if this is enough, or too much. All I know is he sleeps all day, comes out each night to eat, and he's blowing up like a balloon. Presumably he won't come out so often during winter and might lose a bit of his blubber?
 
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