[Artist]

Sorry for all the questions, just finishing up some last details before Sherlock/Watson/name (haven't decided yet) comes home Tomorow, but how do I mix foods. I have 2 brands, but how do I mix? Do I toss one bag into the other, mixing all at once, or mixing a little bit each time I put food in his food bowl? Thanks.

 

[DesireeM81]

I mix them together in a Tupperware container. I keep half of the mix accessible and the other half frozen so it doesn't go stale before she eats it.

ETA - Oh, but this is when I know she will eat both foods. I forgot you don't have him yet. I would wait on the mixing until you are sure he will eat it.

 

[Melanie G.]

Do you know what the breeder has been feeding him? If you have the same food as the breeder, I would start with that food first. Then you can slowly mix another food in (start with 3/4 old food and 1/4 new food and then slowly add till its 50/50). I keep my food in their original bags and give a bit of each food when I'm filling up their dishes.
But I do like Desiree's idea of mixing them in a Tupperware container. I hadn't even thought of that! Thanks for the idea.
If you are using 2 new foods that he isn't used to, I would pick one to start with and see if he is okay on it and then introduce the other food.

 

[Lilysmommy]

Don't mix right away. You'll need to introduce one food at a time, and slowly. So choose one food, give your hedgie a week or two to settle in and eat the same food as the breeder was feeding (so make sure you get a month or so's worth of food from your breeder, or buy a small bag of the food they feed), then slowly add in the new food. The usual schedule is 1/4 new to 3/4 old for week 1, 1/2 and 1/2 for week 2, 3/4 new to 1/4 old the third week, and then all new. Then after hedgie's switched over and doing well on the first new one, you start adding in the second food in a similar manner, until they're mixed at the ratio you want (such as 1/2 and 1/2).

After that, it's up to you. I always just counted out the same number of kibble for each of Lily's foods each night. Other people do just mix both bags up all together and store them that way. Either way works!

 

[Artist]

How long does one bag of food last, zipped up in a zip lock baggy?

 

[DesireeM81]

Are you asking freshness or length of time?

I'm not sure on freshness but my baggie of food looks like it's going to end around the three week mark and I have been mixing it with her new food. So maybe a week and half or two weeks.

 

[Lilysmommy]

I used a mix of three foods for Lily, about 15 lbs all together. They'd last me around 6 months, with the excess food being kept in freezer bags in our deep freezer. Around the 6 month mark, there was usually some left in each bag, but they'd start getting stale (even in the freezer). I could always tell when the food was starting to get stale because Lily would start eating less. I'd get new bags and she'd go right back to her usual amount. I kept her foods in small plastic storage containers (the small Glad containers & such you can get for storing food) and just got new food from the bags in the freezer whenever necessary.