Boycotting old food

Sonic has been picking out the new food that I've been giving him and not eating the old food, should I just keep switching slowly? Or just put more old food in?

Sometimes hedgehogs just have a mind of their own when it comes to food switches. Especially when the food they were being fed before is less desirable.

What was he being fed before? If it is one of the hedgehog foods that we call junk, I'd add more of the new or just switch him. He will likely get digestive upset from it (aka the dreaded green stools), but if he isn't going to eat it anyway, its better to just do it than to have him not eating enough.

If you do a cold turkey switch expect the green stools and start adding a hefty dose of probiotics to his diet. He may have the greenies and they may get a little softer for several days or even a week afterward, but so long as they don't get runny or become diarrhea it should clear up as his system adjusts.

Okay, I'll just add more new food to his diet, his cage is already horribly ventilated (We are working on getting his a new cage, but not for a month or so, not much more) and when you open it, the smell just comes up and smacks you in the face! I'll just feed a little bit more new food.

Also, free feed, or measure his food?

Mikayla said:

Also, free feed, or measure his food?

Click to expand...

Both.

I'd free feed (don't limit the amount), but also measure it in some way (some people count kibbles; I toss it on the scale and measure it out in grams; at the very very least eyeball how much is in his dish) so you have an idea if he's eating more, less, or the same amount day-by-day. Spotting a dip in the amount eaten over the course of a day/night is a great early warning signal that something could be wrong health-wise.