Derek the dot !!!! :) x

Derek is a dream , he is such a cute little boy , he hardly ever huffs and he looks sore where his quills are pocking through . He loves being in his bonding bag. He has gone off his food a bit , I've spoke to Lou and she thinks maybe it's due to him quilling , so just trying lots of different foods with him at the minute . The only thing he clears up are dried mealies

Hello Derek the Dot - you are a handsome hoggie xx

Thanks helen , any ideas of food I can tempt him with ? X

He's a handsome little fella

If its just because of his quilling, surely he'll eat if he gets too hungry. I just worry that if you he takes a fancy to mealies, then that's all he'll eat. My Puddin' was just used to eating mealies and I had to work really hard to get her off them. A very rare treat for her now. When you give him his meat, maybe offer it slightly warm as this may get his taste buds going

Xoxox

I am worried that he is eating his mealies and getting full on them , but im to worried not to put any in as he is so tiny I don't want him to lose any weight . I tried put a bit of warm water on his biscuits last night so they gave off a bit of a smell but he never touched them , he has also had warm mince beef and sweetcorn , chicken and mixed veg but not been tempted , I spoke to Lou and asked if I could try and tempt him with some wet cat food she advised me to get the pure chicken Sheba one, it was just stripes of chicken coated in a bit of gravy and I thought it might of tempted him but it was still in his dish this morn . I will keep putting a mixture of foods in for him and see what happens , it's only the last couple of days that he has gone off his food so I'm hoping that it's just his quilling x

I think Melody has made a good point of him only eating mealies .. I would keep giving him his chicken and mince .. a few of mine went off their food when the weather changed ... im sure he will pick up I have to say he is gawjuss x

Lou shall I still give him dried mealies or shall I try and give him less of them so he might be hungry and eat his food x

I think maybe cut back a little and see if that encourages him to eat .. a lot of hedgehogs do go off their food when they are quilling so its quite normal but as you said he is a dot so we don't want him to lose to much .. see how he goes with just a fewer mealies and keep me updated please )

Thanks Lou , I will let you know how he gets on x

Thank you x

When trying new foods it is better to keep to one and give them that for several days rather than bombarding them with lots of different foods - when Pudding came to me, she only ate live mealies and I had to be cruel to be kind and stop feeding them to her - she did the same when she moved to Mel's - a very fussy eater and Mel knows what to feed her and what to give her as treats - mealies are fine but they are not good for a long term diet - keep with chicken Jo x

maybe a bit of chicken thigh .. as well as breast Jo .. I think I said that on the phone x

Thanks helen and lou , I will get him some chicken thighs tomorrow and cut back his mealies ( he only eats dried) and keep him on chicken for a week and see how he goes x

could try turkey mince? its errols favourite x

will await update .x

he is so handsome xx

he is lovely!! count the biscuits, he could be eating a few without you knowing xx

I count the biscuits jake I only put 20 in and they are all still there in a morn but im pleased to say he ate half his bowl of mince last night so I'm really happy :-) xx

Just bumped up a post for you in the Diet Section - Switching / Adding Foods

Thanks helen :-) x

Welcome - cut back on his dried mealies Jo - sometimes you have to restrict the one thing they will scoff like no tomorrow and basically give them no choice - he will soon get the idea of it x

I will do . He's definatly got me wrapped around his little finger !!!! Lol xx

aww glad he ate some mince xx

Just sounds like he is quilling to me ..im so glad he ate half his mince last night .x

he is stunning