We have lots of blogs on hedgehogs if you want more tips and ideas. Finally the don’ts. What should hedgehogs not eat? But the gardener/ my neighbour/someone on the telly (insert appropriate term here) says its fine to feed them mealworms (etc)! However if by feeding hedgehogs you begin feeding all the other animals in the area (including your neighbours cat!) you may want to consider how you can provide a vip area and exclude the riff raff. This is actually relatively straight forward to do and a well designed hedgehog feeding station can provide the exclusive dining that your spiny guest will be grateful for. You will also be content knowing that your well thought out menu is not feeding tibbles. But peanuts and seeds are also not so good for hedgehogs because of the ratio of calcium to phosphorous which, similar to mealworms, but to a slightly lesser extent, can contribute to bone problems. A hole cut into the end will allow access for your hedgehog but an additional inner ‘wall’ will stop cats from reaching inside trying to hook out the dish. By leaving the food at the end of a dead end this will also make rats feel nervous and much less likely to raid the bounty.

If you opt for store-bought hedgehog food, just make sure the ingredients list predominantly fresh meat and not artificial ingredients. This will add no nutritional value to your hedgehogs diet. Including some safe to eat fruits and veggies is a great way to include different tastes and textures and some lower calorie nibbles for your hog. They are wild animals. The concept of treats is a human one, very tied into human emotion. Wild animals do not understand treats, they will eat what they are given. The best way of treating your wild hogs is to feed them safe, nutritionally balanced and appropriate food.It is estimated that we have lost up to 75% of our hedgehogs since the turn of the century. Pressures from urban development, loss of suitable habitat in the wider countryside and decline in food in both areas has meant that what was once a common mammal is now a notable absentee from its former haunts. It really IS as simple as that. So if you wanted a short answer, please dont feel you have to read any further 🙂 For those of you with all the if’s, but’s, and maybe’s, please do read on. This year, we have already had two admissions prior to little Gherkin, with metabolic bone disease (confirmed by a veterinary surgeon), both barely able to walk, and in pain. Both of these, like Gherkin, were fed large amounts of mealworms.

Hedgehog owners also need to take into consideration what kinds of foods will best suit their pet hog throughout each stage of his life cycle. So, there may be times when he’s more active and requires more energy, there may be times when he is ill and needs more fat to fight off the illness, climate and season may also come into play as well. Wet Cat or Dog Food: Again, people often ask me which one? And the answer is the same as above – it depends on your budget, and the flavour does not matter, for all the reasons already discussed above. We dont feed wet food to our wild garden hogs here. It gets extremely cold in winter and is at risk of freezing, and in warmer weather it is at risk of going off and attracting flies, which is the last thing visiting wildlife needs. Much like we have to eat everything in moderation and only indulge in unhealthy foods as treats, hedgehogs should do the same. Hedgehogs need good-quality food with the appropriate calcium balance to avoid this condition. For more information, take a look at: A Guide to Hedgehog Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) A little more about Hedgehogs in the garden. What can I do to help hedgehogs in my garden? My top 4:Neither are mealworms!! Or peanuts, or biscuits, or cake, or wagon wheels, or any of the other, frankly ridiculous things which people feed wild animals. However, cat and dog food is nutritionally balanced and complete, and will NOT cause skeletal deformities, raging tooth decay, nutritional deficiencies or spine and fur loss – all of which occur with an inappropriate diet. Place in a shallow dish and put out before dusk in a quiet area of the garden, along with a shallow dish of water. A mature hedgehog can eat about 20g each night.

If the lady had not caught him and brought him in, we dread to think of how he would have suffered in the wild with no help 🙁 Vitamin A 19,000 IU, Vitamin D3 1,900 IU, Vitamin E 110mg, Iron (Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate): 40mg, Copper (Cupric Sulphate Pentahydrate): 7mg, Manganese (Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate): 30mg, Zinc (Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate): 100mg, Iodine (Calcium Iodate Anhydrous): 1mg, Selenium (Sodium Selenite): 0.25 mg. Nutritional Additives (per kg): Vitamin A 19,000 IU, Vitamin D3 1,900 IU, Vitamin E 110mg, Iron (Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate): 40mg, Copper (Cupric Sulphate Pentahydrate): 7mg, Manganese (Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate): 30mg, Zinc (Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate): 100mg, Iodine (Calcium Iodate Anhydrous): 1mg, Selenium (Sodium Selenite): 0.25mg.in moderation) has since been added after mealworms, but peanuts and sunflower hearts still remain. Ark Wildlife continue to research hedgehog wellbeing and dietary health and are currently carrying out trials on new ways of providing highly palatable balanced nutrition with improved digestibility. They may seem timid and slow, but Hedgehogs actually have a pretty greedy eating style as a result of their high energy lifestyle when living in the wild. Did you know they can cover up to 12 miles a night? That’s a lot of foraging!

Milk is another foodstuff traditionally left out for hedgehogs. However, it will do them more harm than good due to their lactose intolerance. What harms hedgehogs? Hedgehogs are not insectivores as many people think. Studies have shown they are omnivorous. These studies have analysed faeces and stomach contents of wild hogs, and food preference trials in captive wild hedgehogs. If we miss you on the first delivery attempt, we will try again the next working day. Alternatively, you can visit DHLand easily re-arrange your delivery to something which suits you better! You can choose from the following options: It seems the answer to the original post is hedgehog or pet food ONLY, despite some of the advice elsewhere. Here is a post on FB last week from a vet:Berries – organic blueberries and raspberries in particular are okay for hedgehogs to eat, opt for organic if you can because these will less likely have been sprayed with possibly harmful chemicals If so many hedgehogs are turning up with problems as a result of eating too many mealworms, etc. perhaps some of them are actually, now, using the food as more than just a supplement (the research was quite old). Whilst I appreciate that resources are limited, it seems to me that it would be a simple matter to amend the list of foods and anything which can easily be done to help hedgehogs should be. My feeling is that if we are trying to help hedgehogs, we should give them the best food for them which we can – regardless of whether it is only supplementary feeding.. The aim of providing supplemental feeding is not to try and replicate their natural diet – YOU CANT. But you CAN provide a nutritionally balanced food to support their natural diet. No (but please read the full answer). Mealworms contain excellent proteins and amino acids that are beneficial in an insectivore’s diet. However, they have a poor calcium : phosphorus ratio meaning they should only be fed as part of a balanced diet. The problem is hedgehogs seem to become addicted to mealworms, eating them to the exclusion of other foods. In the long term, this can result in illness and disease and it is therefore probably better not to feed them at all. Can I feed hedgehogs dry fruit (such as banana chips and raisins)? If you’re looking to keep a hedgehog as a pet, you’re probably wondering how you would go about feeding them. Well, you came to the right place, this article will discuss all things hedgehog food, what they can eat and what they definitely shouldn’t eat.