Hi Bassman
The problem with mealworms was not confined to hedgehogs kept in captivity. A while back, when more people were feeding mealworms to the wild hedgehogs, there were frequent reports from various rescues about very ill and/or deformed hedgehogs. It’s similar to marking, give some people and inch and they’ll take a mile. Some people who visited the forum were feeding mealworms, exclusively, to wild hedgehogs, in large amounts. Potentially as mealworms became cheaper, more were fed and the quality was worse.
Wild hedgehogs can become addicted to mealworms and seek them out in preference to other foods. So that if you feed them small amounts and a few other people in the area do likewise, they may go on a ‘mealworm crawl’ from one source to another. Not only will it be filling the hogs up with ‘junk food’ in preference to something more nutritious but there is also the problem of the calcium and phosphorous ratios. Personally, I think it is best to cut out mealworms entirely.
The potential problem with calci-worms, as I understand it, is that the calcium levels may be too high and cause other problems for the hedgehogs – reportedly kidney and heart problems. Feeding calci-worms as a treat, it seems to me, could potentially be changing one harmful addiction for another. Until there is more reliable scientific information about calci-worms in relation to feeding them to hedgehogs, I wouldn’t want to risk feeding them, other than in very small quantities as part of a properly balanced mix.
Wild hedgehogs do not need any extra treats. Offering them supplementary food in the first place is treat enough.
If we are going to offer wild hedgehogs supplementary food, it is our responsibility to make it as good for them as we possibly can. It is entirely possible that some hedgehogs rely entirely on food that is offered to them by humans. There is as much need for the quality of food which is offered to wild hedgehogs to be good, as it is for that offered to hedgehogs which are being cared for by a carer/rehabilitator. Apart from anything else, the wild hedgehogs may be eating it for much longer.
