What to feed hedgehogs

[Hogmeister]

Hi Nic

Thanks again and looks like the original post needs editing to put some of the Do’s in to the Don’ts.

[Nic]

Yes, shame it can’t be, but I guess we are all learning all of the time!

[Saragiggles]

Please remove Purina from your list of recommended foods for hedgehogs. Purina is owned by Nestle who carry out extensive, invasive animal testing.
No animal welfare site should recommend animal food that is manufactured by a company that inhumanely tests on animals and has no regard for the welfare of innocent animals. No animals should be fed food tested on animals.
Please check the food you feed your pets!

[Nic]

By adding to this topic you have brought it into focus again, when it was fairly well buried in last year’s posts – there will always be some people who will only read the beginning and not look at the discussion which followed. Advice about what to feed hedgehogs has moved on since the original post so it is unhelpful to focus on it again.

This is a Forum and the contents are individual’s ideas. It clearly states at the top:
“The views and opinions expressed in this forum do not necessarily represent the views of PTES or BHPS”

[Penny]

Hmmmm…’no animals should be fed food tested on animals’.
I’m a bit lost with that comment…

[moz]

I’ve been feeding a very large hedgehog ordinary tinned meaty cat food. I’d like to know how much or how often I should feed the not so little fella? It normally comes looking for food around 22:00 and we put out more than it can eat. It then comes back around 01:30 and finishes whatever is left. It then comes back again at around 03:30 when all the cat food is gone. Should I be feeding it more/less? I get the impression this hedgehog would visit 6 times a day and eat everything it could on every visit which doesn’t sound naturally healthy.

[Nic]

Hi moz

Can I refer you to https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/forums/topic/what-to-feed-hedgehogs-2018/
which pretty much covers your question.

This is one of the times of the year when it is more difficult for hogs to find their natural food – with it being as hot and dry as it is at the moment. So water 24 hours a day is really important as well as supplementary food.

It would be really helpful if you could respond on the topic I mention above. The advice on this topic is, shall we say, slightly out of date and I’m not sure how many people will take the time to read the full discussion which followed. So it would be good if it didn’t keep becoming too prominent. Thanks.

[Pauline]

Hi Wildlifehaven
I tend to follow this sites advice for feeding hedgehogs. I have just introduced
suet pellets with Insects. I cants give them wet dog or cat food because we have so many foxes and cats around. I have had cats crawl through the tunnels and the little fox cubs would have no trouble. I will try again with dried kitten chicken cat food and see if the cats try to get it.

What I want to know is, what is best sunflower hearts or sunflower seeds. I always used sunflower hearts but able reading the latest advice now I am
not so sure. I have just I added sunflower seeds to the mix.

Trying hard to get the neighbours involved. The chap across the road is desperate to get hogs in to his garden. I showed his child my hogs I brought back form oak and furrows before I released them because he has ever seen a hedgehog and he was desperate to see a wild hedgehog. I have lent him
my camera and one of my feeding stations to see what he gets. His next
door neighbour is going to dig a trench after I advised her the gaps were not big enough. Fortunately for me when I had new neighbours a few years ago. They are not gardeners and have kept all their big bushes and trees but just keep them tidy and they have not blocked up my hedgehog runs.

[Nic]

Hi Pauline

I know you have addressed Wildlifehaven, but she is not always around and may or may not see this, or at least for a while.

I’m sorry you are taking advice from this topic, as it is, sadly, out of date. The best things to feed hedgehogs are cat/dog food, cat/kitten biscuits, or one of the many hedgehog foods available. That and water is all they need. You will find some of the hedgehog foods are less interesting to cats.

As you may have seen from the discussion above, suet pellets are high in fat and sunflower hearts are not quite as bad as mealworms, but are not particularly good for hedgehogs due to their calcium/phosphorous ratio. Neither of these provides sufficient nutrients for the hedgehogs and are best avoided unless they are part of a properly balanced hedgehog mix.

The following is an extract from previously:
[“I recently came across an extract I had copied from From Wildlife on line – European hedgehog.
http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/hedgehogs.html

‘Hedgehogs have a propensity for eating almost anything and will readily consume high fat foods (e.g. cat food, processed meats, etc.) put out in gardens and if offered in captivity. Hedgehog metabolism is geared to the digestion of high protein invertebrate prey and unrestricted access to high-fat foods can result in fatty liver disease, obesity and coronary complications as is seen among humans.’

Which seems to confirm the feeling I had that suet pellets are not a good idea for hogs.”]

You might like to see: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/feed-hedgehogs/

I’m pleased to hear that you are trying to spread the word about hedgehogs, but please spread the word about the types of food which are better for them. I hope you continue to enjoy the visits from the hedgehogs and hope that a new improved diet, which I hope you will give them, will lead to healthier hogs.

Can I refer you to https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/forums/topic/what-to-feed-hedgehogs-2018/
It would be really helpful if you could respond on that topic. The advice on this topic is, as I said, slightly out of date and I’m not sure how many people will take the time to read the full discussion which followed. So it would be good if it didn’t keep becoming too prominent. Thanks.

Happy Hog watching.

[Pauline]

I will have to use up what I have but I have today mixed up some kitten dried food chicken flavour just to have a more balance. I don’t feed them meal worms. Nobody else feeds the hogs were I live but I sure they hoover up any food scraps people throw out on the lawns which the foxes polish off.

[Nic]

Hi Pauline

I’m sure you’re right and that hedgehogs pick up all sorts of not very suitable stuff from under bird feeders, what people feed foxes etc. But the way I see it, it makes it all the more important that those of us who feed the hogs make sure it is something really good for them.

The poor hogs have been having a bit of a tough time with all the hot and dry weather and have probably been relying on us more than usual. Thankfully, we have just had a small amount of rain here, but we really need much more and I hear there is more hot and dry weather on the way.

Good luck with the hogs there and encouraging your neighbours to help them too. It would be a great help to the hogs even if they only leave water out for them in a shallow container.

[JMW]

We have 3 regular visitors each night and, while we know that some foods are bad, we mix the food.

Currently it is a handful of decent quality cat biscuits, small handful of peanuts, and a very small sprinkling of mealworms.

Initially we were just putting out lots of mealworms and they loved them, but after reading of the bone problems we stopped. However once we started putting out the cat biscuits, everything got eaten by the local cats and a young male fox. So we put a sprinkling of mealworms back in, and the cats and fox now won’t touch it at all….. they smell too bad i guess (?).

Is this acceptable? We’re still trying to find the right balance as they least prefer the cat biscuits

[Nic]

PLEASE NOTE THE INFORMATION IN THIS TOPIC HAS BEEN UPDATED.

Please refer to: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/forums/topic/what-to-feed-hedgehogs-2/

[Author]

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