feeding hedgehogs
With some animals it’s easy – they only eat one thing (snakes only eat mice/rats, except rough greens which eat bugs!). With other animals it can be much more difficult!
Hedgehogs will eat almost anything or so we are told. There is plenty of advice from other hedgehog keepers on what to feed your hedgie. They will eat cat food, tuna, dry cat food, scrambled eggs, unseasoned ground beef, strawberries, kiwi, apple, banana, yams, carrots, sweet corn, mushrooms – they are omnivores. As treats you can give mealworms, morio worms, pinkies (baby mouse), but these are full of fat so should only be given occasionally or you’ll end up with an obese hedgie 🙂
Well, we have found different ones, and I guess just like humans and other animals, all creatures have their preferences. Pink (our albino African pygmy hedgehog) doesn’t like vegetables or greens! He loves meat: wet and dry cat food, fish, chicken, beef, pinkies, worms, ham, he even likes pasta! With vegetables, she’s a bit more selective: all vegetables need to be cooked, as hedgies can choke on the stringy bits they contain. She’ll eat cauliflower and broccoli cooked, the insides of sweet corn (she leaves the husk on), some leafy greens (not iceberg lettuce!), potato (cooked). Does not like salads (such as tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, etc.). He loves scrambled eggs and kiwi, but you soon find out when your hedgie doesn’t like food! Yuck! Scrambled eggs and kiwi gave her a scrambled tummy! As a gift, you will receive a pinch of mealworms or 1 or 2 Morios or a little finger, or a very special crumble cake 🙂 You MUST NOT feed your hedgehog milk or cheese – hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and these foods can make them VERY sick.
The trick is all about trial and error. Test your hedgehog with everything suggested and find your preferences. Keep an eye on your hedgie’s bodily reactions and you’ll soon find out what you can and can’t feed. Keep an eye on what they leave in their food bowl and that will tell you what not to re-feed. They are omnivores, so make sure you find some fruits and vegetables that they like to feed a balanced diet. Don’t forget also that hedgehogs are nocturnal, so don’t feed your hedgehog until midnight (around 730/8pm), if you leave the food before then it will dry out and spoil and your hedgehog won’t want to feed it. eat it: as soon as your pet catches the smell of food, he will go out looking for it, and it is a pleasure to watch him as he chooses the favorite parts of it first…
One last word of warning if you’re thinking of a hedgie, they’re pretty smelly animals – they’re clean and Pink is even trained to litter – but they do give off a pretty strong odor. We have a plug in air freshener in the room and it masks the smell. Other than that, hedgies make a beautiful and rewarding pet.