{"id":439,"date":"2025-11-15T12:56:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2025-11-15T12:56:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:56:49","slug":"five-things-not-to-feed-hedgehogs-and-what-to-feed-them-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/?p=439","title":{"rendered":"Five things not to feed hedgehogs and what to feed them instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus<\/em><\/a>) primarily eat invertebrates, so gardens with healthy populations of beetles, worms, caterpillars, millipedes and other small creatures are perfect places for hogs to go foraging. They will eat slugs and snails, but not as many as we would like them to! Slugs can carry the parasite lungworm, which can infect hedgehogs and make them ill. They mainly eat beetles, caterpillars and earthworms.<\/p>\n

Some supplementary food that has traditionally been given to hedgehogs isn\u2019t good for them and they\u2019ll also eat food left out for other animals, such as birds, which can cause them health problems. It\u2019s therefore important to know what food is good for hedgehogs and what they shouldn\u2019t eat before you leave supplementary food out in your garden.<\/p>\n

Five things you shouldn\u2019t feed to hedgehogs<\/h2>\n

Bread and milk<\/h3>\n

\"Garden<\/p>\n

Although hedgehogs will eat bread, it fills them up without providing the nutrients they need to thrive. Milk should be avoided as they can\u2019t digest it properly, which can give them an upset tummy and cause dehydration.<\/p>\n

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Mealworms or calci worms<\/h3>\n

Mealworms are not safe to feed to hedgehogs because they have high levels of phosphorus and low levels of calcium, which leads to brittle bones and can cause fractures, known as Metabolic Bone Disease. Most hedgehogs found with Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) have to be put down.<\/p>\n

Calci worms supposedly have a more balanced ratio of nutrients, but there\u2019s not enough evidence to say these are safe in any quantity, so it\u2019s best to avoid them as well.<\/p>\n

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Sunflower seeds or peanuts<\/h3>\n

\"Hedgehog<\/p>\n

Sunflower seeds and peanuts should not be fed to hedgehogs as they can also cause MBD due to high levels of phosphorus. As hedgehog food mixes are not regulated, it\u2019s important to check that you don\u2019t buy and that contain nuts, seeds or mealworms.<\/p>\n

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Fruit<\/h3>\n

Hedgehogs will eat fruit, but they can\u2019t digest it properly and so don\u2019t get any nutrition from consuming it. Not only that, fruit can cause upset their tummies and get clogged in their teeth, which may lead to dehydration. Dried fruit should also be avoided, along with cereals, honey and sugar, all of which are sometimes added to so-called hedgehog food.<\/p>\n

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Meat<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t feed hedgehogs raw or processed meat, or any cooked meat that isn\u2019t in the form of cat, dog or specially formulated hedgehog food. Raw meat products can contain bacteria such as salmonella, which can be dangerous, and processed meat is high in salt, so they\u2019re much better off with balanced meat products such as wet cat food.<\/p>\n

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Five beneficial types of food for hedgehogs<\/h2>\n

Beetles and other invertebrates<\/h3>\n

\"Hibernating<\/p>\n

The best way to help hedgehogs is to avoid using synthetic chemicals and create natural habitats such as long grass, open compost heaps, log and leaf piles, where plenty of invertebrate food can be found. The more beetles, caterpillars, worms and other invertebrates available, the more food for local hedgehogs.<\/p>\n

\n

Kitten biscuits<\/h3>\n

\"Feeding<\/p>\n

Kitten biscuits are an excellent choice as they are less likely to attract flies than wet food and they are well suited to a hedgehog\u2019s small mouth. Make sure the biscuits are meat-based (and have meat listed as the first ingredient) rather than primarily derived from cereals.<\/p>\n

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Meaty cat or dog food<\/h3>\n

Meaty cat and dog food is another good supplementary food as it\u2019s nutritious and readily available to buy. Check food bowls in the morning and discard any remaining wet food so flies don’t lay eggs in it.<\/p>\n

Both wet and dry cat and dog food work well as supplementary hedgehog food, but they shouldn\u2019t be their only food source. They’re fine to use as part of a balanced diet that includes natural food such as invertebrates.<\/p>\n

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Good quality meaty hedgehog food<\/h3>\n

\"Feeding<\/p>\n

Specialist meaty hedgehog food is generally a good choice, although it’s likely to be more expensive than cat or dog food. Just be aware that hedgehog food isn\u2019t regulated, so check that it doesn\u2019t contain ingredients that will cause problems for hedgehogs. As with wet cat and dog food, don\u2019t leave any wet specialist hedgehog food out the next day where flies could lay on it.<\/p>\n

If you have problems with other animals eating the hedgehog food, you can buy or build a hedgehog feeding station. This also has the advantage of protecting the food from the weather.<\/p>\n

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Water<\/h3>\n

\"Hedgehog<\/p>\n

Hedgehogs get some of their daily fluid intake requirement from their food, but they will also drink dew and water from puddles, shallow dishes or ponds, especially in hot weather or when other water sources are frozen. Always leave out a shallow dish of water for hedgehogs to drink from, and make sure ponds have an easy access and exit route for hedgehogs. Check food and water bowls every day and make sure they\u2019re kept clean.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) primarily eat invertebrates, so gardens with healthy populations of beetles, worms, caterpillars, millipedes and other small creatures are perfect places for hogs to go foraging. They will eat slugs and snails, but not as many as we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}