changing a hedgie's diet?

My boyfriend and I are adopting a one and a half year old salt + pepper hedgie from a friend today. My friend got him when he was 6 months old, and says that he eats dry cat food and mealworms for treats.

Would it be a bad idea for me to integrate more moist foods in? I also want him to have some cooked meats (chicken, etc), and some fruits and veggies.

If I go slowly, will this screw him up a whole bunch? Would I be better off keeping his diet as it is already?

Dry can kibble as a staple and mealies as treats is good. Adding some fruits or veggies would be wonderful.

As you surmised, just go slowly - try out some baby food versions of butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots... And be prepared for the outcome: either hedgie doesn't understand that it's food or hedgie will understand all too well and anoint with it If hedgie doesn't seem to understand it's food, that's okay. Just choose one and present it to your hedgie over multiple days. Sometimes, it can take awhile for them to get that it's food.

We bought him some mealworms today and he absolutely devoured two of them, despite how nervous he was. I think we're going to stick to a nice high-protein cat food, maybe 50/50 it with some hedgie food if I can find one that has decent protein and minimum fat.

Keep in mind that you don't want to go over about 35% protein. Too high is hard on their kidneys.

I also wanted to add that most hedgehog food is crap. I have had hoggies that have come in eating it and when given the option of the plain cat food, 50/50 mix or plain hh food they always went for the plain cat foor first then picked out the cat food from the 50/50 mix. I would stick to cat foods and not waste my money on the crap food.

Also you want to keep him on mostly crunchies. It will help with dental hygene. The moist food will not scrap off plaque like the crunchies will.