FAQ - Feed Requirements

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alpayton

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Written by jandshyne:

Feed Requirements

Hedgehogs have very specific food requirements. First of all they should be given a staple food. A staple food can be a Hedgehog food such as 8 in 1, Mazuri Insectivore Fare, or Brisky’s Hedgehog Diet. VitaKraft Hedgehog food is NOT adequate for hedgehogs and hedgehogs have actually starved on this diet so please NEVER use it. Mazuri and 8 in 1 are my favorites and my hedgehogs will eat either of those, of the two Mazuri is a bit cheaper. Brisky’s is an adequate diet but my hedgehogs do not care for it and won’t eat it. Hedgehogs can be very picky so whatever you choose to feed you must make certain your hedgehog can and will eat it. A high quality cat food such as Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul, Wellness, Felidae, or a high quality dog food (generally these need to be broken up in to smaller pieces for hedgehogs to eat or they can choke on them) such as Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul, Canidae, Royal Canin, or Wellness is the perfect staple diet. The main thing to keep in mind is that whatever you feed should not have more than 10% fat and should have at least 15% fiber (if you can’t find a food with enough fiber you can sprinkle Grape Nuts Cereal over the top of their food to give them that added fiber boost) generally this will require you to purchase the light version of the foods listed above. Anything higher than that can lead to Fatty Liver Disease which is often fatal in hedgehogs and comes on very quickly. All of the carnivorous or omnivorous animals in our home are fed Chicken Soup brand foods from the cats to the dogs to the hedgehogs and occasionally the gliders. This food and the foods listed above are natural foods consisting of the highest quality meats and vegetables and have no artificial fillers or preservatives. Studies have linked artificial fillers and preservatives in pet foods to cancers, ear infections, respiratory infections, joint problems, and a myriad of other health and wellness problems. For that reason we feed nothing that contains by-products, fillers, or preservatives, we wouldn’t eat it and we don’t expect our animal companions to either. On top of that a low quality cat food will cause your hedgehog to have very stinky poop where a high quality cat food will produce firmer, and not so smelly poop (always a plus with hedgies) J.

On top of their staple food hedgehogs should be offered a variety of insects. Mealworms, Silkworms, Wax worms, and Crickets are wonderful and can be purchased online or in most pet stores. Mealworms and Wax worms are fairly high in fat so those should be fed in moderation. Crickets are lower in fat and higher in calcium so they’re a good choice especially if they are gut loaded (fed a special food specifically for insects that causes them to absorb extra vitamins, minerals, and calcium). Silkworms are a favorite of my hedgehogs and I prefer them to the rest of the insects. They are higher in calcium and lower in fat than even crickets, they have a soft exoskeleton so they are easy to digest, and they don’t escape. All of my hedgehogs will eat silkworms even if they generally turn their noses up at other insects. J You can order silkworms from Cheri at: Silky’s to Go and she can ship them around the country. NEVER feed Super worms to your hedgehog, these are a carnivorous worm and they can bite your hedgehog and turn your hedgehog off of insects forever. You should also not feed wild caught insects that could contain parasites or pesticides. Purchasing insects at the pet shop or from an insect farm is the only way to ensure you’re purchasing insects who are pesticide free. Earth worms are especially dangerous as they can carry lung worm which is then transmitted to your hedgehog and can be fatal so please never feed wild caught insects.

Because we aren’t wholly certain what the diet of a wild hedgehog is we do our best to offer variety and meet their nutritional needs. Some hedgehogs do very well and live a long happy life on a staple food and insects alone. This is just fine. We however, prefer to offer a variety of foods and hopefully come as close as we can to their natural diet. Our hedgehogs’ diet is listed below and we hope it will help you in deciding what to feed your hedgehogs:

All of our hedgehogs have a bowl of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul Light Formula available to them 24/7. This food is dumped, the bowl cleaned, and the bowl re-filled each evening.

Aside from the Chicken Soup Light our hedgehogs are also offered the following:

1 tablespoon (sometimes a bit more) of one of the following OR 10-12 Insects (one of the above mentioned variety):

Chicken, Salmon, Boiled Egg, Game Meats (be certain this is professionally processed game meat and it’s a great choice because it’s very lean), Gerber Baby Food (2nd Stage Meat in Gravy ONLY, the higher stages have onion powder, salt, and other additives, the ingredients should be meat, water, and corn starch), and on rare occasions roast beef (we feed this perhaps once every 2 weeks). Be sure any proteins are not cooked in oil or butter and are NOT seasoned with anything. Boiling, Mircrowaving, and even broiling are all fine ways to cook these proteins. You’ll also want to cook the meats until very tender and cut them in to very small pieces to prevent choking. Always make certain to cook meat fully to prevent the risk of parasitic and bacterial infections.

1 tablespoon of one of the following fruits or vegetables (we rotate so Monday fruits and Tuesday veggies, etc…):

Green Peppers (diced), Peas, Corn, Cooked Carrots (diced), Squash (diced off the rind), Cucumber (diced), Sweet Potato, or Zucchinis (diced off the rind). Banana, Melon, Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Mango, or Pineapple

Being in Wyoming it’s difficult to find fruits and vegetables in season. I try to stick to what is in season if at all possible but occasionally I use fresh frozen vegetables and fruits. Most vegetables are cooked and then allowed to cool for about 30 minutes. Fruits are served at room temperature and if you must use frozen it takes 30-45 minutes to thaw them out. Again never use seasonings or feed onions or avocado which are toxic to many animals. We don’t know for certain that either of those are toxic to hedgehogs but again the policy “better safe than sorry” applies. I only purchase Certified Organic fruits and vegetables for my hedgehogs and gliders.

Three times a week I offer a treat in the form of Low Fat Plain Organic Yogurt, Gerber fruit baby foods (make sure there’s no added sugar), or Low Fat Cottage Cheese to all of my hedgehogs. At least once a week we feed yogurt or baby food from a children’s medicine dropper. As hedgehogs age it will most likely become necessary to syringe feed them at some point whether it’s medicine or food, by feeding treats from the dropper on a regular basis we find it’s much easier on our hedgehogs when they must take medication or a supplement or if they need supplemental feedings, this way they’re not afraid of the dropper and they know it won’t hurt them. This has worked wonderfully for us in the past and we start newly weaned babies on this process as well, it’s never too young to learn to be comfortable with the dropper.

We only offer 1 new food a week, hedgehogs can have severe food allergies so by offering only 1 new food a week it makes it possible to discover which food could be causing the allergy without having to wait for the next reaction. Hedgehogs can be very picky. Just because your hedgehog doesn’t like something the first time it’s offered doesn’t mean he won’t like it the next time around. If he turns his nose up at something new, wait a few weeks and try again. If after a couple tries he still doesn’t like it then you will just have to accept it and move on to something new. We have found variety to be the key. When we find something they truly like (with the exception of insects and yogurt) we don’t over feed it, we offer it on a regular schedule with every other type of food, that way they don’t get bored with their favorites.

On top of this make certain your hedgehogs always have a supply of fresh water available to them.
 
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