Can Hedgehogs eat Plants

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Hedgehogs BC

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
20
Location
British Columbia
I am wondering if any plants are safe for hedgehogs to eat / nibble on ?
im not taking about vegies but potted plants or even a type of grass that would be safe for hedgie to eat


Thank You
 
the reason for asking is I am building a "play area" with drift wood, logs, rocks, and I wanted to add a plant or two , I think it would look neat but I dont want my little girl to get sick,

Question 2

is their any plants I should steer clear from ?

What about grass ? grown from seed so it has no chems.
 
I would be highly cautious of bringing things from outside. Unless you know 110% that you and your neighbors (and who ever else owns the area around the things you are bringing in) do not use pesticides or any other chemicals to tend to their yards.
 
The only plants I can think of that I know hedgies enjoy are fruits and vegetables. You'd probably have a very happy hedgehog if you started planting butternut squash for her.

About the logs/driftwood... A few thoughts:
- Wood from outside might harbor things to which you would not want to expose your hedgie. I've read a bit about trying to "clean" wood objects by scrubbing and baking in your oven - probably something you should check into if you really want to make a more natural play area. I'll anticipate that you'll need to clean it a few times - the initial cleaning before bringing it into hedgie, any time hedgie poops or pees on it, and any time there's a virus/bacteria/mite issue.
- Hedgies have teeth like us (baby teeth and adult teeth); not like rodents whose teeth continuously grow - so she won't need wood to chew on any more than you or I would -- not sure if you were thinking about wood from a chewing angle, so please ignore if that seemed tangential.

I'm not sure what a hedgie would do with seed-grown grass... maybe just run around through it? Maybe nibble and anoint? As a former apartment-dweller, I've entertained the idea of cultivating a small patch of grass indoors... like in a tub or something. But it involved dirt and carpeting, so it never got past the idea stage. If you get the idea up and running, take pics... my past-self would enjoy living vicariously through your gardening ;)

Steer away from aloe plants. I'm sure there are other dangeous plants (besides "obvious" ones like poison ivy, sumac, or oak... as you won't want to tangle with them), but I do not claim to be an expert in such things.
 
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