What Do Hedgehogs Eat As Pets? (2020 Hedgehog Food & Diet Guide) (2024)

The African pygmy hedgehog can eat cooked meat, canned and dried cat or dog food. Their favourite food are usually live insects such as worms and invertebrates. You can even include fruits and vegetables as part of their diet.

Just note that they can be very picky eaters too so it really depends on your pet.

Hedgehogs in the wild, however, are opportunistic eaters. They will eat any bugs such as worms, night crawlers, earwigs, millipedes, slugs, and caterpillars that they can find. They get their main source of fiber and chitin from the exoskeleton of insects or invertebrates. You will also find them devouring small snakes, mice, and frogs occasionally.

In general, hedgehogs are insectivores. Meaning they feed on insects and invertebrates. But in fact, they are omnivores since they are able to ingest greens.

Sounds easy, isn’t it?

Well… there are some foods that should not be fed to them. And there are some that are debatable.

So you will find a break down of everything about hedgehog’s diet in the next several sections. Skip to any section or go through them as you wish.

Hedgehog diet and nutrients guide

You can feed a variety of food types to your hedgehogs. However, there are foods that may affect their health in the long run. Too much nutrients on one end will either get them overweight or when too little causes malnutrition. Both ways can lead to illness, diseases and even organ failure.

Sound serious isn’t it?

But do not panic just yet. As you run through this guide, you will find out all types of nutrients a hedgehog requires and why anything more or less is no good for them.

It is imperative to understand every gist of the hedgehog diet requirements and how much nutrients are just right for them. And also to avoid certain ingredients that can lead to nasty consequences in the long run.

Let’s begin!

Hedgehog essentially is able to share a similar diet as cats and dogs. However, as they are pretty small animals, the number of nutrients they can take have to be cut down in proportion to their size.

So a good example of cat or dog food will be something that owners feed their kittens or puppies with.

But how do you know if you are buying the right food?

Simple! you can just refer to their nutrient label for the percentages of protein, fat and fiber levels.

So before we touch on the exact food types in the next sections below, let us look at the correct amount of nutrients that you want to go for:

For an adult or juvenile hedgehogs, the ideal nutrient levels you want to go for is:

Protein: 30% – 33%
Fat: 10% – 13%
Fiber: 3% – 8%

For hedgehogs that are underweight or baby hedgehogs that are still growing (until 6 months old), you might want to find food that have slightly higher fat percentages as the following:

Protein: 28% – 35%
Fat: 8% – 15%+ (dependent on the hedgehog weight)
Fiber: 3% – 8%

What are considered bad for hedgehogs?

Protein levels that are higher than 35% are considered to be high. When there is too much access protein, they will just get processed and passed out as excretion. This may seem normal, but it stresses out a hedgehog’s kidneys and, in the long run, result in problems such as renal failure.

Only time protein levels are above 35% is only when you are mixing up food for your hedgehogs.

For fat percentage levels, going above 15% will definitely cause obesity in the long run. This potentially leads to illnesses like fatty liver and heart problems.

As for fiber, choose the food that has the highest percentage of fiber. If you can’t find it, don’t sweat it. As fiber is not as critical since you could get that nutrient from feeding your pet hog insects and vegetables in their diet.

What ingredients should you avoid?

Apart from the nutrient count, when you purchase food for your hedgehogs, make sure to look at the ingredients content of the food as well.

Similar to nutrient count, look at the food labels behind the packaging to see what ingredients it is made up off.

Here are some ingredients in the commercial food you should try to avoid feeding your hedgehogs:

#1 Specific grains

You can’t entirely avoid grain in pet food. Grain-free food is not easily available and definitely have protein percentages above 35%. They also come at a price.

So you can’t really avoid all grains in their food, but specific grains such as corn, brewer rice, and wheat, should be avoided when possible. Whether is it for hedgehog, cats or dogs, these grains are fillers that have little nutrients. They are cheap by-product use to make pets feel fuller.

Rice or brown rice are acceptable as grains or carbs in their diet. Just make sure to check the percentages of the nutrients for protein and fat levels.

#2 Meat meals or unnamed meat

When you look at labels off pet food, sometimes you see unnamed meat or meat meals and you wonder “what the heck is that”!

Well, these can mean any type of poultry. And since they are not named, it can be a mix of leftovers, bone meals or animal fat, etc from animals categorize under the 4Ds – disabled, diseased, dying or dead.

So try to avoid food with unnamed meat as an ingredient.

#3 By-products

The ingredient, by-products, can also be often found on ingredient labels for pet food. These are things that can be made from animal internal organs like their livers, brain, kidneys, and intestines, etc.

These may seem fine, but you will not know exactly what goes in there. So best to avoid.

What ingredients are good?

There are some desired ingredients that are what we should look for in pet food. Here is a list of these desired ingredients:

#1 Named meats

You want the first ingredient to show meats such as beef, turkey, chicken. It can also be meat meals like duck meal or chicken/turkey fats.

Usually, the first ingredient makes up of a larger weight to the pet food you are buying. So seeing a named meat as the first ingredient is good.

#2 Low in grains

As mentioned above grains cannot be avoided. But what we want to see in the ingredients list are a little amount of grains. Maybe just 1 or 2 grains in the list of ingredients. You want the meat to be the one that makes the majority of what your pet is ingesting.

How to interpret the ingredients list?

A great tip from Hedgehogcentral is to look at the first few ingredients until a particular fat or oil ingredient. What comes after that particular fat or oil ingredient is not going to be significant.

What mostly comes after that are your vitamins or minerals and probably supplements like probiotics to help with digestion. Sometimes they also have vegetables and fruits listed there too. The quantity won’t be much so it more like a marketing tactic to appeal to buyers.

So want to know exactly what you are feeding your pet with, just look at what comes before the fat/oil ingredient.

Now that you understand the nutrients and ingredients that are best suited for hedgehogs, we can zoom into every type of food that is suitable for the hedgehogs.

What exactly can you feed hedgehog with? – A to Z Food Guide

Commercial dry food or kibbles

Dry food like kibbles is common staples for cats, dogs, hamsters, and many others. They are also very suitable for hedgehogs. Dry food is also said to help keep hedgehog gums and teeth healthy.

But is it true?

Some owners explained that while a hedgehog eats dry food, food will mix with hedgehog’s spit and result in getting stuck in their teeth. So this is still an issue that is up for debate.

Regardless, let explore some of the dry foods that are suitable for hedgehogs.

#1 Mainstream Dry food for hedgehogs

Hedgehog food is getting more popular in recent years as new owners of hedgehogs are on the rise.

But here’s the deal

Many experienced owners claim that these hedgehog food are actually cat food repackaged with a hedgehog label and a higher price tag.

Advantages

• Mainstream hedgehog food
• Made specifically to meet the hedgehog’s insectivore and omnivore diet requirements

Disadvantages

• More expensive
• Smaller packaging and quantity
• Some stores still may not carry them
• Most don’t fit hedgehog nutrient requirements. Contains a lot of useless ingredients.

Commercial hedgehog food may seem good for hedgehogs, but most of their ingredients seem to be lackluster. They are heavily marketed and don’t serve any use from a nutrient standpoint.

Some examples of commercial hedgehog food

#2 Dry food for cats

Dried cat food is usually recommended for most hedgehog as they are easily available and cheaper than the regular dried hedgehog food.

Advantages

• Easily available
• Slightly cheaper
• It is said to keep gums and teeth healthy compared to wet food
• Well balanced nutrients – But usually higher in protein and lower in fats. (See diet and nutrients section below for more explanation.)
• Smaller bite size doesn’t require grinding or breaking into smaller pieces

Disadvantages

• Good quality cat food can be more expensive. Especially ones that are not corn-based.
• Cat food generally tends to be slightly higher in protein

Seasoned hedgehog owners will usually recommend dry cat food for many reasons. They are smaller bite-size, has the right amount of protein to fat ratio and definitely more cost efficient compared to commercial dry hedgehog food.

#3 Dry food for dogs

Many questions I get is whether dry dog food works as well as dry cat food… Well, the answer is they are the same.

The only thing you have to watch out for is the nutrient percentages and the size of the kibbles. Dog kibbles generally are larger so hedgehog may find it difficult to bite. So there is the trouble of grinding it down to smaller sizes.

Advantages

• Easily available
• Well balanced nutrients – But usually higher in fats. (See diet and nutrients section below for more explanation.)
• It is said to keep gums and teeth healthy compared to wet food

Disadvantages

• Good quality dog food can be more expensive. Especially ones that are not corn-based.
• Dog food generally tends to be slightly higher in fats.
• Dog food that is larger may need to bebroken down into smaller pieces or just grind them up. Larger food can cause impaction in hedgehogs.

Recommendations for dry food

Based on my findings, I too prefer cat food just because they are the logical choice to take compared to other dry food. In general, they are cheaper than hedgehog food and can last really long if you buy the right brands. Cat food is also easier to prepare compared to dog food since they are smaller in size.

That said, it is still important to know what you are buying. Not all cat food is suitable. Many of them are really high in protein. Feeding your pet hogs, in the long run, will cause terrible problems with their kidneys.

So make sure you watch out for the ingredients used and nutrients level on the labels before you buy.

Here are some examples of popular dry food and kibble brands that are recommended by seasoned hedgehog owners:

Cat food brands

• Blue Buffalo dry food for cats
• Natural Balance dry food for cats

Dog food brands

• Blue Buffalo dry food for dogs
  • If you feel kibbles are too big for your hedgehogs, there are also options for smaller breed dogs that are available here.
• Natural Balance dry food for dogs

Soft and wet food

Soft or wet food is mostly canned food for cats or dogs. They are very suitable for aged hedgehogs who have problems biting or have lost their teeth. Hedgehogs that have problems with their bowels can also try mixing soft or wet food into their diet mix.

So the advantages of soft foods are plentiful. But is it not as easy as it may seem.

Here’s the deal.

Soft food tends to have higher fat and protein levels in their food. Even though the labels you see may seem to be in the acceptable protein and fat range but there is more than meets the eye.

Soft food nutrient labels do not account for the extra moisture in the food. The moisture I am talking about can be the juice or gravy that comes together in the canned food.

The protein/fat recommendations you see here are based on Dry Matter Basis or DMB percentages.

When looking at canned pet food you will notice this other label called “moisture percentage %” that is shown on their packaging.

So in order to calculate the actual amount of DMB fat/protein levels, you will need to use this formula:

100% – Moisture % = Dry Mass %
(Fat or Protein %) / Dry Mass % = Dry Mass Fat or Protein %

Here’s an example:

If a canned food has a Fat percentage of 6%, Protein percentage of 12% and moisture of 78%, you have to calculate it this way:

100% – 78% (moisture%) = 22% (Dry Mass %)
6% (Fat%) / 22% (Dry Mass %) = 27% Fat – This is a really high fat content for hedgehogs.
12% (Protein%) / 22% (Dry Mass %) = 54% Protein – Very high protein content for hedgehogs.

Based on the calculation, you can see that soft food are generally higher in fat and protein percentages. Hence it is advisable to use soft food as treats or if it is part of the main diet, you have to make sure to calculate the actual DMB percentages of protein/fat

Here are some good examples of soft food for your hedgehogs:

#1 Canned food for cats or dogs

Most typical cat or dog canned food is suitable for hedgehogs. There are also some that are totally grain free but it may come as a cost.

Advantages

• Soft and easier to digest
• Very suitable for an aged hedgehog or those with gum problems

Disadvantages

• Protein and fat levels can be quite high for hedgehog main diet. Mixing or buying one within the right range is required.
• You need to calculate DMB to get the actual fat/protein percentages

#2 Canned insects

Canned insects are another good alternative for hedgehog’s diet. Hedgehog loves them for they have moisture and are easy to eat.

Advantages

• Soft and easy to eat
• Suitable for hedgehogs with teeth and gums problems or those that are too old to bite
• Very nutritious

Disadvantages

• Protein and fat percentages can be high so make sure to mix it or calculate DMB and purchase those within range.

Recommendation for soft foods

There is no clear winner between Soft food for cat or dogs. Just like canned insects, they are all suitable for hedgehogs. Just that soft food tend to be higher in protein and fats so make sure you only go for those that are within the acceptable range.

Here is some example of brands that are recommended by seasoned hedgehog owners:

• Blue Buffalo wet food for cats
• Natural balance wet food for cats

Cooked food

Hedgehogs can eat cooked food too. Unseasoned cooked meats like chicken, turkey, beef or pork are all suitable for the hedgehog. But do keep in mind the amount of fats they will be eating so you should feed them cooked meats in moderation.

Advantages

• Use everyday ingredients or even leftover ingredients to cook something extra for them.
• Cost efficient.

Disadvantages

• You have to take note of the amount of protein and fats. So lean meat will be recommended.
• Also for cooked food, there are more preparations.

If you don’t mind the hassle, cooked food is actually great for hedgehogs as you can mix them up with vegetables.

So take a look at some of these recipes you can try:

Live Food: Insects or invertebrates

Insects are the main part of hedgehog’s diet. In the wild, they feed on insects and invertebrates to build on fats and their exoskeleton for chitin. So adding in insects into their diet is not compulsory but highly recommended.

You can also use insects as treats from time to time. They should not be the main diet of hedgehogs.

Then you are probably wondering…

Hedgehog in the wild feed on insects all the time. Don’t they?

The reason is that insects are high in fat. Hedgehog in the wild requires the fat in their body to go into hibernation.

Hedgehog in captivity, on the other hand, do not hibernate. So if you don’t want an obese hedgehog with health problems it is better to keep the insect diet in moderation.

Live insects, in general, is good for hedgehogs but it can be a hassle for upkeeping.

The upside of insects is plenty. Some examples like their high nutrition or using as treats are great but what about the downsides?

Well, there are many downsides to feeding live insects too.

First off, if you hate bugs, you probably won’t be able to handle worms. Secondly, if you plan to purchase them from pet stores, prepare to make space for storage in your refrigerator. They come in bulk and very often hedgehog feeding portions are really small.

But before you decide to totally forgo live insects let us explore what kinds of insects you can feed your hedgehog with to get a better idea.

#1 Mealworms

I find this to be many hedgehog’s favorites. They go absolutely nuts on mealworms.

Feeding hedgehog with mealworms.

Advantages

• Mealworms are easily accessible and cheap
• Can be cultivated to provide a steady supply of food source
• Hedgehogs love them
• Can be fed to hedgehog at all stages – larvae, pupae, and adult stages

Disadvantages

• High in fats. Feed in moderation as treats only. Or mix into the existing diet
• They move around. Not suitable for people who are squeamish around insects
• Requires freezing to slow down their transformation. Otherwise, they will turn into beetles and will become harder to manage.

Mealworms are a great source of fat to hedgehogs. The great thing about mealworms is that regardless of which stage they turn into, hedgehogs are still able to eat them. However, mealworms in their larval or pupae state are still preferred over full grown beetle.

You can also hide mealworm pupae within their substrate and have them burrowing under to find their food. This provides great exercise for them.

Check out reliable mealworm sellers from Amazon here.

#2 Crickets

Crickets are the number 2 choice when it comes to live insects because they are lower in fat and are loved by hedgehogs. The downside is that they move or jump a lot. So getting canned crickets can be an alternative.

Advantages

• Crickets can be cultivated for steady food supply
• Some hedgehogs love them
• Lower fat
• Easily available and cheap

Disadvantages

• Can be difficult to cultivate
• They move and jump a lot. So if you are afraid of bugs, it is best to avoid

Crickets can be easily caught in the wild. You may be tempted to feed wild crickets to your hedgehogs. I STRONGLY advise against it. They may carry parasites or insecticide which will be harmful to your hedgehogs. See Food that you should avoid section below for more information.

Check out live crickets reliable sellers from Amazon here.

#3 Waxworm

A great treat for hedgehogs but they are high in fats.

Advantages

• Easily available at pet or online stores
• A great alternative treat for your hedgehog
• Very good source of fat for runners or hedgehogs that are underweight
• Can be refrigerated to last longer

Disadvantages

• Very high in fat
• If you are squeamish at the sight of worms this will not be suitable

Get live waxworms from reliable sellers at Amazon here.

#4 Other suitable insects

Here is a list of other suitable insects that you can add into your hedgehogs’ diet:

• Nightcrawler or earthworms – Huge controversy if they are even nutritious for hedgehogs. Anyway, a hedgehog might not like their smell or taste.
• Silkworms – Very nutritious and low in fat. Very good for hedgehogs but they can be quite difficult to get or expensive.
• Phoenix worms or Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) – These worms are common feeders for reptiles so they are easily accessible and cheap.
• Hornworms – These caterpillars can become really big. They may bite too so be careful when feeding hedgehogs hornworms.
• Maggots – Good nutrition and supply of protein. But they are disgusting.
• Superworms – These worms can really bite. Remove their heads first before feeding. Or don’t even attempt using super worms at all.

Recommendation

Recommended insects are still mealworm or crickets. As they are the safer choice and are easily accessible from any pet shops.

Fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are often neglected by most owners. Very often, I get someone coming up to me asking “Do hedgehogs eat apples? Or bananas?”, “Can they eat lettuce?” etc. Many do not know that fruits and vegetables can actually be a part of hedgehog’s diet.

In fact, hedgehogs are omnivores, so they are able to receive nutrients from fruits and vegetables. It is recommended to mix them into their main diet every day.

So Yes. Hedgehogs are able to eat apples, bananas, and lettuce with no problems at all. But they can eat many other fruits and vegetables too.

Let’s explore the full list of fruits and vegetables that are suitable for them here:

Fruit list

• Apples
• Bananas
• All berries like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, etc. No Grapes!
• Pear
• Plum
• Cherries
• Melons such as watermelon, honeydew (but make sure they are offered moderately as treats as sugar levels can be high)

Vegetable list

• Cucumber and lettuce – but they hold little nutrient and are mostly water
• Leafy greens
• Sweet potato
• Green beans
• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Dandelion greens
• Bell peppers
• Cooked carrots (raw ones are too hard for hedgehogs)

All fruits and vegetables should be fed moderately to your hedgehogs either as treats or part of a diet mix. It should never become the main diet.

To prepare them, make sure they are cut or broken down into small pieces as a hedgehog can choke on them.

Treats for hedgehogs

What are some treats that you can indulge your hedgehogs once a while? They are actually plenty of options. Some of the cooked food or fruits/veggies above are also considered as treats.

Let’s look at some other treats options that are not mentioned above:

#1 Cooked eggs (unseasoned)

You can cook it any way you like, just make sure eggs are fully cooked and are not seasoned. Best to cook it as scrambled eggs or hard-boiled eggs.

#2 Cheese and yogurt

Now, you must be wondering isn’t hedgehog lactose intolerant? Can they eat cheese?

Well, technically no. But in small amounts, Yes.

Cottage cheese and non-sugar yogurt are quite popular among hedgehogs. Just make sure to only give them really small amounts and yogurt you buy should be non-sugar.

#3 Cooked meat

Probably had already mentioned this above, but it can’t hurt to mention again. Unseasoned cook meat is probably 1 of those hedgehogs favorite.

You can bake, roast or just water boil beef, chicken, duck, turkey, lamb and even fish.

#4 Sauce

There are several “sauce” type of food that commonly for babies are also suitable for hedgehogs. Some examples are, unsweetened applesauce, natural peanut butter sauce is some suitable treats for your hedgehogs.

#5 Baby food

Food that is fed to babies is great treats to hedgehogs as well. Some examples like the Gerber baby food are very suitable. They tend to be quite balanced in nutrients and are easy to digest.

Examples of baby food brands for hedgehogs:

• Gerber – Chicken flavor
• Gerber – Turkey flavor
• Beech Nut – Chicken flavor
• Beech Nut – Sweet pea flavor
• Ella’s Kitchen – Chicken flavor

The type of baby food you want to go for will be more of the meat favored ones. Fruits and vegetable flavor is also fine but you have to make sure they don’t contain any ingredients list in our next section: “Food and ingredients to avoid”.

The perfect mix

To make sure your hedgehog gets all the nutrients they need, it is good to actually mix their food with different combinations of the above-listed foods.

But the other reason for mixing their diet is to get them to use to a variety of food instead of just 1 particular food.

Know that hedgehogs can be picky with what they eat. So if you always stick to 1 type of food and for some reason when it runs out, they probably might not eat anything else if they are not exposed to other food types earlier on. This is when you get into trouble.

Example of a good mix:

1 to 2 tablespoons of cooked shredded or minced meat, 1 to 2 tablespoon of baby food, 2 to 4 types of vegetables and 1 to 2 types of fruits all blended down or chopped into small pieces.

Or if dry food is your main staple,

60 to 70 pieces of kibbles with 1 to 2 spoonful of mealworms, 2 to 4 types of vegetables and 1 to 2 types of fruits all in bite size pieces.

The above diet mix is just an example, you will have to experiment on your own to see what works for your hedgehogs. You can see more under hedgehog food switching section

So with that in mind let’s move on to the next section on what food that you MUST AVOID when it comes to their diet.

9 Foods to AVOID! What can hedgehogs NOT eat?

Those above are food that can be fed to hedgehogs. What about those that are hazardous or are not suitable for them?

Let’s explore them one by one and the reasons why they aren’t good for hedgehogs:

#1 Grapes and Raisins

Can hedgehog eat grapes or raisins? You might wonder…

No. They should not be fed with grapes or raisins. They are actually known to cause renal failure in dogs and are not suitable for hedgehogs too.

Some argued that only the skin is toxic, some blamed it on grape seeds, while others think to avoid it entirely.

My recommendation?

Better be safe than sorry. I will rather avoid than to have my heggies fall sick. Understand that renal failure is not something that will happen in a day or 2. It is a long term issue.

So if you have recently fed your hedgehogs with grapes, do not panic. They won’t get affected immediately.

#2 Garlic, Onions or Chives
Never feed your hedgehog or any pets with food that has garlic, onions or chives. They cause stomach irritation that can lead to damage within their blood cells. It is risky if a large amount is consumed.

#3 Fruits or veggies that have citrus or are too acidic

That will include the following:

• Orange
• Lemon
• Lime
• Grapefruit
• Tomatoes
• Pineapples

These fruits either have citrus or are too acidic for hedgehogs. Citrus food contains citric acid and essential oil that are not good for hedgehogs.

Similarly, if you have fed them with the above food, do not panic. Small amounts of these will not do any immediate harm to them. Just stop feeding them with that food and your hedgehogs will be fine.

#4 Milk and Dairy

With the exception of cottage cheese and some yogurt in small amounts, milk and dairy are a definite NO.

They are known to cause diarrhea in hedgehogs.

#5 Dry fruits or nuts

These foods can get stuck in the root of their teeth or choke on them. So it is best to avoid.

#6 Salty or food with seasoning

Seasoned or salty food will result in increased thirst and frequent urination. When there is too much salt, it can lead to sodium poisoning. When that happens, you may find your pet having diarrhea, vomiting, and tremors or even seizures and even death.

#7 Chocolate, Coffee and Caffeine

These foods contain a substance called methylxanthines. Too much of these can cause vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, tremors, seizures, increased urination, and excessive thirst or even death.

#8 Tea Tree oil

Anything with tea tree oil as an ingredient is fatal for hedgehogs. This includes shampoo or soap that contain tea tree oil. A small dose of tea tree oil can cause renal, liver failure. So be careful with that.

#9 Raw food – namely uncooked meat, eggs, and bones

Some people may think that raw food is fine, considering wild hedgehog do occasionally eat animals whole including meat, fur, and bones.

But this is definitely not a wise choice for domestic hedgehogs. Bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli can be found in raw meat and egg. These bacteria can already cause damage to humans to let alone hedgehogs.

Raw food diet is not entirely impossible and it is really up for debate. As you can see, from hedgehogcentral, there are some that feed hedgehogs with pinky mice, grounded meat, etc.

So some may think they are more nutritious while others shun away from it entirely.

But if you ask me…

I will not recommend any raw food at all, except live insects, fruits or vegetables that are brought fresh or from a reputable source. The best advice is, don’t dwell into something that you don’t know. Raw food diet is only good if you as an owner know what you are doing.

Speaking of debatable food, we move on to the next topic of food that till today are still arguable on whether they can or cannot be fed to hedgehogs.

Food that is controversial and debatable

There is some food till today is still debatable. Just like raw food that we talked about before, some say they are fine, some say they are not.

So apart from raw food, let’s take a closer look at what they are:

#1 Fish

Fish is one of the foods that is largely controversial. Many believe it to be harmful to hedgehogs. But in fact, as long as they are cooked without any seasoning, they are fine.

The only problem with fish is that they produce very smelly poop. So avoid fish if you feel smelly poop is something bad.

#2 Avocado

There are 2 totally different opinion on avocado. You will find that some owners that are happily feeding their hogs with avocado while others strongly insist they are toxic for them.

So what is the real answer?

The only thing certain about avocado is that they are high in fats. Whether or not they are really toxic, there are always two sides.

So the best advice is – whenever in doubt, just don’t do it.

How to prepare meals for your hedgehogs

Meal preparation comes first before anything. With all our busy schedules, preparing meals for hedgehog should be fast and easy. So over here, I have accumulated a list of some quick meal preparation methods that can help you prepare meals efficiently.

For dry food

It is recommended to purchase several smaller bags rather than one large bag of kibbles as once they are opened, they may turn bad within weeks even though their shelf life is 1 year.

Pointed out by Steven Brown, renown author and expert in pet food formula, once pet food is unsealed, due to oxygen and humidity, food quickly turns bad. So a good way to prevent this is to purchase smaller bags of kibbles and air seal them in a container once opened.

To make it easy for your daily preparation, you can count your kibbles a week beforehand and separate them into several pills dispenser. So just pop open those dispensers daily and serve them to your hogs.

For soft/wet food mix

According to hedgehogcentral, one way is to mix your soft food by blending or shredding them into really tiny pieces, then fill them up in ice cube trays and freeze them into ice cubes to keep them fresh.

Then before feeding, just pop 2 to 3 ice cubes, place them into the microwave for about 10 secs and voila! Your hedgehog meal is ready to be served.

How to feed your pet hedgehog

Depending on your hedgehog eating habits, there are many ways to feed them. I will be listing out all the different ways of feeding, why and when to use which method and also step by step on how to do it.

Let’s begin

Feeding Methods

There are 3 methods of feeding that I will be covering:

1. Scheduled feeding
2. Free feeding
3. Syringe feeding

#1 Scheduled Feeding

Schedule feeding is to feed hedgehogs at a specific time or frequency. It will require you to stay up later to feeding your hedgehogs as they are active at night.

When should you use a scheduled feeding method?

Any hedgehogs – generally more suitable for those that are overweight
For owners who are planning to change diet or food type for hedgehog

Here is how you perform a scheduled feed for your hedgehog:

Step 1: Prepare hedgehog’s meal

You want to only start preparing in the evening as they only start to get active in the evenings. So prepare your diet mix and place them in their snack bowl. Make sure to keep a record of how much food you placed in their bowls

Step 2: Get your hedgehog to start eating

During this step, waking up your hedgehog for a meal is up to you. You can also hand feed your hedgehog.

Step 3: Clear leftovers

You want to take down how much they eat so that you can switch to free feeding in the future if necessary. Then clear any leftover raw food or they may turn bad.

Feel free to leave some kibbles behind for hedgehog to snack on in the middle of the night.

Here is the downside to scheduled feeding

As hedgehogs are nocturnal, you probably can only feed them during the evening. So preparing food and feeding them at a specific time could turn out to become a chore later.

#2 Free Feeding

Free feeding means sorting out food for hedgehog then place them in their cage overnight and let them eat on their own.

When should you use the free feeding method?

• Free feeding method is generally better for hedgehogs that are underweight or hedgehogs that are already used to a certain diet.
• It can be suitable for owners who already have a record of how much food to feed them.
• Or If you have just gotten your hedgehog from a breeder and plan to continue their feeding diet and plan, then free feeding can be a suitable method too.

Here is how you free feed your hedgehog:

Step 1: Count your food

Make sure to count the amount of food or kibbles you are putting into the cage. Mix them with vegetables or fruits if necessary. Just make sure to document the amount you gave them.

Step 2: Place them in a bowl

Use a bowl that has a good height to allow your hedgehog easy access to their food. A typical hedgehog snack bowl that has a height of approximately 45mm should do fine.

Step 3: Leave food overnight

The next morning, make sure to count how much food is left to keep a record of how much your hedgehog has eaten.

Here is the downside to free feeding

This method may be the simplest. But for starters, you might not know how much to feed your hedgehog with. So there is a chance, you might overfeed them leading to overweight.

If it is your first time, have plans to change diet or your hedgehog is overweight, scheduled feeding will be more suitable.

#3 Syringe Feeding

When should you use the syringe feeding method?

• For hedgehogs that are old
• For baby hedgehogs
• For hedgehogs that have no teeth or gums problems
• For hedgehogs that are sick – You may need to administer antibiotics or medicine via a syringe

Here is how you free feed your hedgehog:

Step 1: Prepare your formula
Prepare your soft food into your syringe in the evening.

Step 2: Wrap your hedgehog in a towel

Syringe feed will require you to hold your hedgehog so getting them nice and warm in a towel can firstly protect your arms and secondly get them to loosen up.

Make sure that their hands and feet are wrapped up in the towel to prevent them from moving too much. Only leave their head expose out of the towel. You may have to pull down some parts of the towel to expose their face for feeding. But keep the rest of them wrapped up.

Sometimes, your hedgehog might curl up in the towel so you have to make sure to put your finger under their face to keep it exposed.

Step 3: Start feeding

Place the syringe in the corner of your hedgehog’s mouth. They might struggle or start to fidget as you place the syringe in front of their faces.

During the feeding process, very often hedgehogs will struggle to reject the syringe. You can wait a while for them to open their mouths then insert the syringe into the corner of their mouths.

They are not going to like it most of the time. So it’s probably gonna break your heart as you may have to add some slight force to get the syringe into their mouths as they struggle.

But once the syringe is in their mouth, the struggling will usually subside and they will happily lick and suck on the syringe.

Lastly, slowly squeeze the syringe to push out the medication or food into their mouths.

To syringe feed, you will definitely need a good and durable syringe which you can get it here.

How much should you feed your hedgehog at every meal?

How much to feed your hedgehog is really dependent on them. In general, you can prepare about 60 to 70 pieces of dry kibbles as their main staple diet. You can also include 1 to 2 tablespoons of live mealworms along with 1 to 2 tablespoons of blended fruits or vegetables.

What you see above may or may not work for your hedgehog. You will have to trial and error with your own mix, keep track of how much they eat before and adjust accordingly.

For a start, you might want to do scheduled feeding to get a good gauge of how much they really eat. With a good grasp of their eating habits and amounts, you can then change to free feeding with no problems.

Hedgehog feeding frequency

A general rule of thumb is to feed your hedgehog 1 to 2 times a day. But ultimately, it depends on your hedgehog weight and activeness.

If you have already fed your hedgehog in the evening, you can do so one more time during the day. But it requires you to wake your hedgehog. They may get cranky when disturbed during the day.

It is advisable to do some bonding in the day. Not with any intensive activity but more like cuddling them to sleep on you covered under a blanket or sweater. Before you do your cuddling session, you can feed them too.

How does hedgehog drink?

Just like all pets, hedgehog needs water to keep themselves hydrated. So it is an important part of their diet.

There are 2 ways to set up a drinking station for them:

1. Serve water on a dish or bowl
2. Using an attachable water bottle that can be attached to the cage

Let’s explore its pros and cons:

Water in a bowl

Using a bowl or dish is the cheapest alternative as you can use any small dish or bowl. So long as it is reachable for your hedgehogs.

Advantages

• Easy to clean
• Less of a hazard
• Cheap

Disadvantages

• Might spill
• Does not hold a lot of water
• Have to refill or change the water often depending on the size of the bowl
• Harder to monitor if hedgehog drank or not

Get feeding bowls for hedgehog cage here.

Water bottle

The water bottle can definitely last longer than using a bowl but they do have some disadvantages that can only be replaced using a bowl.

Advantages

• Easy to monitor how much water your hedgehog drank
• Holds a larger amount of water
• Less frequency of water changes or refill
• Unlikely to spill

Disadvantages

• Hedgehogs might find it intimidating
• Some hedgehogs can hurt their teeth or tongue using the water bottle
• Harder to clean

Here are some suitable water bottles for hedgehog cage.

Water bottle vs bowl

Both have pros and cons, I won’t say one is better than the other. So it really depends on which one your hedgehog prefers. Most hedgehogs from reputable breeders are water bottle trained so they should not have any problems with that.

The only thing that owners should be aware of is the frequency of cleaning your water bottles. Most owners will take it for granted when they use water bottles, sometimes it may get moldy or food get stuck in the tubes of water bottles without you knowing.

So washing of water bottles and changing of water should be done at least once a week.

As for bowls, if your hedgehog burrows a lot, then water might spill. So in such cases, opt for a water bottle instead unless you don’t mind cleaning them up often.

What’s the bottom line?

Whether you are using the water bottle or the bowl, both are fine. Just make sure to track whether your hedgehog is drinking enough to keep themselves hydrated otherwise, it can lead to really bad consequences.

Switching food for hedgehogs

Hedgehog can be picky eaters once they are used to a certain food. So mixing up food can be a good way to not only provide well-balanced nutrients but also get them used to a variety of food types.

For those of you here who have stick to one food all your hedgehog’s life, it can be difficult to have a sudden change in their diet. They may get stomach problems and green poop or in some case, they will just refuse to eat the new diet.

If hedgehogs go into a hunger strike, you may have to do syringe feeding after a day or 2 otherwise their organs will shut down leading to possible death.

How to switch to a new diet then?

A great method from hedgehogcentral is to mix old food with new food while slowly changing the ratio of both foods over a short period of between 2 weeks to a month.

Here’s how you do it:
Week 1: 75% usual diet and add 25% of the new diet
Week 2: 50% usual diet and add 50% of the new diet
Week 3: 25% usual diet and top up 75% with the new diet
Week 4: 100% new diet

During this change period, There are 2 areas to take note of:

• You have to monitor your hedgehog’s appetite, poop, and check for any allergy every day. Check to see if their appetite is good or getting worse and whether they have any green poop, wet poop or constipation.
• You have to only introduce 1 new food at a time. Example, if you are changing kibbles, avoid changing any treats, fruits or vegetables until the change of kibbles has completely replaced old kibbles and are fully acceptable to your hedgehogs.

How to feed your pet when you are on holiday?

The simplest way to solve this is to get a neighbor or family member to refill their food bowl and water while you are away.

It is best that you prepare their food in the right portions so that your neighbor or family member can easily refill your hedgehog bowls daily for free feeding.

This will allow the least handling or interaction between your neighbor and your hedgehog.

Why?

As most hedgehogs need time to get accustomed to your new pet caretaker, they might get nervous when handled by someone new and start curling up, prickling him or her in the process. So it is advisable to get your neighbor or family member to do free feeding while you are gone.

Alternately, you can also get your neighbor or family member to bond with your hedgehog first when you are still around.

Feeding guide for baby hedgehogs

Hoglets or baby hedgehogs have to be fed with special lactose-free pet milk. They are lactose intolerant so feeding them with normal cow’s milk can kill them. Goat’s milk with Goat’s colostrum is a temporary substitute if there is nothing else to feed them with.

Required items:

• Sterilized syringe (without needle). Depending on how much you are feeding, there are 1ml, 5ml and 10ml choices in size.
• Intravenous (IV) cannula
• Fennel tea bags
• Food warmer
• Sterilizer to clean everything before feeding

Find a list of cheap syringe sellers from Amazon here.

Feeding precautions and important notes

• Do not feed hoglets on their back. Hold them upright for feeding or they may choke on themselves.
• Make sure powder formula is fully dissolved in water or fennel tea
• Make sure hoglets are kept warm while feeding. They will use their energy to keep warm if they feel cold.
• And while they do that, they will not gain much weight. So keep them at least 35°C for the first several weeks till they are able to maintain their own body temperature.

Steps to feed a baby hedgehog

Step 1: Prepare feed

Mix powder with water or fennel tea. Cook them together and make sure powder is fully dissolved. Keep the remaining portion in the fridge for feeding at a later time.

Once it is feeding time, warm up milk formula with food warmer. It should not be too hot. Then fill up the syringe with the warm milk formula.

Step 2: Place hoglet in a comfortable position for feeding

You can wrap hoglet in a warm towel on your lap or hold it up. Make sure they are comfortable and upright to avoid choking.

For premature and newborn, it is good to attach the syringe to an intravenous(IV) cannula as a feed tube or teat. The IV cannula has a soft and flexible tip that is less likely to injure your new hoglets.

Step 3: Commence feeding

Position the tip of the syringe or rubber tubing under the lip and slowly push it into the side of their mouths. Hoglet might struggle a little as they can’t see the syringe but once they notice it is their food, they will start licking the syringe and enjoy it.

Do make sure to feed slowly. Slowly push the syringe a little at a time.

For rejected premature and newborn, it is easy to overfeed. They may also attempt to reject their first feed. If that happens, use your index finger and thumb to gently hold the sides of their mouths. Hold their mouths in place to insert the teat.

Alternatively, with its mouth opened, you can attempt to drip some milk into its lips

Step 4: Weigh hoglet

Hoglets have to be weighed the same time every day and records must be taken to monitor their growth.

You also need to weigh your hoglets before and after each feed. For every feed, you want to see an increase of 1g for every 1 ml of formula you fed.

The general rule of thumb

Hoglets should be fed up to 25% of their body weight every day in multiple feeds.

Do not attempt to feed them all at once. It can result in overfeeding.

When hoglets are bloated their stomach will be swollen. If that happens, you have to stop feeding and change into rehydration fluid.

Hoglet feeding stages and frequency

Hoglet feeding is not an easy task. Especially for premature or newborn hogs that do not have their mums with them. Some hoglets when born were abandoned at birth, some orphaned. When such cases happen, you will need to take over the role of feeding in order for them to survive.

So without further ado,

Here is a quick general feeding frequency guide for hoglets:

• A hoglet weighing 20 g may take 0.5 to 1 ml every 1 to 2 hours
• A hoglet weighing 50 g may take 2 to 3 ml every 2 to 3 hours
• A hoglet weighing 80 g may take 3 to 4 ml every 3 to 4 hours
• A hoglet weighing 120 g may take 5 to 7 ml every 4 hours

You can also refer to the following feeding frequency according to their different stages of growth for a more detailed breakdown:

Stage 1: Premature or newborn

Characteristics

• Newborn or premature will be pink in color
• They are born bald, blind and deaf
• Weighs approximately between 7 to 19 grams
• Anything less than 12g is considered premature. They will struggle without the first feed from mum.
• Spikes are beneath its skin
• If spikes are born with spikes, you need to bring your hedgehog mum to the vet as it is considered a complication.

Feeding amount and frequency

Do not feed newborns or premature full amounts. Newborns are fed on demand by their mums. But for some reason, if they are rejected by their mother or are orphaned hoglets from the same litter, you will have to feed them yourselves.

So know that you cannot force them to eat whenever you want. Their stomach requires some time to adjust. You can start by feeding them small amounts every hour to start conditioning them.

There really isn’t any X amount of food you must feed it with. Some hoglets tend to have more than others, some lesser. So feed them little by little. For some reason, if hoglet does not want to eat, try toileting first.

Make sure to keep them warm before attempting to feed.

Lastly, note that for premature hedgehogs, their first week is very important. It determines if they will leave through it or not.

During this time, they are really weak and small so if it is your first time doing this please seek a professional guide.

Stage 2: Birth to 3 days old

Characteristics

• Weighs approximately 15 to 25 grams
• You will see white spines coming out of their skin first before their second coat of dark brown spikes grows out
• Hoglets at this stage may jump if disturbed

Feeding amount and frequency

After some time, you should be able to establish a regular feeding pattern with your hoglets. When that happens, you can give 1 to 2 ml of milk substitute every 2 hours.

Stage 3: Three days to one week

Characteristics

• Weighs approximately 25 to 30 grams
• Hoglets are still blind and deaf at this point
• Spines continue to grow out. As they grow out they become darker
• Hoglets at this stage can jump if disturbed. Hence make sure not to put or hold them in high places

Feeding amount and frequency

You can feed approximately 1 to 2 ml of milk substitute every 3 hours.

Stage 4: One to two weeks old

Characteristics

• Hoglets are still blind and deaf at this point
• The white portion of the spikes are more prominent than the brown parts
• Start to be able to make noises when they are scared or disturbed
• Whiskers start growing
• They will start to learn how to curl

Feeding amount and frequency

You can feed approximately 2 to 3 ml of milk substitute every 3 hours. Hoglet at this point should be gaining weight. For some reason, if they are not gaining weight change the frequency of each feed to 2 hours,

Hoglets should be steadily gaining weight, if not, increase the frequency of feeds to every 2 hours for a few days

Stage 5: Two to three weeks old

• Eyes and ears start to open
• 2nd coat spikes grow even more
• Fine hairs on the snout
• 3rd coat of strong spikes starts to develop

Feeding amount and frequency

You can feed approximately 3 to 5 ml of milk substitute between every 3 to 4 hours.

Stage 6: Three weeks old

Characteristics

White spines are less visible at this stage. Most spines will be 3rd stage spikes in brown
Incisor teeth start to develop

Feeding amount and frequency

You can feed approximately 5 to 6 ml between every 3 to 4 hours. You can start leaving some of their soft foods in a dish to condition them to eat on their own.

Stage 7: Four weeks old

Characteristics

• Weighs approximately 84 to 130 grams
• Fur all fully grew. Less visible skin

Feeding amount and frequency

• Start feeding semi-solid food in a dish. Mix them up with milk substitute.

Stage 7: Five to six weeks old

Characteristics

• Looks like smaller versions of adult hedgehogs
• May begin self-anointing
• May also start to build a nest
• Less wobbling when walking. More stable

Feeding amount and frequency

No syringe feeding required anymore. Use a dish fully at this stage. Use small amounts of milk substitute to mix with liquid food.

Stage 8: Six to eight weeks old

Feeding amount and frequency

You can begin canned diets such as the puppy or kitten canned food. Use another shallow dish for water. Make sure they start to learn to drink from dish or bottle.

Stage 9: Eight weeks old

Characteristics

• Weighs approximately 350 grams

Feeding amount and frequency

Ready for a cat or dog food. And the diet mix.

Other hoglet feeding tips

• If hoglet is not suckling properly, you have to check:
• If your hoglet is kept warm
• If the milk made warm
• If it requires toileting. You can resume feeding after toileting
• After ever feed, hoglet requires toileting.
• When hoglets, stop feeding, you can try tickling the roof of their mouth with a teat. Sometimes that will help resume feeding.
• Sometimes, hoglet’s tongue gets stuck to the roof of the mouth. Similarly tickling with teat will help.
• Once hoglets can see, it is good to always leave a fresh clean dish of milk substitute. You can encourage them to feed themselves by getting them to lick milk off your palms.

Conclusion

By now you should have the knowledge and know-how to feed your hedgehogs. So what mix will you feed your hedgehogs with? Well, take your time to decide.

While doing that, remember to keep an eye on your hedgehogs’ weight and change their diet accordingly. Make sure they get lots of exercise on running wheels.

If you have any questions or like to share your favorite mix or even creative ways to make your hedgehogs exercise, leave them down in the comments below!