Thanks to a wide range of food hedgehogs prefer to eat ground beetles, larvae of night butterflies, earwigs, earthworms, other insects, snails, spiders, centipedes and millipedes. This clearly shows you that hedgehogs are not vegetarians and do not eat fruits and vegetables.

Supplementary feeding for hedgehogs

When supplementary feeding hedgehogs prefer to eat wet cat food, Boiled eggunseasoned scrambled eggs, fried and unseasoned minced meat and boiled chicken meat. If possible, you should avoid using ready-made dry hedgehog food. It usually contains too many carbohydrates and too little protein.

Feeding spring and autumn

Awakens the Hedgehog from his hibernation he is starved and needs a lot of food to regain his strength. If the spring is mild, then the hedgehog will find enough food. However, if the weather is unstable and the ground is still frozen, you can start feeding.

Even in the fall, the hedgehog may experience a lack of food. The first food animals disappear naturally. The female hedgehogs are primarily affected by this. They have used up a lot of energy giving birth and rearing young hedgehogs. Hedgehogs born very late often have a hard time too. Until the cold sets in, they still have to eat fat reserves so that they can survive hibernation unharmed.

You can do something good for the hedgehog both in spring and in autumn with a supplementary feeding. Hedgehogs prefer to eat a mixture of wet cat food and oat flakes or wheat bran. Put the food on a shallow dish and place it in your garden. However, you must be careful that stray cats do not eat all the food from the hedgehog. 

Never feed milk

Even if the hedgehog would drink the milk, you must not give it to him. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and can neither digest nor break down the lactose it contains. This leads to diarrhoea in the hedgehog. This in turn can lead to the death of the animal.

In a shallow dish, give the hedgehog only fresh water.

If you have found a severely weakened hedgehog, you can drip warm water, fennel or chamomile tea directly into its mouth using a disposable syringe without a needle.

You should then take the hedgehog to the vet or to a hedgehog sanctuary.

Feeding hedgehog foster animals

Hedgehog foster animals prefer to eat the above mentioned foods. You must make sure that the weakened hedgehog eats plenty of protein and fat. If the hedgehog has to stay in your care for a longer period of time, you have to pay attention to the following:

• The feed should be close to the natural diet and contain a lot of protein and fat.
• Hedgehogs prefer to eat cat food, boiled egg, minced meat and poultry meat. None of the food must be seasoned.
• Surely you can also give the hedgehog dog food without sauce. However, cat food is richer in protein and therefore more suitable for the hedgehog.
• For a balanced diet, the hedgehog also needs fiber. For this reason, you should always mix wheat bran or oatmeal under the feed.  
• Hedgehog dry food is not suitable as a complete food, because it contains too many carbohydrates.
• Never feed the hedgehog insects. True, he would not abhor earthworms, snails and mealworms. But these can transmit parasites that do more harm than good to the weakened animal.
• The feed should always be at room temperature.
• While you feed a healthy hedgehog only in the evening, the weakened hedgehog gets the opportunity to eat around the clock.
• Always make sure you have enough water.
• You need to rinse the bowls hot and clean them thoroughly every day.

Feeding hedgehogs - that makes sense and that you should not do

Hedgehogs love to eat everything you put in front of them. However, you should pay attention to a few things.

Meaningful feed

• Wet cat food with high meat content
• Unseasoned and browned minced meat
• Boiled egg
• Unseasoned scrambled eggs
• Wheat bran and oat flakes for fiber

Not suitable for the hedgehog

• Special hedgehog dry food - it contains too many carbohydrates and too little protein
• Fruits or dried fruits
• Leftovers from your meals

Eat hedgehog dog food

Of course, you can also give the hedgehog canned dog food. However, it must not contain any sauce. Since dog food contains little protein, cat food is much more suitable. It is also important that you offer the hedgehog variety. In no case should you offer him the same food every day.